Research Topics: Fast Food Chains

Corporate Profile of Cafe de Coral Holdings Limited

Corporate Profile of Cafe de Coral Holdings Limited               Cafe de Coral Group is the largest Chinese Fast Food restaurant group in the world with 182 outlets in Hong Kong, 74 in Canada, 119 in United States and 2 in Poland. Among a total of over 380 outlets, 115 outlets are operated under the brand name of “Cafe de Coral”, whereas 195 outlets are under the brand of “Manchu Wok”. Specialty restaurants include “Spaghetti House”, “Bravo le Cafe”, “Ah Yee Leng Tong”, “Super Super Congee and Noodles” and “Noodles Plus”, as well as the institutional catering business under the trade name of “Asia Pacific Catering”.             As the market leader in the Hong Kong fast-food industry and the largest National Brand for Chinese quick service restaurant in Canada, the annual turnover of the Group now stands at HK billion, generating an annual profit of HK0 million in Year 2000 with a growth of over 72% in the past 5 years.             The principle business of the Group is the development and operation of self-service restaurants with the distinctive trade name, “Cafe de Coral”. In addition, the Group has also diversified into full-service specialty restaurant operations and Asia Pacific Catering business. Acquisition of a Chinese soup-cum-specialty-dish restaurant chain, “Ah Yee Leng Tong”, in 1990 and a mid range Italian restaurant chain, “The Spaghetti House”, in 1991, enable the Group to achieve a more diverse earning base through the wider market exposure.             The recent development of “Bravo le Cafe” restaurant and “Super Congee and Noodles” restaurant concepts in 1997 and 1999 respectively further strengthen the Group’s leading market presence in the dining-out industry in Hong Kong. Since September 1999, the commencement of the school lunch box catering business under the brand name of “Luncheon Star” has also proven successful.             The Group currently operates about 180 restaurant units in Hong Kong and Guangdong province under its direct management. The Group has about 18% of the market share in the fast food sector and is a market leader in this field. The Group has also attained 4% market share of the total HK$ 57 billion dining-out industry in Hong Kong.             The 120,000 sq.ft. food processing plant is housed all under one roof within the Group’s self-owned 12 storey headquarters in Hong Kong, which has its own cold and dry storages, food processing lines, quality control laboratory, uniform laundry, and distribution fleet. Food processing comprises bulk breaking, standardized seasoning and standardized portioning at pre-set specifications, volume requirements and quality standards.              The commencement of production at the food processing plant in Guangzhou city, China marked another important step forward for the Group in the year of 1995. The centralization of Group’s China material sourcing, food production and distribution facilities confer synergistic benefits the Group.   (floor plan and layout of the above)             The acquisition of Scanfoods in 1997 and the acquisition of Denny’s Bakery in Year 2000 led the Group towards downstream integrated expansion into the food manufacturing and distribution business in the Greater China region. Aside from having an efficient sales network in Hong Kong and China, Scanfoods also owns a 40,000 sq. ft production base in Dongguan city, China with advanced imported machineries and technology from overseas.             At present, Scanfoods processes and distributes ham products to over 1,000 institutional customers in Hong Kong and China. It is one of the leading processed ham suppliers in Hong Kong with about 20% market share of the domestic processed ham market.             With regards to public listing, the year 1986 marked a milestone in the Group’s history as the Group went public and obtained an official listing for its shares on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited in July 1986, which was the first of its kind at the time of the listing.             For the past 30 years, Cafe de Coral has received numerous awards for its management excellence from the local and international institutions, which included the most coveted award of the Asian Management Award for Marketing Management and the Asian Management Award for General Management by Asian Institute of Management in 1992 & 1993, named Asian’s Best in 1997, Top Ten Best by AsiaMoney in 1998.             In the year of 1999, the Chairman of Cafe de Coral has personally been awarded the prestigious Stars of Asia Award by Business Week. In addition, we have been selected as the Service Category Leader – Catering by Hong Kong Retail Management Association, and the Good People Management Award by Labor Department of HKSAR Government.             Three times in a row, Cafe de Coral have been selected as World’s 300 Best Small Capitalization Companies by Forbes Global and The International Chinese Enterprises 500 by The International Chinese Newsweekly respectively in 1998, 1999 and 2000. And Cafe de Coral have also been chosen as Powerhouse Hall of Fame – Best Practice Companies by Hong Kong Productivity Council consecutively in 1999 and 2000. Corporate Motto & Mission             The trade name “Cafe de Coral” () originates from the Chinese ideal of family togetherness, forming a three-word logo through which the shareholders, the customers and the staff are “happy together”, through “Cafe de Coral.” “A HUNDRED POINTS OF EXCELLENCE”             The corporate motto “A Hundred Points of Excellence” (100) reflects to their commitment to strive for excellence, as they make strategic business moves in a rapidly changing world. And that is, if something is worth striving, it’s worth striving for the best.             Looking back on 30 years of continuous sales and profit growth, the history of Cafe de Coral reflects a successful story whose character exemplifies what is unique about Hong Kong.             As an undisputable market leader in the fast food and dining-out industry, Cafe de Coral has always prided itself on its product innovation and marketing excellence with uncompromised standard to quality, unconditional service to our customers, and undivided commitment to excellence.             The Group is principally engaged in the operation of fast food, institutional catering, specialty restaurants and food manufacturing business in Hong Kong and Southern China. Today, with the dedicated support of 6,000 employees, the Group operates the fast food and restaurant business under the various household brands of “Cafe de Coral “, “The Spaghetti House “, “Ah Yee Leng Tong “, and “Bravo le Cafe ” as well as processing and distributing branded ham products in the Greater China region. Their commitment to the food business is attested by the Group mission statement:             “To establish Cafe de Coral Holdings as a distinguished corporation in the food and hospitality industry in the Asia Pacific region, maintaining a publicly recognized leadership position in the mass-market, quick service restaurant chain business, with vertical and horizontal diversification towards the food services, food processing and distribution, catering and hospitality sectors in the international arena, will into the 21st Century.” Highlights of the Issues in Cafe de Coral Holdings with Respect to their Business Development for the Year 2003 ·         The sudden outbreak of SARS has taken a heavy toll on our hospital and student catering business but did not deter the Group from delivering a stable sales performance of approximately HK.3 billion for this half year. ·          In addition to the consistent interim dividend, the Board of directors also recommended to double the dividend payment with a special dividend of 6.4 cents per share to mark the Group’s 35th Anniversary celebration. ·         The acquisition of Oliver’s Super Sandwiches restaurant chain further solidifies the Group’s business position in the Hong Kong quick service restaurant industry. ·         The acquisition of a 50% stake in New Asia Dabao, the largest Chinese quick service restaurant network in Shanghai, has established a dominant foothold for the Group in the PRC market. ·         We are honored that the Group was awarded the “2003 Best Employers in Hong Kong” while our Group’s Chairman was also personally awarded the “Directors of the Year Award”. Joining hands with all our shareholders in saluting the heroic performance and undaunted spirit of our 8,500 employees during the SARS outbreak.   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Corporate Profile of Cafe de Coral Holdings Limited

Corporate Profile of Cafe de Coral Holdings Limited Cafe de Coral Group is the largest Chinese Fast Food restaurant ...

