McDonald's - A Case Study

Running head: McDonald’s: A Case Study 1
McDonald’s: A Case Study
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MCDONALD’S: A CASE STUDY 2
Brief History of the Company and its Products and Services
Since its inception in 1940, McDonald's Corporation, an American fast-food company
has continuously served a worldwide chain of 30,000 restaurants. The restaurants were initially
managed by Richard McDonald and his brother, Maurice, in San Bernardino, California. Known
worldwide by the Golden Arches logo, McDonald’s went into franchising in the 1950s and has
recently moved its global headquarters to Chicago. McDonald's is majorly known for selling
hamburgers, assorted chicken and chicken sandwiches, soft drinks, French fries, and desserts. In
certain sensitive and fragile markets, McDonald's offers salads and vegetarian items, wraps, and
localized food products based on the cultural values of the people it serves in such locations.
McDonald’s is a corporation that boasts of 1.7 million employment base and serves over
69 million customers worldwide per day, with 28 million of that population in the United States
alone (Starkman, 2014). The Corporation’s intimidating presence in over a hundred countries
with 37,855 outlets makes its incredible reach a force to reckon with. However, in its effort to
establish a huge presence all over the world, McDonald’s developed its marketing strategies in
line with the needs of its customers, and meeting these needs by listening more attentively
became highly essential to the sustenance of its business. Moreover, as a part of McDonald’s
core business ethics, the corporation excels in consistently providing quality and nutritious foods
to the public.
Description of their customers
McDonald’s majorly focuses is on its customers that include children who love a lot of
goodies and McDonald’s excels in being omnipresent and attracting children with a lot of them
in the form of happy meals and toys. In other words, McDonald’s has continued to develop its
menu to satisfy the ever health-conscious parents who are constantly concerned about the health
of their children. Likewise, Young adults between the ages of 18 – 29, otherwise known as the
millennials, are attracted to McDonald’s because it offers them a lot of tasty meals, trendy music,
vigorous, energetic, and fun activities, which also include customized orders that constantly
appeal to them (Dudovskiy, 2016). In the same vein, adults between the ages of 30 – 45 who are
often conscious of their health are attracted to McDonald’s constantly review its menu, which
offers less in calories and more in healthy choices of meals that include fresh, sustainable, and
organic healthy foods. Most of these young adults are business customers who often stop to grab
some good food quickly during the workday.
McDonald’s current or challenges
The volatility of the fast-food market is a big challenge to McDonald’s Corporation,
which runs a very complicated franchising model. This often puts it at risk of mismanagement,
low-income generation, and customer dissatisfaction because of its lack of total control over the
daily activities of its franchisees. Additionally, McDonald’s faces a serious problem with
intrusions in its supply chain limiting the availability of products and having a direct impact on
its services by reducing revenues. McDonald’s has in recent times suffered reputation damage as
a result of employees’ dissatisfaction with wages. Customers also showed a decline in their
consumption of McDonald’s breakfast menu meaning that it is gradually losing the charm in its
breakfast menu. McDonald’s is currently feeling the pressure of stiff competition from a range of
fast-food chains. Leading competitors like Subway, Burger King, and Wendy’s have been about
a bit, but Chick-fil-A has overnight, turned to “McDonald’s biggest competitor in the fiercely
competitive QSR space” (Kelso, 2018).
However, in trying to keep an edge over its competitors, McDonald’s incurs more
operating cost in maintaining product quality and in trying to cope with constant pressure from
government regulatory agencies, especially when expanding to gain access to more overseas
markets. McDonald’s focus is majorly on food and beverage products, failing to diversify its
products and causing a major weakness exposing the firm to slowdowns in the restaurant market.
Without mincing words, McDonald’s has vigorously used its global appeal to transform its
franchising into a science, such that, it garners the most patronage and maximizes sales by
localizing its franchises and covering the costs of such set-up. McDonald’s smart and prudent
goals of establishing a fast-food restaurant in every corner through aggressive franchising
determine its competitive advantage in the fast-food business (Amor, 2013). This strong strategy
that leverages its key strengths allows McDonald’s to attain economies of scale through
operational efficiencies and creating an environment where it has continuously achieved its
crucial targets and robust business processes.

References
Amor A. (2013). McDonald’s Competitive Strategy, Munich, GRIN Verlag,
https://www.grin.com/document/269111
Dudovskiy, J. (2016, February 8). McDonald’s business strategy and competitive advantage.
Research-Methodology. https://research-methodology.net/mcdonalds-business-strategy/
Kelso, A. (2018, December 20). Chick-fil-A is now McDonald's biggest threat. Forbes.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/aliciakelso/2018/12/20/how-chick-fil-a-positioned-itself-to-
be-mcdonalds-biggest-threat/#4dfb9c1f1ae7
Starkman, N. (2014, October 13). What McDonald’s new 'Transparency' campaign is hiding.
Time. https://time.com/3501921/mcdonalds-transparency-campaign/

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What are McDonald's major products and services?

Who are McDonald's major customer segments?

Running head: McDonald’s: A Case Study 1

McDonald’s: A Case Study

[Include any grant/funding information and a complete correspondence address.]

Brief History of the Company and its Products and Services

Since its inception in 1940, McDonald's Corporation, an American fast-food company

Description of their customers

some good food quickly during the workday.

McDonald’s current or challenges

The volatility of the fast-food market is a big challenge to McDonald’s Corporation,

competitive QSR space” (Kelso, 2018).

goals of establishing a fast-food restaurant in every corner through aggressive franchising

crucial targets and robust business processes.

Amor A. (2013). McDonald’s Competitive Strategy, Munich, GRIN Verlag,

Kelso, A. (2018, December 20). Chick-fil-A is now McDonald's biggest threat. Forbes.

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