Strategies Adopted by McDonalds

1. Company Overview

McDonald's is a leading global retailer within the quick service industry. The company has evolved into a multi national corporation serves around 69 million people in over 119 countries every day.

The company very famously runs upon a successful operating system making huge returns in 1991, which amazed their key competitors like that of KFC, Starbucks and Burger King.

McDonald's primary goal is to become their buyers place to eat and drink, by using their main core products like that of their French Fries, Big Mac and Chicken McNuggets. (Slack, N. & Lewis, M. (2012))

2. Strategic goals of the company

The strategic goal of McDonald's Corporation is to stay and succeed to be consistent and to deliver and facilitate locally relevant restaurant feelings to their buyers and to also be a major part of the local communities that they serve in. To also use their ability to "identify, implement and scale innovative ideas that meet customers' changing needs and preferences." (Slack and Lewis, 2012)

McDonalds Corporation also felt that having 'exact product specifications' through all franchises and 'customised equipment' within the McDonalds supply chain using the same suppliers. Kroc who held the "national marketing rights" (Slack and Lewis 2012) made sure that all products were of exceptional quality and kept up to this standard or above and to also create a new improved operating system that would build a great supply chain between the McDonald corporation, suppliers and franchises. Slack and Lewis (2012)

With becoming a corporation with such a large international span, and having production facilities in now 119 countries meant that managing the supply and demand for their products would be essential to the overall success of the corporation. Thus McDonalds Corporation used their control over the entire supply chain up until the buyer making this an overall 'order winner for their products and services they provide.

3. Summary of the Goals

1. To stay and succeed to be consistent within their market

2. To deliver and facilitate locally relevant restaurant feelings to their buyers

3. To become a major part to the local community.

4. To keep up to date with the changing needs of their customers/buyers

5. Keeping up to date with the supply and demand of their products and services

4. Identifying Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT Analysis) in the McDonald Corporation.

Strengths: Strong brand, customer intimacy, product innovation and supplier integration.

Weaknesses: Low depth and width of product.

Opportunities: Health conscious society

Threats: Competitors and legal cases.

Please see details on the above factors in appendix 1.

5. The Strategy Adopted by McDonalds Corporation to reach its goals.

With McDonalds being the most successful fast food chain in the world, we can identify many successful business strategy implementations.

McDonald's cannot always be at the top. In fact statistical surveys shows that McDonald's comes very close to last in the category of fast-food restaurants. In 2002, McDonald's saw its first loss; one of the main reasons why McDonald's had a dip is due to the customers going to the competition, like Burger King and Subway. These companies offered more fresher, hotter, higher quality fast food at a distinctively lower price with quicker service. Due to this McDonald's decided to close 719 inefficient restaurants around the world, as they showed that McDonald was not competitive enough in the market. If adaption within McDonalds external environment didn't change, they might slowly disappear and be replaced. So in order to keep there market share and increase their sales and profits, McDonald's responded to the threat of competitors. In 2003, McDonald's offered the Griddles sandwiches in the US and the Canada and featured a new line of breakfasts. At the same time Chicken Premiere and a couple of other lines had been introduced within Europe. McDonald's main point was to overcome customer's desire for quality products at cheapish prices. ' Happy Meal' also became more developed to keep the children introducing a few more lines. These attracted new customers and existed ones. (Eisenberg, D. (2002)).

In addition to the changes in the menu, McDonald's rebuilt and relocated restaurants to make the environment easier for their customers. (Slack, N. & Lewis, M. (2012)) At the same time, distinguishing itself by creating more, this included access of the Internet wirelessly. Attracting teenagers and professionals

With the economy developing, people's standards increased. One main development is the concern on health issues; people believe that fast food is not good for them. The world health organisation's presented a report that McDonalds fast food can cause obesity, which can later also cause cancer. These issues affected McDonald's causing a block. Customers moved again back to healthier offerings in the market, Subway's and KFC. In order to meet market what we could call market qualifiers in which healthy eating has become one within fast food, McDonald's added its order qualifier, which consists of salads, and low fat options into their menu.

The focus on children also brought in a new strategy for McDonalds who have paid a lot of attention to children building 'happy land' and "happy meals" with toys. Recently over the past 6 years McDonald's has been launching computers games inspire and shape the children's characteristics. The main reasons why McDonald's focuses on children:

(1) Children are the biggest customers groups to McDonald's due to the brand name.

(2) Focusing on children builds a steady business and provides encouragement to the whole family to come to McDonald's.

(3) By Building a brand loyalty with the children is shown,

This