Decision Making Process At McDonald’s Corporation

Decision Making Process   Introduction             In a business organization, the management of a company is bound to a common goal of implementing strategic management which will enable the company to have competitive advantage. Strategic management can be defined as the art and science of formulating, implementing and evaluating cross-functional decisions that enables any organization to attain its objectives. As mentioned, one of the most important factors to have a successful and functional strategic management system is to have the ability to make decisions strategically. Decision making is an integral part of the myriad factors that can affect the outcome of a common goal. Traditionally, theorists have looked at decision making as the multiuse process by which a problem is identified, solution objectives are defined, a preadmission is made (that is, a decision about how to make a decision), alternatives are generated and evaluated, and an alternative is chosen, implemented, and then followed up. This type of rational model of decision making assumes that the decision maker is aware of the problem, is aware that the decision must be made, has a set of alternatives, and possesses a criterion for making the decision, but these are significant assumptions. Such an ideal model of decision making also assumes that the decision maker is aware of all possible alternatives and that he or she decides after examining them all. A contemporary approach recognizes that decisions are made in an automatic, intuitive fashion. Specifically, image theory claims that people will adopt a course of action that best fits their individual principles, current goals, and plans for the future (Sims, 1994).             Decision making process may include gathering information, setting common goals, uncovering management alternatives to choose a certain plan of action and executing the plan. With this process, the management of organization will be able to identify the most appropriate strategy to be used in order to make the company be more competitive. In addition, decision making process is also noted as a central factor in having successful strategic management because it enables the company to have an effective solution for a certain problem or issue. The company must be able to have strategic decision making for the future to continuously sustain the strength of the company. Good decision making can be attributed as one of the vital factors that will help the business to achieve its core mission and objective. This alternative is helpful in a way that it can make the company more competitive and survive in the marketing environment (Campbell, Evans & Storehouse, 2002). However, even if decision making are said to be the central factor of having strategic management, the process of making decisions is also considered as a difficult task to handle.  Most of the time, decision makers of a company is having difficulties in deciding the solutions to a certain problem for a fear of not getting the expected results. The difficulty also lies on the fact that there are decision-makers who makes decision easily without strategically analyzing what is really needed in the situation. Hence, even if the intentions of the decision makers are good, the result may be contradicting. Problem Definition McDonald’s has a rich history that started out in 1954. The company was put to the spotlight by Ray Kroc. Throughout the years, marketing ideas have poured through and helped the company become one of the most renowned fast food brands globally. The trademark design for the fast food was carefully studied and it came with a happy clown character known as Ronald MacDonald (McDonald, 2007). The Big Mac and the Egg Muffin have been some of McDonald’s most innovative products. In terms of marketing, the happy meal approach was also a creative as it entices children to eat at MacDonald’s because of the toys they can get. Today, McDonald’s is also on the Internet bandwagon, providing information to people all over the world with a click of a mouse (McDonald’s Corporation, 2007). McDonald’s is among the most popular fast food brands in the world. Started out in the fifties, McDonald’s now boasts of operating, franchising, and serving a worldwide chain of around 30,000 fast food restaurants that prepare, package and sell a menu of ready to eat foods. Specifically, it has branches in Australia which is regarded as one of the most popular food chain in the country However, despite of the established brand of McDonald’s Corporation and contrary to its previous achievements; it seems that there is a need for the management to redefine its image. The growing and bustling population of today is obviously different from the population of the previous decades in terms of health and nutritional attitudes and behaviors. People today are more concerned with their health and figures than ever before. Obviously, the reason for this increased awareness is because of the fact that information is everywhere and every reports and research about nutrition seem to link fast foods with the growing number of obesity. Furthermore, there is also a number of emerging diet programs that promote and encourage the public to be figure conscious. This is a problem for McDonald’s because it has already gain the reputation of a fast food that continuously provides greasy unhealthy food; whereas competitors have already made measures to reduce fats in their products. The company needs to do something about and shift its positive image back. Hence, the issue or problem that should be solved by the management of McDonalds is to make a decision in terms of having a new marketing approach that will make the company be more appealing to the current customers. This approach should make the McDonald’s brand as something that is irresistible, then followed with the information that its products are already health friendly. In this approach, certain changes will be made. Decision Making Approaches Generally, most organizational management systems is said to be set-up to permit decision making at the lowest plausible level. The management must make it sure that decisions making are distributed evenly to different departments and levels of organization to avoid conflicts. In order to do this, the management must be able to choose the most appropriate decision making approach. In this regard, there are various decision making approaches that can be used in business organizations. These decision making approaches include administration approach, political approach, classical approach or incremental approach. The administrative decision making approach is an approach in which the decision makers includes managers, executives and other stakeholders who holds higher positions in the company. In this decision making approach, the manager or the leader of the company has the right to do the decision making without asking the opinion of the employees. In this, all actions are being made by the manager or the corporate leaders (Huffman and Piggery, 2003). The decision making approach can be used in the problem and issue of McDonalds by giving the opportunities to marketing managers to decide for a new approach that can be used to solve the issue. The next decision making approach is the political decision making approach. Unlike in the administrative decision making approach, political decision making approach have decision makers who are politically inclined and have deep knowledge in different laws. The political decision making approach is said to be opinionated and supportive. The elite political groups have the opportunity to make decisions by intensely