Analysis of Mcdonald Strategy

COMPANY SELECTED: McDonald’s Corporation

REASONS BEHIND SELECTION: McDonald’s, started in 1940, is the world’s largest fast food restaurant chain. Considering the size of the company, the size of the market it deals in, and the competition it faces, it would be not only interesting, but also a great learning experience for us to further explore about this company. Furthermore, this company also seems potential to adhere with the two pillars mentioned in the project outline, analysis of the environment and the competitive strategy. The following is a brief summary on how the company can be assessed according to each pillar:

ANALYSIS OF THE ENVIRONMENT:

Analysis of the industry: In the United States alone, the consumers spent about US$110 billion on fast food in 2000, a vast growth since 1970 (US$6 billion)1. This growth suggests the implementation of some effective innovative strategies by companies in this sector, and combined with the huge size of the market, makes it attractive to analyze.

Analysis of the firm: Being the first restaurant chain to use the assembly-line system2, McDonald's willingness to invest in order to compete can be clearly seen. Also, the company has been doing consistently well since it started, currently serving around 68 million customers daily in 119 countries3. The success story of this company and of how it started and grew to such a large proportion, in spite of the severe competition, is surely worth investing further.

Analysis of competitors: Owing to the type and huge size of the market it deals in, this company was bound to face a lot of competition ever since its establishment, on international as well as local levels in all the countries it works in. It also faces direct competition from big players in this business such as Burger king, Wen etc. Even though McDonald’s is bigger in size than these competitors, they are also growing and constantly pose a threat to Mcdonald’s. Thus, another reason to choose this company...