CASE ANALYSIS
MCDONADS
COMPANY NAME: McDonalds
INDUSTRY: Food and Service
COMPANY WEBSITE: (www.McDonalds.com)
COMPANY BACKGROUND: McDonald’s is one of the largest leading restaurant chains in the world, and for good reason. Two brothers named Dick and Mac McDonald first established this casual burger joint in 1940. Initially, McDonalds opened as a hot dog stand. The small business gained in popularity but the brothers yearned for simplicity. They closed their ‘doors’ only to reopen in 1948 as a designated burger restaurant; only selling burgers, fries and milkshakes. Since many young adults were the flush of post-war affluence, it quickly turned into a popular teen hangout. Luckily for young adults, hamburgers were sold at an affordable price of only 15 cents, (McDonald’s History, 2010). McDonalds applied strategically planned assembly line techniques to food production, which ultimately enabled them to open four restaurants by 1953. Taking note to the brothers’ success, Entrepreneur Ray Kroc bought the right to franchise the McDonald’s System in 1955. Renamed the McDonald’s Corporation in 1960, Kroc focused his marketing efforts on family meals and children. Kroc spent most of his money on television advertising, which promoted Ronald McDonald who was a child-friendly clown mascot. Today, the McDonald’s franchise exceeds 30,000 restaurants globally and serves over an astounding number of 50 million people in more than 100 countries each day, (Botterill, J. & Kline, S. 2007)!
SWOT ANALYSIS: Strengths: One of McDonald’s biggest strengths today is that is holds a strong global presence and is considered a market leader in both the domestic as well as international markets. Because of this, the franchise holds one of the worlds most recognized logo and spokes character (Ronald McDonald the clown). McDonalds is also a community oriented, socially responsible company. More than 259 Ronald McDonald House(s) that provide