arguing on both the positive and negative sides of the decision to be made. In political decision making, it is said that some politicians may not be concerned with the substantive outcomes of the decisions; they are interested merely in their individual power and perhaps in the maintenance of their organizations. The last decision making approach is the incremental or classical decision making approach. The incremental or classical type of decision making approach tends to look at a specific decision as a small step within the process and consequently perpetuate to a series of other similar decision. This means that the management makes decision in a step by step process (Borden, 1995). The classical decision making approach seems to be more scientific and rational. The process involved in a classical decision making approach are deeply taken into considerations and the management are trying to make the decision as appropriate as possible to avoid further conflicts. Key Limitations of Decision Making Models             The decision making approaches (administrative, political and incremental) are said to be a helpful approach for the problems and issues of McDonalds. However, these approaches have their own limitations. For the administrative decision making approach, it can be said that its key limitations includes the rationality and the decision making style. In administrative model of decision making, the manager has a sole responsibility in the decision making process. In this regard, the rational sense is being bound by the rationality of the manager who will make the decisions. Hence, other opinions and suggestions may not be given a chance and this may affect the decision process as a whole.             Aside from bounded rationality, administrative decision is also restricted to a specific decision making style. Since the manager or for this case the marketing manager is the only one who will make the decision, the decision making style will be limited on the manager’s knowledge. This limitation may result in ineffective and inappropriate decisions which may worsen the problem or issue of the company.             On the other hand, the political decision making approach may be affected by the following key limitations: group think, group shift, decision making style and cultural differences.  This approach is composed of peoples or decision makers with different perspectives and decision making style and thinking. In this regard, the decision making process will be affected because of the clashing arguments and ideas of the different political groups. In addition, the group shift for making decisions may affects the whole activity or process of the decision making. Instead of having solid decisions, various ideas will appear which makes it difficult for the team to decide comprehensively. In line with group think, it is said that in successful groups, individuals learn to work together. They become a cohesive group as they work on specific tasks or projects. However, cohesive groups may develop and implement strategies that are inappropriate. This behavior is attributed to changes in the group’s reaction to new or conflicting information. Cohesive groups tend to close themselves off to unsettling information, whether from inside or outside the group. This behavior was labeled groupthink by Janis (1982).             The last approach is the incremental approach. Herein, incremental approach may be restricted in terms of decision making style. The classical approach follows the conventional process of making decision. With this, the decision maker’s decision making style may be bounded by what has been used in traditional way. In a way, this may create a problem in terms of having an innovative decision for the problems raised in McDonald Company. The quality of many organizational decisions also may be limited by political “face saving” pressure. In other words, decision makers may make decisions that help them save face at work, although the resulting decisions might not be in the best interest of their organizations. Imagine, for example, how an employee might distort the available information needed to make a decision if the correct decision would jeopardize his or her job. Unfortunately, such misuses of information to support desired decisions are common. One study on this topic reported that a group of businessmen working on a group decision-making problem opted for an adequate — although less than optimal — decision rather than risk generating serous conflicts with their fellow group members (Johnson, 1984). In an actual case, a proponent of medical inoculation for the flu was reported as having decided to go ahead with the inoculation program on the basis of only a 2 percent chance of an epidemic (Nested & Feinberg, 1978). Apparently, people may make the decisions they want to make even though these may not be the optimal ones for the organizations involved. Besides the time constraints and political pressures that limit quality of organizational decisions, note also the limitations imposed by moral and ethical constraints — what is known as bounded discretion. According to this idea, decision makers limit their actions to those that fall within the bounds of current moral and ethical standards. So, although engaging in illegal activities such as stealing may optimize an organization’s profits (at least in the short run), ethical considerations may discourage such actions. Obviously, decision makers do not always act in an ethical manner. Sometimes, unethical decisions are made because of the inherent tendency of some individuals to be unethical, and other times, unethical decisions result from the tendency of the organization to encourage, or fail to discourage, unethical behavior. Proposed Decision Making Model Making-decision can be difficult for a number of reasons such as the organizational structure, human behavioral, organizational culture, uncertainties, incomplete information, multiple objectives, complexity of the problem and anxiety, which directly influence the decision making process. Regardless of the constraints, managers have to make decisions. Under any circumstances, decisions made cannot and must not be wrong because decisions are the mechanisms by which decision-makers try to accomplish the goals of the organization; they are the means to an end. In this particular unit, the decision making approach that can be used is the decision making model which is concerned with the development and application of standard decision rules based on formal logic derived from data, which is called the programmed decision. The utmost concern of the manager the decision making process is to ensure that the decision yields optimal results and the same is expected for all the decisions made. In addition, the multiple objectives model can also be used through the use of multiple criteria decision making (MECUM).  