McDonalds and examine their strategic choices.

McDONALDs

Running Head : McDonalds

McDONALDs

In APA style

2008

McDonalds

Introduction

In the final quarter of 2002 , McDonalds , one of the most famous fast food retailers in the world reported a loss of 343 .8 million , which is its first year having a read ink in its financial report for 48 years Many consider this as a turning point for McDonalds because many are having hard times believing McDonalds decreasing financial performance while its stores are available in most corners of the streets in the United States

and many other countries

It turns out , bigger does not always seem to be better , and McDonald has come to realize that . Anywhere in the world , growth is dangerously similar to `more stores ' or `more branches ' and sales points . McDonald however , had found that building more fast food counters did not help their financial performance since that last quarter in 2002 . Since then the company has formulated and announced a new strategy , which is to change their image and grow from the inside . This means McDonalds will try its best to improve the quality of its products and services in existing counters and improve corporate revenues without necessary opening more counters (McDonalds , 2003

This strategy is quite interesting considering McDonalds has been frequently criticized due to its `worse than the standard ' quality of products and services in various countries . Thus , this will analyze how this new strategy should work for the company . Furthermore there will also analyses regarding McDonalds SWOT and a comparison between McDonalds and Wal-Mart growth strategies

McDonalds : SWOT analysis

II .1 . Strengths

The company 's greatest strength is its name . The brand name `McDonald has amazing equity and it has been known worldwide for more than 2 decades . The company also has approximately 42 of the US fast food business . It is easy to predict that in decades to come , people will still be buying McDonalds because they are already accustomed to its products . McDonalds ' product consistency has created its own culture in the United States and also the world . In the latest decade , McDonalds have also succeeded penetrating foreign markets all over the globe including the Asian market and the Asia Pacific countries

II .2 . Weaknesses

Despite its powerful grip in the market , McDonalds also has problems that could disrupt its reputation in the future . Market analysts have discovered that McDonalds currently has a declining market share . One of the reasons of such a decrease in McDonalds latest performance is its weak product development . While its current products remained attractive to old customers , younger customers are growing dissatisfied with the similar meals and its weak variations . Another weakness of McDonalds is a problem with its franchise structure . Due to its low barriers in accepting new franchisees , McDonalds has been facing problems with some of its naughty franchisees which causes instability in the counter and poor working environments . Furthermore , researches indicated that McDonalds has a comparatively low employee productivity compare to other franchises in the same industry . The company...