Table of Contents1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.................................................................................................................2
2 INTRODUCTION TO McDonalds.....................................................................................................3
2.1 MISSION & VISION..................................................................................................................3
3 MEGA ENVIRONMENT...................................................................................................................6
3.1 ECONOMIC SEGMENT............................................................................................................6
3.1.1 NET DISPOSABLE INCOME............................................................................................7
3.1.2 INTEREST RATE...............................................................................................................7
3.1.3 UNEMPLOYMENT RATE.................................................................................................7
3.1.4 INFLATION........................................................................................................................8
3.1.5 GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP)............................................................................8
3.2 INTERNATIONAL SEGMENT.................................................................................................9
3.2.1 TRADE BARRIERS............................................................................................................9
3.2.2 TRADE RISK....................................................................................................................10
3.2.3 TRADE BENEFITS...........................................................................................................10
4 TASK ENVIRONMENT...................................................................................................................11
4.1 SUPPLIERS..............................................................................................................................11
4.2 COMPETITORS.......................................................................................................................13
5 LEADERSHIP...................................................................................................................................15
5.1 7 TRAITS ASSOCIATED WITH LEADERSHIP....................................................................15
5.2 CORPORATE & WORK CULTURE.......................................................................................17
5.2.1 WORK CULTURE: McDonalds Work Culture is as follows given in their website:........17
5.2.2 MOTIVATION..................................................................................................................18
5.2.3 TRAINING & EDUCATION............................................................................................18
6 CONCLUSION.................................................................................................................................19
7 REFERENCES..................................................................................................................................20
1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This case study is to research the factors that affect or have influence on McDonalds.
Before the company’s’ analysed this report will give an overview of McDonalds background and
history. The mega environment and task environment of the company will be discussed in this
research. Furthermore McDonalds current leader, Jim Skinners’ leadership skills will be
discussed.
2 INTRODUCTION TO McDonalds
The long journey of McDonalds started when two brothers Dick & Mac McDonalds
initial single drive-in restaurant in San Bernardino, California, 1940. In 1948 they closed and
reopened the restaurant to sell only hamburgers, milkshakes & French fries. In 1954 the
entrepreneur and milkshake-mixer sales man, Ray Kroc acquired the franchise of McDonald’s
restaurant. In effect Kroc opened his first restaurant in Illinois, Chicago and gave birth to
“McDonald’s Corporation”. Since the birth McDonalds have emerged as multinational company
& the leading fast-food chains in world with more than 33,000 local restaurants serving more
than 64 million people in 119 countries each day.
2.1 MISSION & VISION
Mission is a set of organizational goals that include both the purpose of the
organization, its scope of the operations and the basis of its competitive advantage. In other
word it reveals what an organization wants to be and whom it wants to serve, it answers the
question “What is our business”.
The mission statement of McDonalds is given below:
“McDonald's brand mission is to "be our customers' favorite place and way to
eat." Our worldwide operations have been aligned around a global strategy called the
Plan to Win centering on the five basics of an exceptional customer experience – People,
Products, Place, Price and Promotion. We are committed to improving our operations and
enhancing our customers' experience.”
Vision is a goal which is massively inspiring, overarching and long-term. This
can be an organizational goal(s) that evoke(s) powerful and compelling mental images.
Vision answers the question “What do we want to become”. Below is the vision
statement of McDonalds.
“Our vision is to provide the world’s premier quick service restaurant experience.
Being the best means providing outstanding quality, service, cleanliness and value.”
McDonalds brand promise is: To provide Simple Easy Enjoyment to every
customer at every visit.
These following core values guide McDonalds actions they we strive to achieve their mission.
Logo Description
We place the customer experience at the core off all we do
Our customers are the reason for our existence. We
demonstrate our appreciation by providing them with high
quality food and superior service, in a clean, welcoming
environment, at great value. Our goal is outstanding QSC&V
for each customer every time.
We are committed to our people
We provide opportunity, recognize talent, and develop leaders.