The multiple objectives model tends to underline a normative view of decision making. According to Robbins (2002, p.74), multiple criteria decision making (MECUM). involves (a) defining the problem; (b) identifying the decision criteria; (c) weigh the criteria; (d) generate alternatives; (e) rate each alternative on each criterion; and (f) compute the optimal decision. Based on the steps, the decision-maker identifies the problems or organizational goals and then defines alternatives in terms of the potential outcomes for each of the alternatives. As mentioned, the problem is about having a new marketing approach that will make the company more appealing with the target market. In this regard, the three criteria can be considered include nutritional quality, service quality and customer satisfaction. For this decision making process, the major stakeholders are marketing managers and the customers. After the survey process, it has been decided that the company should adhere to the criteria of having nutritional quality. Conclusion Strategic management is guiding an organization relative to challenges and opportunities appearing in the contingent environment. This environment is composed of those external elements that most directly affect organizational goal achievement and new goal development. Thus, organization system design and management should complement strategic actions taken for productive subsystems, as well as those providing output delivery and other support functions for the organization. To the extent possible, the organization bases its actions on strategic decision making that, rather than a one-time effort, is an ongoing process of adaptation of original conceptions of mission, goals, structure, roles, and so forth relative to environmental dynamics. Accordingly, decision making process is a knowledge-intensive process which can be considered as an important part of having successful strategic management. It is a fact that companies must make decisions in its everyday operations; hence, in order to make sure that the decisions are made successfully, decision making process is important. In addition, it is considered as a central factor for having successful strategic management because it provides the company the assurance that each and every operations and activities made by the organizations adheres to a common goal which is set in the decision making plans.       In strategic decision makings there are barriers and enablers which are attributed as the main factors for the success of the decisions made. Barriers may include different factors which may negatively affect the decision making team and as well as the decision making process.  Decision making is a difficult process because of different factors. Such factors may include, environmental, cultural and the cognitive thinking of the one who will make the decision.       All in all, it can be concluded that even if decisions may come from different proposals, the result is still objective because of the decision making process and approaches which has been developed to make decision making become objective rather than subjective. The decision makers may use a specific decision making model to make sure that the decisions made are neutral.   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Decision Making Process At McDonald’s Corporation

Decision Making Process Introduction In a business organization, the management of a company is bound to a common goa...

Strategic Business Analysis: McDonald’s

Strengths             McDonald’s is considered as a global brand that is available in most countries in the world and shares the same strategic principles, positioning and marketing in every market throughout the world, but the marketing mix can vary that helped the company to have a vital market share in all countries as well as comparable brand loyalty (de Mooji, 2005 p. 14). That is the reason why, McDonald’s is considered as one of the main brands in the world in all industry. Thus, it has a strong brand image and reputation that lead the company to become the most powerful brand in the category of fast food according to BrandZ in 2008 (BrandZ, 2008).             The company also has a strong global presence with its nearest domestic competitor being only half its size, thus helped McDonald’s to become the leader in local and international markets. In addition, the company benefited from the cost reduction through the economies of scale due to its huge size and big global presence that enables it to expand risk that are involved with the economic performance of a given country. Thus, the company is well placed in order to expand and take advantage of the long-term growth in economy (Orji & Bao, 2005 p. 7).             In addition, the company also has a strong real estate portfolio. It can be observed on the position of the stores of the company, where in it is located in different areas that are highly known for visibility, traffic volume and most importantly, ease of access (Orji & Bao, 2005 p. 7).              Above all, the company’s Hamburger University is also considered as one of its advantages. It is the Center of Training Excellence of the company. It has emphasized consistency in terms of restaurants operations procedures, service, quality as well as cleanliness. The University was founded by Fred Turner, the former senior chairman and Kroc in 1961 in the basement of the store in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. In February 24, 1961 the initial class that is composed of 14 apprentices graduated in the University and as of now there are over 5,000 students that are attending the University each year. Since its first operation there are about 80,000 managers of restaurants, mid-managers and even proprietors and operators that have finished course from the said university (McDonald’s Corporation, 2008).   Weaknesses             Food industry is considered as saturated, thus different restaurants must focus on discovering balance between the increasing prices of raw ingredients and price sensitive consumer in the world (Jagger, 2007). Consequently, the company has to deal with the point of view of the alarming market saturation that will make it hard for the company to add new stores and outlets (Orji & Bao, 2005 p. 7).             In addition, the company is experiencing reduces in ability to increase revenue. However, the swift of the focus of the company from a value meal menu to a more diverse one has limited the negative impact of the intense price competition that was traditionally taking place among the leader of the industry (Orji & Bao, 2005 p. 8).             Another weakness is the weak development of product, which is considered as one of the main vital and crucial activities in any firm or organization. It is important to take note that the last product breakthrough of McDonald’s was Chicken McNuggets in 1983 (Orji & Bao, 2005 p. 8). As a result, the company is having difficulty in meeting the changing demands and preferences of the customers towards their products and services.             The company also shows poor marketing effort and connection with its local customers. There are different advertisement and promotion of the company that insults and caused negative image for the company. In China, the company launched a television commercial that some of the Chinese viewers considered as offensive that shows Chinese man kneeling and begging for a discount from an electronics salesman who refuses due to the fact that his coupon has expired, then the ad said that people don’t have to beg in order to take advantage of the company’s promotion. Thus, the advertisement portrays that Chinese people are poor and lacking in dignity (China Economic Review, 2005).  In addition, in Hong Kong, too many promotions become extremely excessive (Epinions.com, 2001).             Furthermore, the company is also facing problem regarding poor management. There have been different issues that are related to the poor customer service of the company. According to the customer service index that was conducted in 2003, McDonald’s has the lowest customer service ranking in the entire fast food industry; it has even ranked lower in the customer service compare to IRS (Pae & Nguyen, 2005). The survey of the University Of Michigan Business School National Quality Research Center to 200 firms and 30 government groups, shows that McDonald’s garnered an average score of 64 that enables the company to be the lowest in the category of fast food and quick service restaurants (The University of Michigan Business School, 2003). The said rate of the consumers is somewhat ironic to the position of the company as a well-accepted and famous brand in the world as well as in the history of the industry.             