Taking a Look at McDonald's

McDonald’s serves roughly 68 million customers a day throughout their 36900 operational stores in 120 countries with 375000 employees all striving to produce what we know as McDonalds. Their menu consists of mainly burgers, fries, chicken, soft drinks, milkshakes, salads and wraps. McDonalds is also known for changing their menu to cater for local taste and culture.

McDonald's marketing targets everyone in every age,gender,races and does not have a select audience. The company claims that their restaurants offer meals for youngsters, a serene place to relax with free wi-fi for adults, and a quick delicious breakfast for those in a hurry in the morning.

McDonald's has been very successful with its global expansion. As of the end of year 2000, there were more restaurants outside the US than in the country of their origin. With comfortable and inviting restaurant atmosphere allows them to enhance their customer conveniences. They have remodelled over 5000 restaurants around the world creating more contemporary environments and strengthening perceptions for both adults and kids. Another reason why McDonald’s is very popular is that they are staying open longer and in some parts they provide 24 hr service, accepting debit and credit cards and enabling wireless connections in restaurants. They are providing more service with delivery and adding double drive thru lanes in restaurants.

In order to do this, McDonalds store must be efficient and keep everyday operations costs as low as possible. In this way, this will allow for the stores to be superior to other fast food restaurants because McDonalds can serve it food at lower prices than any other fast food company. Besides, another important competitive advantage is at McDonalds they have the speedy delivery of the food. In order to maintain this advantage over other fast food chains, McDonalds must make the process of cooking food simple for all the employees. It must be easy to learn and easy to achieve with a low failure rate to make sure the quick production and delivery of the food. These two competitive advantages obey with the vision of the company which is as follow: “McDonald’s vision is to be the world’s best quick service restaurant experience. To be the best means providing outstanding quality, service, cleanliness and value, so as to make every customer in every restaurant

It is said that the food at McDonald’s is promoted as being nutritious, however what is really being served by McDonald’s is junk food - foods exceedingly high in sugar, fat and salt, and reasonably low in fibre and vitamins.

McDonald’s is known as one of the largest global fast food chains in the America and the largest restaurant company in the world (p.5 SWOT). It was founded in 1954 by Ray Kroc in California (McDonald’s 2017 ). They have about 36,899 local restaurants that serve about 50 million people in more 100 countries every day (SWOT Analysis 2017, 5). Recently, McDonald’s has been ranked as the top 20 brands in the 100 most powerful companies (SWOT Analysis 2017, 5). Their strong brand portfolio has allowed them to sustain themselves as the number one in the fast food chain

Another strength of McDonald’s is the ability to offer menu to cater to local cultures. McDonald’s offers standard menu, whereby customers are able to obtain the similar taste whether they are eating a Big Mac in Moscow or United States. Nevertheless, McDonald’s also offers cultural diversity in its menus it offers to adapt with local cultures. This will supplement its sales in each specific region. For example, “Halal” menus are provided by McDonald’s to conform to Islamic food preparation in Muslim Countries.

Almost everyone has eaten at a McDonald’s location and roughly 1 out of every 10 people has worked at this fast food chain at some point in their lives. I belong to both these groups and I have also heard much of this restaurant from business school. The corporation has a few simple goals that are versatile in different environments and cultures. “McDonald's main aims are to serve good food in a friendly and fun environment, to be a socially responsible company, and to provide good returns to its shareholders.” (McDonald’s). These are the principles that guide MCD both domestically and globally.

McDonald’s main selling products are hamburgers, french fries and milkshakes and that is also something that McDonald’s is so famous for until now.

The McDonald’s Corporation is the world 's leading fast food service retailer. In 1948, This infamous fast food company initially began as a small hamburger stand in Des Plaines, Illinois. This restaurant which would soon become a market leading force. It was founded by two brothers, Dick and Mac Donald. McDonald’s currently has over 30,000 restaurants in over 100 countries. McDonalds serves nearly 47 million customers daily. It is one of the worlds most well-known brands and is a significant leader in the highly globally competitive food industry. McDonald’s has numerous social and economic influences across the world. Thus, McDonald’s has become an inherent aspect of various cultures world wide. Its menu consists of a very diverse food group. This includes foods such as; Hamburgers, Apple Pies, Sausage Biscuits, etc. McDonalds also implements locally adapted food menus. As there are McDonalds over 119 countries, the diverse cultures’ taste buds are different from European or US consumers. Although the menu may attract an array of customers, McDonald’s consistently makes minimal changes that will maximize results. As a result of many changes in the habits of many individuals world wide, competition and other factors such as the economy and profit loss, McDonalds attempts to continue new innovations and services. These attempts are in hope of maintaining old customers, attracting new customers and ultimately increasing revenue and profit. Over the past 60 years,

McDonalds is one of the few companies that is recognizable in almost every country around the world. McDonald’s defendable market niche is rooted in simplicity. McDonald’s famous golden arches and its bright-colored, smiling clown named Ronald, both stand for a brand that produces superior friendly customer service, standard uniformity for efficiency, convenience to customers, quality, and cleanliness.

Strengths of the hierarchy is McDonald’s Cheat prices is McDonald’s main competitive advantage. The company is engaged in an extensive utilization of economies of scale to achieve the cost advantage. McDonald 's economies of scale benefit the company in various ways in its international endeavours, including: the fact that its uniform menu offerings can be mass produced, lowering production costs; the company 's bargaining power with its suppliers lowers its input costs and boosts margins; the company 's large advertising budget gives McDonald 's a significant competitive advantage over its competitors. Presently 60% of McDonald 's sales occur outside of the U.S. In my opinion, by tapping into this growing global middle class the company 's international operations will continue to post strong same store and new store sales growth overall into the next decade.

McDonalds is a longtime leader in the fast food business. Since its opening in 1954 it has seen tremendous growth to about 30,000 plus restaurants and credit of serving about 43 million people in 100 different countries every day. The success and strategies of the company are celebrated often in the world media. The company had to focus on their core

McDonald’s Corporation has continued to evolve in the fast-food industry, and introduced a more contemporary look and new menu items, while altering traditional favorites. The changes we see before us today, are all a part of the company’s strategic plan. However, five things still remain a priority in McDonald’s strategy; people, products, place, price, and promotion. The company depends on each of these core drivers to create opportunities for McDonald’s Corporation. During my research I have taken a look at how some of McDonald’s competitors measure up to the company. However, in this paper I will be discussing Burger King’s position compared to McDonald’s by using some of the recent articles I read about the fast-food restaurant business. Additionally, I will be summarizing McDonald’s strategies and performance in 2010, and the effectiveness of the company’s strategies. Lastly, I will discuss some recommendations that I would offer McDonald’s chief executive officer.

The McDonald’s Corporation is one of the most successful global restaurant chains around the world. They have used effective management and global expansion strategies to enter and gain a share of the foreign market.