Analysis Of Mcdonald's Corporation

About everyone at some age, at some point or another, and in some country has gotten a sample of American's symbol for fast food through the golden arches of McDonald's. This report will attempt to analyze the external and internal sectors that affect the company's success. The external analysis will provide opportunities and threats while the internal analysis will show indicators of strength and weakness. It will then follow up with critical issues, strategic alternatives, recommendations and implementation. The case studied is found in Appendix 2 of Mary Coulter's "Strategic Management in Action" book.

McDonald's Corporation is considered to be the largest fast-food operator in the entire World and was initially formed in 1955 after Ray Kroc had pitched the idea of opening up numerous restaurants founded on the original which was owned by Mac and Dick Mac McDonald. McDonald's in 1965 decided to go public and then introduced its flagship product, which was the Big Mac, sometime in 1968 (Botterill, 2007). Today, McDonald's functions beyond 40,000 restaurants in over 200 nations and have one of the world's most extensively recognized brand names. McDonald's sales started hitting around the mark of $58 billion corporation -wide and over $30 billion in the United States alone in 2012 (S&P).

Since Richard and Maurice McDonald founded in 1948, McDonald's has grown from a small restaurant in California into one of the most recognized brands in the world with a chain of outlets that spans the globe. For over 50 years, McDonald's defined the fast food industry while indelibly etching its golden arches logo on the face of both American and global culture through such icons as character Ronald McDonald and the Big Mac sandwich. Millions of people started their very first jobs at McDonalds while even more began to have their eating habits redefined by the chain. Concepts like the drive-thru window were introduced along with the Happy Meal for children in order to provide a fast, affordable, and enjoyable dining. Ray Kroc, saleman

Also in 1965, McDonald’s first went public with an initial stock price of $22.50 per share. In 1969, the McDonald’s logo was revamped concentrating more on the famous golden arches. Emphasizing on the Golden Arches allowed for an easy global transition and recognition.

Answer: McDonald’s business strategy is a specialization strategy. The organization is built on a foundation that gives it a competitive advantage and a business strategy that is consistent, flexible, and specialized. McDonald’s niche market is people. According to the case study, people are the company’s most important asset and its success depends on the satisfaction of its customers which begins with workers who have the attitudes and abilities required to work

REFERENCES•www.mcdonalds.com, accessed on 18 July, 2008•www.mcdonldsindia.net, accessed on 18 July, 2008•en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald's, accessed on 19 July, 2008•http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/263943/mcdonalds_strategic_marketing_mix.html?cat=4, accessed on 19 July, 2008•www.kfc.com, accessed on 25 August, 2008

Due to globalization and increased competition in the fast food industry, a very complex environment is created for McDonald’s. There are various internal and external environmental factors affecting the functions of McDonald’s corporation and demands for new innovations. The factors are as follows:

McDonald’s began as a barbeque, and the brothers strictly offered burgers, fries, and pop. Ray Kroc heard about McDonald’s one day and went to visit the restaurant. Kroc was surprised by their efficiency and the quality of the food. Kroc liked the fact that the brothers could focus on the quality of food, due to the limited menu items. Subsequently Kroc realized their success could amount to much more and shared his vision. Kroc told the McDonald brothers that McDonald’s could be a national business serving people across the country. (At this point, Kroc did not even think about being international). Dick and Mac were thrilled with what they heard, so in 1955 Kroc founded the McDonald’s Corporation and opened the first McDonald’s in Des Plaines, Illinois. By 1960 Kroc had bought exclusive rights to McDonald’s. In 1961, Kroc developed Hamburger University where new employees were trained on how to run a successful McDonald's. Kroc wanted to develop the most efficient methods to store, cook, and sell food, so he had a laboratory built at Hamburger University where students' test different ways to make McDonald's more productive. Hamburger University is still in use today in the search for ways to better McDonald’s. McDonald’s had their first sit-down restaurant in 1962, and then in 1975, McDonald’s had opened their first drive-thru restaurant in Arizona. The first drive-thru restaurant was

Ownership – Treorchy Comprehensive School is a public sector school so this means it’s owned by the local authority (Rhondda Cynon Taff County Borough Council). The board of governors determines the strategy of the school and the SMT run the school on a daily basis. However, they are limited by what RCT and the welsh Assembly Government tell them what to do.

Around 95 percent of American households have a television, and with that 95 percent the average american home will have at least one television turned on for around 7 hours according to the group TV-Free America. They also state that a child will watch around 20,000 commercials a year. But that is just commercials there are also posters and ads on the radio as well, meaning that you cannot escape the overwhelming amount of advertisements out there. Not only are there thousands of commercials being seen each year, but also there are certain ways as to how these commercials are designed and delivered. We give these very little thought but the companies slogans seem to stick to us like glue.

In 1954 Ray Kroc became the first franchisee appointed by Mac and Dick McDonald in San

McDonalds Corporation had developed to become the leading fast-food chain of restaurants since its inception to the extent that it serves more than 47 million customers across the globe on a daily basis. The corporation is the largest global food-service retailer since it has over 30,000 local restaurants that serve approximately 52 million people in over 100 countries every day. One of the critical factors attributed to the success of McDonald's global business is operations management, which focuses on the careful control of processes that are used in manufacturing and distribution of goods and/or services.

On 2/16/10 Burger King, the second largest U.S. hamburger chain after McDonald 's, said it would serve Starbuck’s “Seattle 's Best” coffee in about 7,250 U.S. outlets by September making it a direct challenge to McDonald’s strong sales of its new coffee items. On the other hand, TheStreet.com Ratings Investment Analyst Jake Lynch recently reported McDonald’s to be a top dividend-paying stock to buy because its fourth-quarter net income increased 23% to $1.2 billion, revenue jumped 7.3% to $6 billion, and its stock has increased 15% in the past year.

The main problem from McDonald's case, McDonald's Polishing the Golden Arches, is how to classify McDonald's strategy through Plan to Win into one of the five generic competitive strategies. Before we solve this main problem, we should determine the chief economic and business characteristics, the five forces analysis, and also the driving forces of the fast-food industry. After that we identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats by using SWOT analysis. Finally, we classify McDonald's strategy into one of the five generic competitive strategies.

"i 'm lovin ' it is a key part of McDonald 's business strategy to connect with customers in highly relevant, culturally significant ways around the world."