Market Structure of McDonalds - Research Paper Example

? Contents Works cited 8 Module McDonald's Product and services by McDonald's: McDonald's is famous for what it provides, and whatever it provides it provides it best. McDonald's products consist of a wide range of variety such as burgers, desserts, sodas, chicken, fish, beverages etc. Following shows some of the products of different classes provided by McDonald's. Burgers: 1. Ham Burger (Not allowed in Pakistan) 2. Big Mac 3. Quarter Pounder 4. Maharaja Mac (Only in India) 5. McFeast 6. Big N' Tasty Desserts: 1. Pies 2. McFlurry Oreo 3. Cinnamon Melts 4. Brownie Melts Beverages: 1. Inca Kola 2. Irn-Bru 3. Sodas 4. Milkshakes Chicken, Fish and Pork : 1. McChicken 2. McNuggets 3. Fillet-O-Fish 4. McRib 5. McArabia Breakfast: Breakfast sandwiches are the primary McDonald's breakfast's offering. McDonald's provide two styles of breakfast burritos, McDonald's breakfast also includes potato rosti, British bacon and hotcakes. Other Products: McDonald's also provide a wide range of sandwiches, Rice in Asia because the demand of rice is higher and many other products including salads etc. Market structure of McDonald's: McDonald's can be described as a part of a market which has perfect competition, and the competitors are just as huge as the way McDonald's is. Its competitors include Burger King, KFC, Hardees, Subway, Starbucks and other fast food restaurants. Most of the time McDonald's have to compete against the local restaurants of the country in which their franchise is operating, for example in Pakistan, OPTP and other local food vendors. For any business to stay ahead, in the competitive environment that it is facing, is a huge task. McDonald's is performing this task quite efficiently, as they promote product adaptation and provide their products on a relatively lower price. Furthermore McDonald's also provides different varieties for different people, based on age groups, occupation, and the region. McDonald's has built its success under the phenomenon of providing a wide range of standardized and high quality products, quicker and cheaper. McDonald's originated from USA, but now it is functioning in more 114 countries with over 25,000 restaurants, having a wide share globally is one of the reasons for McDonald's' success in the competitive environment. Nowadays one of the most valuable resources is time, people would more likely pay a lot to save their time. McDonald's provides its food quicker compared to its competitors, saving people's time. Most of the people prefer McDonald's over its competitors because of the fact that McDonald's saves their time. Product adaptation is one of the major attributes of McDonald's. When McDonald's started to serve in India (elaborated later), a lot of people started to raise their voice against McDonald's, as the products included beef which is un-ethical towards the people of India, what McDonald's did was they stopped making beef related products in India, and started making products including mutton and chicken, an example of that is Maharaja Mac. Also, in Asia since the demand for rice is higher McDonald's introduced McRice. Because McDonald's practices product adaptation so much, it is quite successful compared to its competitors. McDonald's has a strong global presence and is considered as a leader in the domestic as well as the international competition. Even though McDonald's is leading the domestic market, still there are threats by the local food vendors, as people prefer the local food. To tackle this, McDonald's is introducing specific products for different regions, which has a local effect in it ("How does McDonald's compete in a monopolistic competition?"). Regulations that McDonald's must follow: Since McDonald's has a lot of franchises in different countries, therefore it has to follow the rules and regulations of that region. Keeping in view the ethics of that region, McDonald's should provide its services accordingly. Taking India as an example, as mentioned before when McDonald's started its services in India it had to shut down in the beginning for some period of time because they were providing products that included beef. The people of India started a strike against it. Later on, McDonald's changed its products in India, and stopped making food that included beef. The products in India now include mutton, chicken for example Maharaja Mac (which is only available in India). The government of India also wanted McDonald's to hire local people, and that's what McDonald's did. Following these regulations has made McDonald's one of the leading fast food restaurant in India, with more than 250 outlets. After starting their services in Pakistan, McDonald's had to stop making products that included pork. Every country has their rules and ethics that McDonald's has to follow in order to gain a considerable market share and perform better than its competitors. Initially McDonald's used plastic bags, later onwards the government banned the use of plastic bags. Henceforth McDonald's started using paper bags, and they started producing the paper bags in China because of cheap manufacturing cost. Pricing policies and strategies of McDonald's: McDonald's is an example of a perfect global company that has many different strategies that makes it more successful than it global competitors. McDonald's follows a certain pricing strategy, as it provides its products at a relatively lower price than its competitors, furthermore it gives bundle offers to increase the overall sales. Most of McDonald's restaurants are either owned or they are franchises. Hence it can be said that McDonald's makes most of its revenue by rents, royalties and franchises fee ("McDonald's Value Strategy + More"). The prices of McDonald's products aren't the same everywhere. For example in 2010 the price of Big Mac in Switzerland was 6.20 USD and in Thailand it was 2.20 USD. The economy and growth condition of a country determines the demand for that specific product that McDonald's offer. Some years before people used to consider McDonald's to be specifically for the upper class. After this, McDonald's changed its pricing policy and made their products affordable by the middle and the lower class. Also it has different pricing packages for different groups, for example for students they have student packages that include the food products at a lower price compared to the other products ("Policies & Programs :: AboutMcDonalds.com"). Consequently, it can be said that McDonald's is one of the leading fast food restaurants throughout the world. Providing its services in more than 110 countries proves the fact that McDonald's is leading the global competition. Works cited "Policies & Programs :: AboutMcDonalds.com." Aboutmcdonalds.com, 2013. Web. 12 Dec 2013. . "How does McDonald's compete in a monopolistic competition?." McDonalds, 2013. Web. 12 Dec 2013. . "McDonald's Value Strategy + More." The Huffington Post, 2013. Web. 12 Dec 2013. . Read More