Study The Internal Resources, Capabilities, And Activities Of Firms

Have you every thought about every food item you consume in a day? Where does it come from and how did it get to your plate? The activities required for food items to be extracted from its source and delivered to your plate must go through a cycle called a value chain. It consists of 2 sections; primary activities and secondary activities. Primary activities involved are inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales, and service until it reaches the hands and mouths of the consumer (Porter, 1985). Secondary activities include procurement, human resource management, technological development and infrastructure (Porter, 1985). The value chain requires both primary and secondary activities to work efficiently and effectively to ensure that goods get passed down stream to the market. Businesses invest in value chains as they are designed to enhance the value of the product through “effective coordination of operational and organizational support activities” (Gooch, 2005). This paper aims to define two food items consumed during breakfast and track their value chain from start to finish, focusing on the primary activities. The two food items to be discussed in this paper is Tim Hortons coffee and BC eggs. Tim Hortons value chain aims to illustrate environmental impacts, and BC eggs value chains aims to illustrate economic impacts.

McDonald’s Corporation are the most successful and popular fast food brand in the world, holding the largest fast food market share and being the leading fast food restaurant chain in terms of world sales (8%). They are the second greatest outlet operator with more than 34,000 outlets, serving worldwide to 69 million customers daily, across 119 countries. Their brand is the seventh most valuable and

the internal analysis of the firm and the external analysis of the industry and competitive environment

Analyze the external and internal environment for opportunities, threats, strengths, and weaknesses that impact the firm’s competitiveness.

McDonald's has successfully met the demands of its customers by gradually adding to their menus. Breakfast meals, hamburgers, chicken, salads, salads and even desserts are provided by the restaurants which aids in the success of McDonald's. The organizational structure for McDonald's

For a business to be successful and have a competitive advantage, it is important to evaluate the company’s resources and capabilities (Pitt & Koufopoulos, 2012). Resources in a company are the productive assets owned (tangible or intangible) whereas capabilities are what the company can do with this (Grant, 2010). “Establishing competitive

Through an internal environment analysis, companies can identify and understand their own unique resources, capabilities, and competencies that are required for their sustainable competitive advantage. Resources, capabilities, and core competencies are the foundation of competitive advantage. There is no competitive advantages are permanently sustainable in any companies, so they have to consist on their current advantages and develop new advantages by internally understanding and analyzing their resources and capabilities. Competitors have their own unique resources, capabilities, and core competencies to create values for their customers. Both tangible and intangible resources, which include individual, social and organizational phenomena, are combined to generate capabilities. In turn, company’s capabilities are used to build core competencies. Also, core competencies are as a source of competitive advantage for a company to win in the competitive market.

Operation and Supply chain management (OSCM) is one of the foundations that successful businesses count on to provide a competitive advantage within their industry. The goal of OSCM is to develop and maintain a system that effectively and efficiently manages the flow of raw material resources into useful end products for consumer use (Chase, 2006). In the fast food industry this process takes center stage in maintaining competitive pricing. A review of the production process in two national chains, Whataburger and McDonald’s, showcases each chain’s approaches to OSCM.

This strategy emphasizes the use of an organization’s resources and capabilities to achieve a core competence that cannot be imitated by competitors. Furthermore, the resource based school argues that if an organization distinctively improves its internal capability; that is being able to have effective inside machinery to deliver products and services to customers, the organization will enjoy a massive advantage in the market. This school also argues that in order to have a competitive advantage, an organization must have resource and capabilities that are sophisticated to those of competitors (QuickMBA,

line with the existent nature of McDonald's premises and business model. Thus, it is recommendable to

Resources are the source of the firm’s capabilities. Resources are bundled to create organisational capabilities. Some of a firm’s resources are tangible and intangible. Tangible resources are assets that can be seen and quantified. Intangible resources include assets that typically are rooted deeply in the firm’s history and have accumulated over time. Intangible resources are relatively difficult for competitors to analyse and imitate. The four types of tangible resources are financial, organisational, physical and technological. And the three types of intangible resources are human, innovation and reputational (Hanson, D., Hitt, M., Ireland, R. D., & Hoskisson, R. E., 2011, pp. 75-78).

Competitive advantage is explained by Mahoney and Pandian (1992) as the function of industry analysis, organizational governance and the firm’s effects in the form of resource advantages and strategies. In order for a firm to be competitive it must adapt to the volatile business environment and through strategic management decisions establish a competitive advantage that will ultimately produce superior performance relative to its competitors (Akimova 2000).

The company researched for the purpose of this paper is McDonald 's. This company 's history dates back since 1940 when Mac and Dick McDonald initially opened McDonald 's BBQ restaurant located in San Bernardino, CA. In 1948 they shut down the restaurant, just to reopen it as a self-service drive-in restaurant. According to About McDonald’s (2012), their menu included only 9 items, such as: milk, coffee, soft drinks, cheeseburger, hamburger, potato chips, and a slice of pie. Potato chips were then replaced by French fries. The history of this company is significantly market by Ray Kroc, who in 1954 at a visit to McDonald 's in San Bernardino decides to have a franchise of McDonald 's. A year later, in 1955, he opens his first restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois. The franchising plan allowed growth and by 1965 there were more than 700 restaurants across United States. McDonald 's

As the name suggests, “internal” business environment refers to internal factors and resources that affect the running of the business. This primarily includes the workforce where the employees play a vital role in affecting company’s performance. If a company has well trained or motivated employees, that company is likely to get good output from them. However, if the same company recruits unmotivated employees who do not perform well or dig in their heels when a new plan arrived, this will affect that company’s production levels and ultimately hinder its profitability. Another factor to consider is all the capabilities that a company possesses. The tool used to monitor them is the resource based

exists when the firm is able to deliver the same benefits as competitors but at a