Make a research on a geography - Essay Example

McDonald’s McDonalds is the worlds largest chain of fast-food restaurants. The concept of franchising started with this company. It is a restaurant that primarily sells hamburgers, chicken, French fries, breakfasts and soft drinks. In recent years a few more new food items have been added to their list such as salads, fruit, snack wraps, and carrot sticks. In 1940, a restaurant was opened by siblings Dick and Mac McDonald in San Bernardino, California. They were responsible for the introduction of the "Speedee Service System" in 1948 that established the principles of the modern fast-food restaurant.

McDonald’s dates its origin to the opening of a franchised restaurant by Ray Kroc, in Des Plaines, Illinois in the year 1955, the ninth McDonalds restaurant overall. Ray Kroc in the later years purchased the McDonald brothers equity in the company and launched its worldwide expansion. In fact the company became so popular that with the successful expansion into the international markets it was called as the symbol of globalization. However, in the recent years it was also debated that the company was responsible for spreading unhealthy eating habits and has increased the incidence of obesity and other health problems.

Besides, its prominence has also made it a common subject of public debates about corporate ethics and consumer responsibility. McDonalds restaurants are found in about 100-120 countries and territories around the world. In general, it is estimated that it serve nearly 54 million customers each day.McDonalds has become symbolic of globalization and since it is directly identified with United States culture and lifestyle, its expansion into the international market has been pointed out by critics as a part of Americanization and American cultural imperialism.

Anti-globalization is a common term used to describe the political stance of people and groups who oppose the aspects of globalization and McDonalds remains a target of anti-globalization protesters worldwide (Wikipedia, 2007). Additionally, film’s such as “Super Size Me” that explores the horror of school lunch programs, declining health and physical education classes, food addictions were also blaming fast food restaurants like McDonald’s. Even will all these resistance and reparations in the world around, the company has improved and grown with more than 31,800 flagship restaurants serving burgers and fries in different countries and today McDonalds is more than a household name.

It is estimated that about 30% of its locations are company-owned and the others are run by franchisees. According to the estimates of 2005, the net income is $ 2,602,200,000 (acorn.org, 2006).According to the recent 2006 Worldwide Corporate Responsibility Report of McDonald, more than 73% of McDonald’s restaurants are owned and operated in different parts of the world by about 5,920 independent local men and women around the world. It was also said that McDonald’s revenues i.e. sales by company-operated restaurants and fees paid by franchisees and affiliates totalled $20.

5 billion in 2005, which showed a growth by an additional 7% when compared to the year 2004. Apart from the franchisees it is estimated that more than 1.5 million people around the world are employed by the company of which about 421,000 are the companies own employees (McDonald’s, 2006).McDonald’s has been a symbol of globalization. The company has taken into consideration the problems of trans fatty acids and has taken steps to avoid these harmful products. It is also improving in terms of corporate strategies and people management.

Since McDonald is the fastest and the longest chain of restaurants around the world, it has gained and continues to gain popularity among all the nations. Referencesacorn.org, (2006) Major Corporations without Employee Sick Days, Retrieved on 25 September 2007 from http://acorn.org/fileadmin/PaidSickLeave/User_Storage/MAJOR_CORPORATIONS_WITHOUT_EMPLOYEE_SICK_DAYS.docMcDonald’s, (2006) 2006 Worldwide Corporate Responsibility Report, Retrieved on 25 September 2007 from http://www.mcdonalds.com/corp/values/report/printable.RowPar.0001.

ContentPar.0001.ColumnPar.0006.DownloadFiles.0001.File.tmp/McDCSR.pdfWikipedia, (2007) McDonalds Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., Retrieved on 25 September 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonalds