McDonalds Case Study

McDonald's Corporation is the world's leading food service organization. The company started out as a small drive through in 1948 by two brothers, Dick and Mac McDonald. Ray Kroc, a salesman, saw a great opportunity in this market and advised Dick and Mac to expand their operation and open new restaurants. In 1961 Kroc bought out the McDonald brothers and by 1967 McDonalds expanded its operations to countries outside of the United States (Daszkowsky, 2009). This expansion has led the Corporation to open more than 30,000 McDonald's restaurants in over 120 countries, producing billions of dollars in annual revenues. McDonalds was able to expand so rapidly and become the leader in the fast food industry because they were able to adapt to changing consumer demands, they give back to the community by way of charity, and their enormous size allows them to keep prices competitive. The businesses strengths and weaknesses also have a lot to do with the success McDonald's has today.

Throughout the past three decades they have simply been a hamburger and fries Restaurant. Growing customer wants and needs along with increased competition has forced them to alter and improve their menu to better fit the environment. To keep up with the competition McDonald's has changed their menu quite a bit. They successfully and easily adapt their global restaurants to appeal to the cultural differences. For example, they serve lamb burgers in India and in the Middle East they provide separate entrances for families and single women. They have added salads and oatmeal for the more health conscious person. For the customers who love coffee they have added a whole line of flavored lattes and frappes. To keep the customers interest McDonald's has special promotional items that only come for a limited time. The McRib is just one example of a promotional item they have once a year. If you have a sweet tooth McDonald's has a whole line of Mcflurries, which consist of ice cream mixed with a candy topping of your choice. They also serve strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla triple thick shakes. When I talked to Terry Finn, the owner of an eastside McDonalds he said "Our ice cream machine is probably the most profitable machine that we have other than our grills."

McDonald's is a community oriented socially responsible company. They run the Ronald McDonald house facilities which provide room and board along with sibling support at a cost of only ten dollars a day for children needing extensive hospital care. Ronald McDonald houses are located in more than 259 local communities worldwide. They also have Ronald McDonald Care Mobile programs which offer cost effective medical, dental, and educational services to children. You can help donate money at any McDonald's restaurant in the Ronald McDonald House boxes located on the front counter and in the drive thru lane. You can also donate the tabs from the top of pop cans to the Ronald McDonald House. All of the tabs collected by McDonald's are taken to the local recycling center and weighed. When a large enough quantity is collected the recycling center sends the local Ronald McDonald House Charity the check.

McDonald's has a strong global presence with its nearest domestic competitor being only half its size. McDonald's is able to have a reasonably priced menu because of its enormous size and its huge global presence. In international markets McDonald's is well placed to expand and take advantage of long-term economic growth (Baker, 2010). McDonald's also has a strong real estate portfolio. The company's outlets are located in