In addition, the company also has the highest employee turnover rate compare to its competitors (Pae & Nguyen, 2005). The current annualized turnover number of the company is 44% per article or annual turnover at 700,000. In details, globally, managerial turnover is about 20%, at the same time the crew members averages to 80% – 90% (Fistful of Talent, 2008).  The said events cause the company to spend more costs in their human resource management. While the organization continues to spend long time in the entire process of recruitment and hiring new employees and staff, it does not pay true attention to the cost of the turnover among its staffs. The cost of the employee turnover can be divided into two important categories which are: the direct cost that include the actual out-of-pocket expenses, together with the time that is expended by the staff as well as the management; and the opportunity costs, that include the number of the hours that have been taken for a new employee to acquire the skills and knowledge of the previous employee fully, together with the cost of the damage in the process of terminating employee did to he organization by the process of alienating the customers, wasting time, sloppy work as well as carelessness. Thus, it shows that the cost of the employee turnover has a direct influence over the bottom line of the organization (Wendover, 2006 pp. 3 – 4).   Opportunities             Globalization, expansion in other countries is considered as one of the most important opportunities for McDonald’s. The company still needs furthermore penetration in different countries, specifically Europe, Asia as well as Latin America (Orji & Bao, 2005 p. 8). The said opportunity will help the company to gain more market that can help to increase the entire revenue. In addition, Asia is considered as one of the most feasible market due to the fact that there are different newly developed countries that can be considered as possible market such as China and Korea. China is important due to its huge population as well as the growing condition of the country.             In addition, diversification and acquisition of other quick-service restaurants will also be as an opportunity for the company. It is important for the company to focus on its different branded chain restaurants such as the Chipotle Grill. This is Chipotle is considered as the most successful McDonald’s branded chain of restaurants (Orji & Bao, 2005 p. 8).             The development of the industry of fast-food in the world is also an opportunity for the company. In the US alone, the fast food industry is showing a healthy growth and development in the past years where in the forecast can be maintained. Thus, the fast food industry is anticipated to sustain or retain its existing outlooks for growth that has an expected Compound Annual Growth Rate or CAGR of 2.3% for period between 2005 and 2010. As a result, it will push the industry to a sum value of .6 billion at the end of 2010, a total increase of 12.1% since 2005. Furthermore, the fast food market is forecast to have a total huge volume of 37 billion transactions, representing a total increase of 5.3% since 2005 and the CAGR of the volume of the market during 2005 – 2010 periods is predicted to be 1% (Datamonitor Industry Market Research 2006). Aside from that, the Chinese’s fast food industry is showing extraordinary development, and it is considered as one of the fast developing industries in the said state that has a CAGR that crosses 25% (RNCOS, 2008). It is the effect of lack of time of the Americans and Chinese to prepare food due to the amount of the time that they spend in their works.             The changing eating habits of the customers can serve as opportunities and threats for the company. In terms of opportunity, as have mentioned, people tend to buy fast food because they no longer have much time to cook and prepare meal due to their works and schedules. In addition, the increasing participation of women in the labor force affected their time that spent managing their homes, particularly cooking. In the US alone, during 2004, about 59% of women are involved or had entered the labor force. From 2000 to 2004, 71% of the entire labor force participation rates of women are those mothers with children that are under age 18. During 2004, half of the entire management, certified and associated careers were handle by women. In addition women have the 14% of architects and engineers; and 29% of physicians and surgeons.  Furthermore, women have 86% of the entire paralegals and legal assistance; and 89% of dieticians and nutritionists (Bureau of Labor Statistics, n.d. p. 2).             Above all, the low cost menu of the company will gain the attention of price sensitive customers.   Threats             Like any other global or multinational companies, the company is exposed to any changes in the global economy and its aggressive international expansion has left it as very sensitive to other economic slowdown of other countries (Orji & Bao, 2005 p. 10). One of example is the fluctuation of the foreign currency. In addition, due to the economic slowdown in some countries, particularly in most of developing countries, customers tend to become price sensitive, and it has a great impact over the buying behavior of the customers.             In addition, competition is also one of the major threats for the company. Currently, there are huge numbers of players in the industry, and most of them are offering the same or similar products and services. The reason behind the said growth is due to the improvement of the entire fast food industry in the world. That is the reason why there is intensive price war, extreme battle of innovations and breakthrough and serious promotions and advertisements are being implemented by each and every players in the said industry. Increasing competition has led to aggressive pricing policies amongst the large brands as well as pushed them to increase their menu diversification as well as product developments in order to increase sales and market share, thus maintain current position in the entire market (Royle & Towers, 2002 p. 52).             All fast-food hamburger chains, including McDonald’s are forced to respond to the changes in the preferences of customer from high-calorie foods such as burger and fries to healthier one such as deli sandwiches and baked potatoes (Pae & Nguyen, 2005). The fast food industry holds negative image as the vital factor in a myriad of health problems. There are different notions that shows that the combination of desire for convenience from society and the greed that is driven market has helped to produced a culvert of repulsive eating habits (Murphy, 2008). As of now, more and more customers are becoming aware of nutritional values and health benefits of products and services that they are availing. In addition, they people are more figure and body conscious than before. In addition, childhood obesity was also connected and blamed for the growing incidents and cases of childhood obesity that can cause hazardous health problems in adulthood. The said situation has a great impact over the brand, due to the fact that children have the big share on the revenue of the brand (Palmer, 2004). The said trends reduced the revenues, staff motivation , together with the interests of the shareholders of McDonald’s, and it can be showed in the strong protest by different nutritional campaigners against the food that are being promoted by the company that have affected many lives, not only in the US but in other part of the world. The said events caused negative impact on the image of the brand that pushes Disney to decide not to renew its contract with the company (Glaister, 2006).   