Assurance of Learning Exercises 6a and 6b

Meaghan Garrett

9/3/13

Columbia Southern University

Professor Hadley

McDonalds is arguably the most successful company worldwide when speaking of advertising strategies, product offerings, brand image, customer base, and more. McDonalds has come such a long way since its inception in 1940 by brothers Dick and Mac McDonald. Some may think that this company has a pretty good handle on how to grow and succeed. However, the market changes every day. With these market changes must come new and different strategies for McDonalds to maintain a high level position in the industry.

Short Term Strategies

For a multinational corporation with thousands of restaurants worldwide, short term strategies could be anywhere from one month to 2 years. In this time frame, McDonalds needs to work on improving its product offerings, and increasing innovation in the overall customer service experience. McDonalds currently is known worldwide for adapting their product offerings to their franchises respective locales. This is a great strategy to get people from all over the world to patronize McDonalds no matter where they travel. McDonalds also has McCafe, breakfast options, smoothies, and options for children as well. However, McDonalds has come under much scrutiny for mainly offering unhealthy fatty foods that contribute to the ‘fattening’ of America. McDonalds needs to exchange its current ingredients with healthier substitutes to lower the fat and calorie counts of its products. In addition, McDonalds need s to introduce a new McDonalds ‘staple’ on a nationwide basis. Currently, it has the Fish Filet, Big Mac, McNuggets, Double Cheeseburger, Egg McMuffin, the Happy Meal, and their highly acclaimed McFries. They need to introduce a new healthy product that will appeal to both its regular and health conscious customers.

Another strategy that McDonalds should implement in the short term is more innovation regarding...