Mcdonald's Strategic Prospects

McDonald’s Strategic Prospects

When reviewing a competitive profile matrix which includes McDonald’s (MCD), YUM! Brands (YUM), and Burger King Holdings, Inc. (BKC), it is McDonald’s who clearly sits in the number one position and is the strongest competitively. This stronghold can be directly linked to several categories within the matrix. Advertising, brand name recognition, market share, global spread, and financial position were the key to McDonald’s continued strength over YUM, and BKC (David, 2011). Even with a marked lead in the competitive profile matrix, MCD has some serious threats from their competitors (David, 2011). Fortunately for MCD, there are also opportunities to continue to grow customer base (McDonald’s, 2009).

In 2009, McDonald’s was the largest food service restaurant in the world. They were serving close to 60 million customers daily, out of over 31,000 restaurants spread across 118 countries (David, 2011). In addition to the record number of customers, “MCD towers over its direct competitors in the industry with a market cap of $59.8 billion in May 2009. YUM! Brands, which has a market cap of only $16.3 billion, and Burger King Holdings, Inc., whose market cap is $2.46 billion, are second and third, respectively”(David, 2011, p. 33). This places McDonald’s at a clear competitive advantage from both a financial position and market share.

McDonald’s continued focus on global growth has paid off for the organization. During the second quarter of 2009, “MCD had positive global comparable sales in every area of the world, as well as higher revenues, operating income, and earnings per share compared with the prior year” (David, 2011, p. 36). McDonald’s opened 65 restaurants in India during 2008-2009, a show of MCD’s dedication towards global expansion. With India’s known reverence toward the cow, these restaurants have focused on Chicken McNuggets and MCD’s veggie patties. Both of these non-beef products offered in India have made...