Assurance of Learning Exercise 1a, Step 4, Page 37

Assurance of Learning Exercises |

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Assurance of Learning Exercise 1A, Step 4, page 37

Three Major Strengths:

I feel McDonald’s greatest strength is its globalization efforts. According to the 2011 annual report, sales in Europe made up about 40% of total revenue and franchises contained in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia/Pacific doubled their income contribution (McDonald's Corporation, 2011). At the time of the report, they could boast 104 consecutive months of global comparative sales increases.

Another strength is its willingness to add new menu items in order to provide fresh and interesting choices. Chef Dan Coudreaut, the Executive Chef and Director of Culinary Innovation leads the brainstorming and testing of hundreds of new items every month (McDonald's Corporation, 2013). The addition of unique beverages and local options (such as vegetarian alternatives in India) help McDonald's stay a step ahead of what the customer wants (McDonald's Corporation, 2011).

A third strength is its determination to modernization. The 2011 report states that 45% of its restaurants have remodeled their interiors, and 25% have reimaged their exteriors. New technologies are also being utilized to enhance drive-thru, ordering, and payment processes (McDonald's Corporation, 2011).

Three Major Weaknesses:

I feel that one of the weaknesses of McDonalds is that its record increases are leveling off. Experts from YAHOO! Finance downgraded the company from outperform and buy in January and April of 2012 (respectively), changing their recommendations to hold. The recommendations of stock purchases over the last three months are also showing this leveling trend with only 5 recommendations encouraging a strong buy and 13 suggesting to hold (YAHOO! Finance, 2013a).

Another weakness is McDonald’s inability to expand much further within the U.S. Restaurants were numbered at 13,898 in 2009, (David, 2011). An impressive map which illustrates my point was...