We believe that a diverse team of well-trained individuals
working together in an environment that fosters respect and
drives high levels of engagement is essential to our continued
success.
We believe in the McDonald’s system
McDonald’s business model, depicted by the “three-legged
stool” of owner/operators, suppliers, and company employees,
is our foundation, and the balance of interests among the three
groups is key.
We operate our business ethically
Sound ethics is good business. At McDonald’s, we hold
ourselves and conduct our business to the highest possible
standards of fairness, honesty, and integrity. We are
individually accountable and collectively responsible.
We give back to our communities
We take seriously the responsibilities that come with being a
leader. We help our customers build better communities,
support RMHC, and leverage our size, scope and resources to
help make the world a better place. We are committed to
sustainable business practices and are determined to conduct
our operations in a manner that does not compromise the
ability of future generations to meet their needs
We grow our business profitably
Our stakeholders support our ability to serve our customers. In
return, we work to provide sustained, profitable growth for all
members of our system and our investors
We strive continually to improve
We consider ourselves a learning organization that is green and
growing which anticipates and responds to changing customer,
employee, system and community needs through constant
evolution and innovation.
3 MEGA ENVIRONMENT
Mega environment consists of factors that can have dramatic effects on company
strategy. Company has little ability to predict the events in mega environment and therefore less
ability to control them. General environment is divided in to five elements: economic,
international, technological, sociocultural and legal-political element.
Two mega environment factors which have effects on the success of McDonalds will be
discussed.
3.1 ECONOMIC SEGMENT
The state of the country’s economy has an impact on all companies, same applied for the
McDonalds all around globe. Economic factors which have a direct impact on potential
attractiveness of McDonald’s strategies.
Some of the key economic factors which affect McDonalds Internationally are analyzed
on the next page.
3.1.1 NET DISPOSABLE INCOME
Disposable income is the amount of the money households have
available for spending & saving after deducting income tax.
Disposable income is a major factor which effects McDonalds sales
and revenue. When the net disposable income of customers or
people increases, they spending power of consumers will increase
thereby increases the spending of consumers on McDonald’s
products. As more consumers purchase or McDonald’s products,
McDonalds sales figures will increase, thus rise in their net income
and vice versa.
3.1.2 INTEREST RATE Bank loans and finance companies are very important for
McDonald’s investments and for other purposes. When there is a
high interest rate the amount the company has to repay as a loan
will be higher and this will reduce the company’s investments and
finances for fixed assets. This will have same effect for
McDonalds.
As McDonalds sell their shares in stock market and allow
people to invest in their business, interest rates will affect how
much money people invest in McDonalds and its stock.
3.1.3 UNEMPLOYMENT RATE When the unemployment rate of a country is relatively low, it
means that there are more people who are working thereby
generating more income. This leads consumers to have a higher
disposable income thus increasing the sales of McDonald’s
products and their revenue and vice versa.
In January 2010, the fast-food giant reported that their sales
figures slipped. Analysts said that it was mainly due to the
unemployment rate in U.S
There is also a benefit for McDonalds when one of their
franchise countries when unemployment rises. When
unemployment rises, McDonalds can hire staffs at a cheaper wages.
3.1.4 INFLATIONInflation is the rate at which the general level of prices for
goods & services is rising and subsequently purchasing
power is falling. By the definition when the raw materials
or core ingredients prices of McDonalds rises, it will
affect their cost of production and thus rise in the final
price of the product. This will have a negative effect on
company as it will lose its customers due to high prices
and reducing their net income. This will also reduce their
shares in global market & Vice versa.
In April 2011, McDonalds warned about higher food
inflation. Shares fell 1.5 percent after McDonalds said it
planned to offset some, but not all, of its higher food costs,
with small price increases throughout the year.
3.1.5 GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP)
GDP is the monetary value of all the finished goods and
services produced within a country's borders in a specific time
period. GDP is commonly used as an indicator of the economic
health of a country, as well as to gauge a country's standard of
living. As mentioned, when a country’s GDP is high, the
standard of living of people will be higher, thus households
have higher spending power. This will increase the sales and
revenues of McDonalds in that country. A high GDP will also
interest investors to invest in the company and will be better
market to sell its shares at the best price. And vice versa.
3.2 INTERNATIONAL SEGMENT
First let's ask our self-what's mean's international management?
"A process of accomplishing the global objectives of a firm"
When we can say this firm it's international?
It's an enterprise that has operations in two or more countries.
As we know McDonald's is the leading global foodservice retailer with more than 33,000 local
restaurants in 119 countries around the world,
3.2.1 TRADE BARRIERSTo be international restaurants it's not that easy there's many Hindrances in the
export and import to other countries.
Customs inspection, they carefully examining the foods they see their validity, and if
the result is expired it you will lose the charge and fines on that.
Cost for shipping, it's expensive especially in seasons in the same time any accident
can't happen in the way.
International competition, always the international market they have a good quality
the only danger faced by the local market for many reasons
The international they have fixed price they can't go down more than that because
they calculated, import and customs to get the profit, in addition local market always
support by the government, Commercial law gives more powers of local
restaurants from international restaurants.
3.2.2 TRADE RISKTo be international restaurants it's all about time everything must come on time.
When import the food it will in fridge but there's limited time to be there after that
it will be expired.
3.2.3 TRADE BENEFITSAs we have a risk In contrast we have benefits
Maybe McDonald found good supplies for materials cheaper than USA.
They can find also from countries a famous in technology to support them to
connect the restaurant together.
Take the experiences of other countries.
Some countries they allowed to import without customs.
They build a trust with other countries if now McDonald want to open a new
business he I'll acceptable anywhere around the world.
4 TASK ENVIRONMENT
Task environment or can be called as specific environment is an external
circumstances that a company has to deal with. The environment can be changed as the time
goes by so this will directly impact to the decisions making and the actions the manager will
take and eventually have an impact on the company’s ability to achieve goals. Each
company has their own unique task environment as they have different target markets so
they have to consider with different factors. The elements of McDonald’s task environment
are considered as: customers, suppliers, competitors, pressure groups, employees and
government agency.
From the above mentioned elements suppliers and competitors which have high
effects on the success of McDonalds will be discussed.
4.1 SUPPLIERS
Suppliers from the word of supply which mean make (something needed or wanted)
available to someone, provide. The plural form of supply is supplies which mean a stock or
amount of something supplied or available for use and suppliers is the person or the company
that initiated the supply. For the company, suppliers are one of the most important parts as they
are who keep the needs of the company flown in continuously, not only goods but they also
provide financial and labor inputs. By knowing the important role of suppliers, McDonalds put
their suppliers as “The Three-Legged Stool”.
“The Three-Legged Stool” is the way McDonalds makes a strong foundation for their
business. Those McDonalds’s three important pillars are their employees, their franchisees and
their suppliers. Now, we focused on McDonalds’s supplier which providing food, packaging and
other products and services.
McDonalds has a high requirement for their suppliers. As they want a great quality to
provide a great taste for their foods, McDonalds needs the finest and freshest ingredients. So, to
achieve the standard their suppliers have to fulfill few requirements such as the food safety
policy, have a standardize preparation, high social, environmental and animal welfare standards
and namely leading company. Some of McDonald’s suppliers are given below.
FOOD SUPPLIERS DRINK & BEVERAGES SUPPLIERS
Keystone Foods – Chicken McNuggets Coca-ColaLopez Foods – pure beef patties Nestle100 Circle Farms – potatoes Gavina Gourmet CoffeeDinding Poultry FonterraTPC Plus – eggs Dutch LadyCargill
McDonalds as a well-known fast food company has a standards about their food quality.
As we can see, McDonalds has suppliers who could be trusted, not only trusted by McDonalds
but also with their customer. This trust based on the supplier performance which already proved
with a certification and based on how many loyal customer they have, for example one of the
McDonalds supplier, Coca-Cola, their products are certified, well-known and most favored soft
drink by everyone.