McDonald’s Revitalization Plan Under New Leadership 2003             Year 2003 is considered is a feasible year for the company. Under the new management of Jim Cantalupo, a major restructuring was announced that focuses on closure of more than 700 restaurants that mostly in the US and Japan; elimination of 600 jobs and charges of 3 million. Cantalupo also shifted away from the traditional reliance on growth of the company via the process of opening new units to a focus on gaining more sales and financial growth from the existing units (Funding Universe, 2004).             Furthermore, Cantalupo and his team had chosen to go big and bold with its three main initiatives such as flawless experience; customer choice; and ubiquity that were called as the McDonald’s Plan to Win that focuses on improving the customer expertise (Silverstein & Butman, 2006 p. 177).             The McDonald’s Plan to Win is also known as the “5 P’s or People, Products, Place, Price & Promotion”. The said strategy focused on what he company had identified as the five most important or vital drivers of success or 5 P’s.        Figure 2 Plan to Win McDonald’s Strategy 2003 People             People are considered as one of the most important driver of customer satisfaction fro exceptional experience of the customers. People or the employee was considered as the instrument in delivering exceptional customer service. Furthermore, the human resource or labor force is considered as the most vital resource in any organization due to the fact that it transforms different raw materials or product into salable products and services. The performance of each and every employee will reflect on the overall performance of the company.             The company focuses on staffing their restaurants during the busy periods and focuses on training their employees in order to deliver outstanding services. The company also applied new technology such as more visual menu that offers the employee more user-friendly system that will speed up their service towards the customers (Thompson & Strickland, 2005 p. C-228).   The Flawless Experience             The Plan to Win required rethinking the entire experience chain, from arrival to exit. The goals were to make the experience more personal and engaging, thus can help to increase the speed and convenience both at the counter and in the drive-through. The plan focuses on restaurant manager in order to implement flawless experience. Even though the company was originally popular for consistent quality and cleanliness via the establishment of corporate standards as well as rigorous systemwide oversight, the said new approach was considered as less suited to the process of providing the more personal experience that each and every consumer expects today. Thus, only well-trained and committed on-site manager can provide the said services (Silverstein & Butman, 2006 p. 177).             The said aspect of the strategy will help to maintain the advantage or strengths of the company regarding its strong brand image and reputation around the globe, and the Hamburger University can be used to the fullest. On the other hand, the strategy can help to focuses on the weaknesses of the company regarding the poor management that causes weak product development and innovation. The said strategy will help to motivate the employee more that will result to high employee satisfaction, thus help to improve the standard of service in each and every store of the company in different parts of the globe. In addition, the company will have the opportunity to apply the different abilities as well as skills of the employee in order to  meet the changing demands of the customers.             It will also help the company to take advantage of the different opportunities such as the growth of the fast-food industry. More and more people from around the world are becoming more dependent in different fast food chains due to the changing social factors such as work and other schedules, however, due to economic changes, the demand for low cost menu and great service is also increasing. That’s why great and fast service of the employees will help increase customer satisfaction.     Product             The company also focused on their products by becoming responsive on the changing tastes, demands and preferences of the customers. The primary objective of the company is to focus on the growing interests of the public towards wholesome food choices and other premium products in different part of the globe (Thompson & Strickland, 2005 p. C-228).   Customer Choice             Due to the different advocacy of different organizations towards the health problems that can be obtained in eating or depending on fast foods, McDonald’s and other players in the industry are facing veto vote from moms, tweens or kids between childhood and adolescence as well as serious that would require a broader menu choice. As part of the strategy, in order to connect the brand image of the company to healthy lifestyle and living, McDonald’s committed itself to food and menu innovation. The Chicken McNugget, despite its popularity and success, was not all that a chicken nugget could be due to the fact that standard version of McNugget was made from pressed chicken that is equivalent of hamburger or a different miscellaneous parts that were combined and pressed into an easily workable whole. That’s why the company introduced the premium chicken nugget that was made with the breast meat only. In addition, the company also offers salad and replaces the shaken salad which was composed primarily of shredded iceberg lettuce with a mixed salad that contains sixteen different lettuces. Furthermore, the company also offers new items in their menu that includes varieties of fruit and yogurt parfaits, new soup selections, McGriddles and other crispy-spicy options for their customers (Silverstein & Butman, 2006 p. 177).             Due to the fact that the company holds a strong brand image and reputation and holds a strong global presence, the said action will help the company to become more connected with the changing health needs of their customers. In addition, it can help the innovation and development process of the company by focusing on the healthy items in the menu that will help to improve the quality and taste of their products.             On the other hand, the said plan can also serve as a competitive advantage of the company in handling the intensive competition in the global fast food chain industry. It will help the company to have different products in some ways.   Place             Place is also another important aspect. The company focuses in making its restaurants cleaner, more relevant as well as more modern. Thus the company focuses on making the company as a place that customer seek out due to the fact that it offers the food that they want in a modern, fashionable, and at home environment that they want to be in whether eating alone or with friends or with family (Thompson & Strickland, 2005 p. C-228).    