American Business History

McDonald 's

During the 1990 's , McDonald 's was facing a severe crisis as it lost US market share to competitors and as a result , franchisees started complaining of poor profits . Every new product started by McDonald 's turned out to be flop and there seemed to be disconnect between the management and customers . There were also a number of problems between the management and the franchisee owners . The company seemed to be at loss to find a winning strategy . As a result , the stock prices plummeted and had it not been

for robust sales in foreign markets , McDonalds might not have been able to recover

The company seemed to have learned from this crisis , and its present strategy is much sounder . It is regaining market share and in 2008 , it posted strong results with the operating income in US market increasing by 8 . Obviously the organization has made some major strategic changes to achieve these results

Unlike the 1990s strategy of opening a number of stores which resulted in declining same-store sales , McDonald 's current strategy is being better , not just bigger . In 1990s , McDonald 's introduced a 55 cent burger which was a major flop . However , dollar menu currently selling at McDonald 's is a big hit . After much trial and error , the firm has found the right nerve of paying public

The biggest problem that the company faced in 1990s was that of franchisee owners . Back then , the franchisee 's found it very difficult to contact headquarters...