preview

Ray Kroc Ethical Dilemma Analysis

Decent Essays

Ray Kroc started the last ethical dilemma when he opened up a McDonald's across from the original McDonald's owned by Maurice and Richard McDonald, who had to change their name to Big M. Ray Kroc wanted to put them out of business, but he also wanted Maurice and Richard to suffer seeing their name and restaurant they lost. Ray Kroc could have put the McDonald's in San Bernardino, California, elsewhere, even down the street or on another street. While Maurice and Richard cannot do anything with the name “McDonald's,” they decided to move their restaurant. If Ray Kroc did not pursue this course of action, it would have made Maurice and Richard feel less depressed about the loss of their restaurant. Unfortunately, they must start over there was …show more content…

However, Ray's ability to continue to build the franchise empire was coming to a stop because he did not have enough capital to build it any further. Maurice and Richard were not willing to renegotiate the contract they made because they felt like it was a fair deal. With that said, the capital really drove Ray’s aggressive strategy to buy the land that McDonald’s sat on because it helped Ray build capital and power so that he could challenge Maurice and Richard for the …show more content…

Maurice and Richard McDonald based every decision on what they wanted McDonald's to be, which was fast, clean, and delicious. Since they had trouble maintaining quality among earlier franchisee, they made sure to put in protections from franchisee abusing their name and their business. The implications of their decisions were that they did not like change, and so they rejected all of Ray’s ideas. Those ideas included designs that alter the building furnace, adding a basement, a coke cola sponsorship, request for additional revenue, attempting to renegotiate their franchise fee percentage, and the use of powder milkshake. The one thing they could have done differently was to be more willing to consider a change to improve their business. They did not identify with the state of their employees, including Ray who needed their support. Thus, Ray took it into his own hands. Ray Kroc was not motivated by money at first, but McDonald's service which was so fast compared to the other drive-ins he went to prior to discovering McDonald’s. However, when Maurice and Richard allowed him to become the head franchise, he started to worry about money as he built McDonald's all over the United States. Eventually, he started making decisions to acquire and make more profit off McDonald's because of Harry J. Sonneborn, who suggest he buy the land that McDonald’s sat on and that the

Get Access