Ubiquity             The company launched and implemented different initiatives that will help to improve each and every store ambience and environment. In addition, due to the growing demand for technology and some of the customers of the company are working in their offices; the company install wireless technology that helped them to create wireless hot spots in different restaurants in 28 countries. This helps the company to cater on the demand of working customers to check their mail and works during their stay in the restaurant. Furthermore, in some countries, McDonald’s add up coffee houses that offer premium coffee, muffins ad even pastries at low costs in order to enhance the company’s appeal to the adults (Thompson & Strickland, 2005 p. C-228).             Furthermore, in order to make the stores of the company cleaner and more fashionable, the company implemented several renovations, rebuilding as well as relocation of some buildings in order to follow the goal of the company to offer fresh and sophisticated at the same time friendly environment (Thompson & Strickland, 2005 p. C-299).             When and where you want it had become the mantra at the company. The main goal of the company is to offer a McDonald’s options for the customers, regardless of his or her location, meaning the company strived to continue its creation and establishments of traditional store in order to increase its density in different locations where customers expected to find the restaurant. The company required the development of new footprints that helps to bring the company to different small towns, food court, resort destinations and other important and special venues and places (Silverstein & Butman, 2006 p. 178).             The said plan will help the company to maintain its image and reputation as well as its strong real estate portfolio. In addition it will help the company to focus and handle its problem regarding its outdated stores in different places that can affect the image of the company. Aside from that, it also enables the company to focus on the changing preferences of the customers towards technology due to the installation of wireless Internet. Thus, the said situation will help McDonald’s to maintain its position in the global market despite of extensive competition.     Price             Price is an important factor due to the fact that it has a huge effect on the buying behavior of the customers. It is important to consider the pricing is considered as one of the most important aspects of market. Thus, because McDonald’s is a multinational or global company it has to consider different behavior and culture of the customers in the decision-making regarding the price.   Productivity and Value             McDonald’s concentrated on offering a broad selection of products at a range of price points that will appeal to the price sensitive customers. Aside from that, the company is also offering premium product for those customers who are willing to pay well. The company also focuses on process of measuring the price driver that involves activities that will help to improve the value-for-money scores and restaurant margins (Thompson & Strickland, 2005 p. C-299).             The said strategy will help the company to take advantage of the opportunity regarding the popularity of low-cost menu items in different parts of the globe, primarily in the developing countries, especially during financial and economic crisis.   Promotion             Promotion is the final element of the strategy of the company. The company focuses on building trust and brand loyalty. This is vital because promotion is the primary connector between the brand and product towards the target customers.   Brand Awareness             The company creates different messages that strengthen and support brand and then connect and relate it with the vital segment of customers which are the families and young adults. At the same time, the company also plan to continue to build bonds of trust with the customer as well as the entire community where in the company perform its business. The company implements different programs during the said strategy such as the I’m Lovin’ it campaign that was launched in the world during 2003. Aside from that, different general efforts were don in order to make the restaurant an easy choice for the families by offering both premium salad and improving their Happy Meal. Furthermore, the company also put Ronald McDonald in a prominent position in their marketing efforts towards the customers. Furthermore, the company also uses the benefits of the Corporate Social Responsibility or CSR in order to intensify their popularity in the market. Aside from that, the company also focuses their campaign towards the young adults by featuring different music from prominent and famous recording artists (Thompson & Strickland, 2005 p. C-299).             The said promotion efforts and activities of the company enable to improve its strong brand image and reputation. Ronald McDonald’s prominent position in promotion enables the company to gain more support from children, thus offering variety of products helps the company to focus, not just on the demand and preferences of the children but also to the demands of the adults. Thus it will create an impression that McDonald’s is a place where in family and friends can gather together and spend quality time. The CSR also help to maintain the image and reputation of the business due to the fact that the increasing importance on the CSR has a great influence on the relationship between the company and its respective stakeholders such as investors, clients, vendors, dealers, workers, communities and even the government (Economist Intelligence Unit, 2005 p. 3). Thus it helps to create impressive impact to the customers, especially now that more and more people are becoming aware of the current social and environmental issues in different part of the globe.   McDonald’s Current Performance Plan to Win Leadership             The “Plan to Win” program enables the company to turn around and focus on its operation in US on different services and varieties at the accessible and present sites and positions rather than development of new locations. As have mentioned, the approaches regarding the menu focuses on breakfast, chicken as well as beverages, together with the convenience that the company will going to offer. In addition, the company also focuses on different healthier options that helped to meet the demand and preferences of the customers towards health. Just as the company was in the beginning of its plan, Cantalupo undergo from a deadly heart attack during the convention of the company in Orlando. The president and chief operating officer Charlie Bell succeeded him. Unfortunately, Bell passed away due to colon cancer within the year. As a result, Jim Skinner was positioned as CEO, Roberts was positioned as CFO of the global company and Thompson was positioned as the executive vice president as well as the chief operating officer of the US business in order to supervise the business environment and the whole thing that is going on within each and every restaurant on a daily basis (Hughes, 2007 p. 100).             During August of 2006, Roberts resigned and put Ralph Alvarez as the COO of the global company, and he handled presidency of the company’s USA operation. Currently he is guiding the company into its fifth year of successive expansion and development and serving to shift the company into another area like coffees (Hughes, 2007 p. 100).   