4.2 COMPETITORS
“……. In management terms, the definition of competitors means any person or entity
which is a rival against another. It is also an organization in the similar industry which offers
the same product or service……”
McDonalds has two different types of competitors, direct competitor and indirect
competitor. McDonalds faces more competitors directly compared to indirect competitors. One
of the examples of direct competitors of McDonalds are Burger King and Wendy’s, whereas
indirect competitors are Dominos, Pizza Hut and many more.
Company McDonalds Burger King
Cost Reasonable Reasonable
Promotions Various Seldom
Franchise/Outlets Worldwide Worldwide
Customer Service Good Satisfying
Table 1 difference between McDonalds and Burger King
Let’s say we take Burger King as an example to show how McDonalds overcome this
company. Table 1 above shows the difference between McDonalds and one of the closest direct
competitors that McDonalds is facing, Burger King. In terms of cost for both companies,
McDonalds is just as reasonable compared to Burger King. McDonalds has plenty of promotions
compared to Burger King which do have promotions but not as many as McDonalds. This is a
marketing strategy that McDonalds uses to overcome their competitors.
Speaking on franchise/outlets and customer service, McDonalds overcome the
competitors with worldwide franchise and outlets everywhere, ensuring good customer service
which makes the company even more successful. No matter wherever customers are, there are
always McDonalds everywhere even though customers are outstation; they can enjoy anywhere,
anytime. Therefore, it shows the numbers of McDonalds around the world. McDonalds also
places great value on its employees which is the reason why McDonalds is consistently known as
one of the top companies to work.
It is clear that McDonalds faces many competitors at the same time able to overcome them
and produce a prestigious fast food company. Thereby McDonalds have competitive advantage
over their rivals.
5 LEADERSHIP
As McDonalds Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Jim Skinner
leads the world’s largest fast food company with 33,000 restaurants in 119
countries. Upon, becoming CEO in 2004, Jim Skinner set three top priorities for
his leadership: long-term sustainable growth for the company; talent
management and leadership development; and promoting balanced active
lifestyles.
5.1 7 TRAITS ASSOCIATED WITH LEADERSHIPDrive: exhibit high effort level As McDonalds Leader Jim Skinner has worked
very hard on making the business successful and
achieving its goals. So we know he has the high
effort level.
Desire to lead: leaders have strong desire to influence &
lead others.
As President and Chief Operating Officer
of the McDonald’s Restaurant Group, skinner led
the operating for all of the company’s global
restaurants.
Honesty & Integrity: leaders build trusting relationship
within company, followers & outside relationships.
Consistency in word & deed
Skinner previously worked as Executive
Vice President and International Relationship
Partner for Central Europe, Middle East, Africa,
and India and has made trustworthy relationships
around the world.
Self-confidence: leaders have to show their confidence in
rightfulness of company’s goals & strategies.
Skinner has always been confident with the
business strategies and made McDonalds achieve
its goals.
Intelligence: leaders must be intelligent enough to gather,
synthesize & interpret information and need to be able to
create visions, solve problems & make correct decisions.
Skinner is one of the three architects of
McDonald’s worldwide revitalization plan
launched in 2003 that turned the company around
and re-focused on customer strategies, business
disciplines and close global alignment. As he
became CEO he made his top priorities as: talent
management and leadership development; and
promoting balanced active lifestyles.
Job Relevant Knowledge: they should have high degree of
knowledge about company, industry and technical matters.
Skinner began his career in 1971 as a restaurant
manager trainee and since then has held numerous
leadership positions. Skinner served as Vice
Chairman of McDonald's Corporation, and had
management responsibility for APMEA and Latin
America, in addition to overseeing most corporate
staff functions. Since the beginning of 2003, he
was accountable for McDonald’s Japan Limited.
Before becoming Vice Chairman, he served as
President and Chief Operating Officer of the
McDonald’s Restaurant Group, with operating
leadership for all of the company’s global
restaurants. With these experiences he has lot of
knowledge about McDonalds and its operations.
