McDonald's Case

Strengths

* McDonald's has already established themselves as a well-recognized brand worldwide, and they continue to do well even during time of economic recession. They have a powerful business strategy that works well for them. Their main strategy is to make everything uniform across all their restaurants to include those that are franchise owned.

* McDonald's has a great franchising strategy, as most of their restaurants are owned by franchisees. This works well for McDonald's because they get to put their presence in more locations and earn revenues from the franchise. Additionally, they provide everything for their franchisees.

* McDonald was recognized as the #10 most admired company in the world by Fortune Magazine and Forbes Magazine recognized them as having the most valuable brand in 2010.

* McDonald's is a great place for employment and career progression. Currently 40 percent of McDonald's top managers including the CEO Joe Skinner worked their way from the cash register into management positions. McDonald's was also votes as the best company for hourly worker who make up approximately 90 percent of McDonald's work force .

* McDonald's has great customer service and because of their size, they are able to offer their products to customers at a cheaper price than their competitors.

* They have a strong global presence and they adjust their menus to blend in with the culture of the country in which they operate. For example, they offer lamb in the Middle Ease and in India.

Weaknesses

* There is no real long-term strategy except that they are trying to expand globally to as many locations as possible to corner as much of the fast food market as they possibly can.

* There are many competitors in the fast food industry and McDonald's have to keep cutting cost to maintain the competitive edge.

* McDonald's experience high employee turnover ratio because most of the employees are teenagers and those who are looking for temporary employment. As a result, large amount of money is spent on training.

* Bad press from government and special interest groups stating that their products are unhealthy and that they lead to obesity.

* McDonald's have a restrictive menu and franchisee cannot deviate from the original menu.