McDonald's Strategic Analysis - Essay Example

McDonald’s was found by an entrepreneur Ray Kroc. McDonald’s has a magic formula that has made McDonald’s what is it today. The organization believes that behind any successful product and behind any successful idea there should be one part of inspiration and four parts of perspiration. “Grinding it out” is the strategy that is engraved in the culture of McDonald’s. By grinding it out McDonald’s means to show tremendous determination and hard work in order solve all the problems that may arise in the working operations or at the back-office operations of McDonald’s. This strategy made McDonald’s earn $23.5 Billion alone in the year 2008, and during the same period, McDonald’s was able to increase its market by an impressive 7%.

McDonald’s Goals:

McDonald’s is one of the few organizations that believe in setting SMART goals. It believes that all goals must be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound. This has made it possible for McDonald’s to achieve its goals. Employees of any organization prefer SMART goals because they provide a sense of direction and employees do not get lost in the muddle.

Mission Statement:

“McDonald's vision is to be the world's best quick-service restaurant experience. Being the best means providing outstanding quality, service, cleanliness, and value so that we make every customer in every restaurant smile." (About McDonald’s, 2009 pp. 23-41)

The mission statement tells us that McDonald’s has always wanted to be an organization whose focus will be on the fast delivery of products to customers. The service time will be kept as small as possible. And we can see that McDonald’s has quite clearly adopted the mission statement into what it is doing these days. Not only the serving time is short for customers who eat at McDonald’s, but McDonald’s also tries to keep the shortest possible delivery time for customers who order their products to be delivered at home. This helps people to have a quick breakfast and lunch at McDonald’s without getting late for their jobs.

McDonald’s vision statement is divided into three core objectives, where they will try to achieve these SMART goals.

• Be the best employer for our people in each community around the world,
• Deliver operational excellence to our customers in each of our restaurants, and
• Achieve enduring profitable growth by expanding the brand and leveraging the strengths of the McDonald's system through innovation and technology." (About McDonald’s, 2009 pp. 23-41)

The above vision statement clearly shows the smart goals that McDonald’s have developed to get achieve their mission in the long-term. A vision statement is a path through which the companies achieve their long-term mission statement. McDonald’s just not only wants to become a successful business, but it also wants to be the best employer in the community. It also believes in delivering operational excel in its restaurants all around the world. This involves preparing, cooking, and serving the products to the consumers in the shortest possible time. Other than that, McDonald’s is also hoping to expand its brand through innovation and technology. This is an important part of the vision statement as organizations that tend to remain stagnant lose their market quickly, but not in the case of McDonald’s who is still growing despite achieving tremendous success all over the world. This constant growth motive has helped the firm to remain active in all fields of operations and not to get bogged down and get left behind.

SWOT ANALYSIS:

Strengths:

• Common Brand Name: Everyone recognizes McDonald’s, and this has helped McDonald’s to achieve success by improving its products under the umbrella brand name of McDonald’s
• Customer-oriented approach and focus to improve operational excellence has developed the organization into something that other fast-food chains are finding very hard to replicate

Weaknesses:

• Planning and controlling such a huge organization pose a big problem. Even if the customer has bid experience in one of the organizations, there are chances of negative brand equity for the entire brand name
• Price of McDonald’s are relatively higher than its competitor and people are trying to fight other avenues of purchase to save money

Opportunities:

• Improvement in the technology of the organization has improved the profitability by reducing marketing and other costs
• Fast food organizations are using recyclable material which is giving a good name to the industry

Threats:

• Customer awareness that Fast Food is not healthy for everyday eating
• A global economic downturn might affect the business’s sales

Customer Analysis and Target Market:

The market that McDonald’s caters to is adult people who cannot cook their food because they are busy and have to go to jobs and use McDonald’s for lunch, breakfast, and dinner.  McDonald’s also targets people who have a family, and they visit McDonald’s weekly and use it as a source or a place of entertainment.

Marketing Programs Guidelines:

McDonald’s is advertising on Television, Newspapers, and through billboards. It is known for making cunning billboard ads that attract its target market. McDonald’s also tried to keep its image of a big business with something for everyone. This encourages people to try McDonald’s at least once and generate trial purchases.