Extraversion: leaders are energetic & lively people. McDonalds have involvement in youth sports,
local charities, and events that inspire the world,
giving back is an essential part of the way the
company operates every day.
5.2 CORPORATE & WORK CULTURE
When analyzing McDonalds Leadership, it’s useful to analyze their work culture and how it’s
maintained.
5.2.1 WORK CULTURE: McDonalds Work Culture is as follows given in their website:
Working Here
We believe the words “Welcome to McDonald’s” should apply to our employees just as much as
our customers. We’re proud of our food, and we’re just as proud of the jobs we create.
Flexible Schedules
We believe in flexible schedules that fit into the way you live your life and can help you reach
your goals. We’ll also give you the mentorship and guidance you need to succeed.
Celebrating Diversity
We believe that different people, from different backgrounds, with different interests, combine to
make our ideal work force. McDonald’s is committed to diversity in hiring—actually, we’re an
industry leader—from our restaurants to our supplier networks to our owners.
Empowering You
We believe in giving you the tools you need to succeed, whether it’s the chance to own your own
restaurant or tackle the corporate ladder. To be the best company we can, we have to offer the
best opportunities, and we’d like to believe that some of the best ones around are right here.
5.2.2 MOTIVATION
McDonalds have strong motivational factors for their employees by providing safe and
clean environment to work, flexible schedules and high wages. One of the most important
motivational elements used by McDonalds is Best Employee award they give each month.
Each year, the top 1% of McDonald’s store managers are honored with Ray Kroc award,
which recognizes their passion for perfection
5.2.3 TRAINING & EDUCATIONMcDonald’s corporate management believes in training and leadership at all levels.
McDonalds provide training and internship programs in their world renowned Hamburger
University. McDonalds founder Ray Kroc once said, “if we are going to go anywhere, we’ve
got to have talent. And I’m going to put my money in talent.” McDonalds & Hamburger
University continues to promote that philosophy every day.
In 2007, Dow Jones/Marketwatch named Skinner “CEO of the Year,” and Restaurants &
Institutions magazine bestowed him “2007 Executive of the Year.” In 2008, Skinner was named
one of “America’s Best CEOs” by Institutional Investor magazine. Chief Executive magazine
named Skinner the "2009 CEO of the Year" and he was also named as one of Barron’s “30 Most
Respected CEOs.”
From the above analysis n discussion we can conclude that McDonalds will grow & be
more successful in the future under the current leader, McCEO Jim Skinner.
6 CONCLUSION
Based on the analysis done, it is recommended for McDonalds to forecast their mega &
task environmental factors, as these factors are indirect and it’s very difficult to anticipate. The
strategies used by McDonalds in tackling the environmental issues are very effective. As
McDonalds is a multinational company they need to provide same services and products all
around the globe. Furthermore McDonalds need to improve their marketing strategies as there is
high level of competition in fast food industry. In conclusion is doing very well compared to the
threats they have been facing through environmental factors and they need to improve their
strategies and improve the success of the business internationally.
7 REFERENCES MBA Lectures, 2010. External Environment (Specific or Task Environment. [online]
Avaiable at: <http://mba-lectures.com/management/principles-of-management/632/external-environment-specific-or-task-environment.html> [Accessed 28 October 2011].
McDonalds. Meet Our Suppliers. [online] Available at:<
http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/food/food_quality/see_what_we_are_made_of/meet_our_suppliers.html?DCSext.destination=http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/food/food_quality/see_what_we_are_made_of/meet_our_suppliers.html> [Accessed 28 October 2011].
McDonalds Malaysia, 2009. Corporate Responsibility Report 2009. [online] Available at:
<http://www.mcdonalds.com.my/abtus/CSR.pdf> [Accessed 27 October 2011].
Oxford Dictionaries, 2011. [Online] Available at:
<http://english.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/supply#m_en_gb0831670.019> [Accessed 27 October 2011].
Robbins, S.P. and Coulter, M. 2002. Management. 10th ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
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