Current Strategy and Level of Performance             The Plan to Win strategy of the company had helped McDonald’s to improve their position in the global market. In 2004, the cash that was provided by operations had increased from 0 million to .9 billion due to the increased margin that was influenced by higher sales at the existing restaurants. In the US, the company obtained an increase of 9.6%, considered as the highest increase in 30 years. Furthermore, the company had been able to increase the number of restaurant from 26,093 of 1999 to 30,496 in 2004 that helped the company to served an additional 1.6 million customers a day, compare with 2003. The stock of McDonald’s was also appreciated 29% that had helped to increase the annual cash dividend of the company to more than double compare to 2002. In addition, the company was named as the Marketer of the Year by the Advertising Age. The company was also ranked as number 1 in the list of Fortune of Top 50 Places for Minorities to Work. It was the second consecutive year for the company to receive the said recognition. Above all, according to another survey of Fortune, McDonalds was ranked as the top 5 Most Admired Company in terms of social responsibility (McDonald’s Corporation, 2004).The said improvement shows that the strategy of the company had worked fine in a year.             Currently, the company is still implementing the said strategy, where in the company focuses on being “one brand”, “one system” and “one plan”. The system alignment around the said strategy pushes the company in what is the most vital to the customers, thus help to provide a dynamic framework on the approach that is used in the global business.             The company is focusing more on the areas of human resource where in it established priorities in different areas of hiring, training as well as reward in order to maintain workplace flexibility in their restaurant. The company is also measuring the effectiveness of the practices of the people by regular employee survey that help to increase the commitment level of crew and manager of the company. In addition McDonald’s also offer progress from the “crew room to the board room”, that starts with the on-the-job training or OJT in the company’s restaurants and then moving ahead to the college-level management courses that are accessible at the Hamburger University. The Leadership Institute of McDonald’s also proposes and suggests different accelerated plans and process to about 200 prospects employees from the entire system of the company. As a result, in 2007, the company was ranked as one of the “Top 20 Global Companies for Leaders” (McDonald’s Corporation, 2007).             In addition, the company is also focusing on product development and innovation. As of now, the McDonald’s is offering Snack Wrap that offer flexibility to adapt to the local tastes. Furthermore, the company also set an alliance with the Kenco Rainforest in order to offer coffee to their customers (McDonald’s Corporation, 2007).             In terms of place, there are about 24,500 restaurants in different parts of the globe that is already offering 24-hour service helping their customers who are working in night or graveyard shift to avail of their products and services. The company is also taking advantage of the growing mobile population in China and Russia by offering drive-thrus, at the same time in the US and Canada, greater effectiveness and double drive-thru lanes enables the company to provide service to more consumers in quick manner. Aside from that, the company is also offering delivery services in Singapore, Egypt and other countries in Asia in order to make the life of their customers easier (McDonald’s Corporation, 2007).             To meet the different demands and behavior of customers in different places in the world, the pricing decision-making varies from one place to another. This is due to the fact that there are markets that considered as price sensitive. That’s why the company is collaborating with its suppliers and leverage different economies of scale in order to make sure that they have a consistent and competent supply of first-class elements or components at competitive and expected prices (McDonald’s Corporation, 2007).             In 2007, there are about 115 countries who have participated in one of the most successful promotions of McDonald’s, its partnership with DreamWorks’ Shrek the Third. The said promotion, with the help of the Shrek licensed characters made the process of preferring and selecting fruit, milk or vegetables as a piece of Happy Meal more pleasurable for kids than ever. In 2008, the company helps the Olympic dream come true for 200 kids with the McDonald’s Champion Kids, which enables them to experience the Olympic in Beijing. Above all, the company also uses the global appeal of games by bringing the fun of popular games, particularly the Monopoly to the customers around the world (McDonald’s Corporation, 2007).             As a result, the global comparable sales had increased by 6.8%, from .3 billion during 2006 to .8 billion in 2007. the company also showed billion in total revenue and a 25% three-year compounded annual return to the shareholders, considered as above double compare to the three-year returns of  S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average. As a result, for three consecutive years, the company has been included in the Sustainability Index of Dow Jones that reflects in the company’s ongoing effort towards CSR (McDonald’s Corporation, 2007).     Figure 3 SWOT Analysis McDonald’s 2009                                                                                   Figure 3 shows the SWOT analysis of the company in 2009. The company had been able to show a great improvement in performance from 2003. Compare to the SWOT analysis in 2003, it can be observed that the company holds the same strengths that focuses on the strong brand image and reputation, strong global presence, real estate portfolio as well as its strong position in the overall market. However, due to the Plan to Win strategy that was implemented in 2003,some of the weaknesses have became strengths for McDonald’s such as the product development and innovation, quality and taste of products, marketing, management, appearance of stores as well as the response towards the changing demands and needs of the customers. While all the weaknesses were the same, aside from it was reduced to the problem regarding connection with the franchise network that will reflect on the issues regarding quality; and the fact that, most of the player in fast-food industry, that the core product of the company is out of the line with the current trends and interests of the people towards healthier lifestyle, both for children and adults.             The opportunities are the same, but there are some added factors such as expansion in improving economies such as China and India; application of IT that will help to enhance the quality and speed of service. Furthermore, focusing on the McCafe will help the company to gain more customers in other segments, particularly adults. Furthermore, the company must also focus on the needs of the children regarding Play Park and offer adults regarding information and facts about health and fitness.             Just like opportunities, the threats in the entire fast-food chain industry are the same compare to 2003 analysis, aside from the growing concern of the people and other pressure groups towards the environmental impact of different processes and procedures of the company in preparing and delivering food for the customers.   Competitor Analysis             The following are the primary competitors of McDonald’s in fast food industry, primarily in the US:   Wendy’s             Wendy’s Old-Fashioned Hamburger was founded by David Thomas in Ohio and was incorporated in 1976 (Wendy’s 2008). The company is considered as the third largest fast-food hamburger business in the world that is operating 9,000 stores in about 33 countries in the world. During 2002, the company recorded total revenue of 2.73 billion that shows 14.2% increase compare to 2001. The strategy of the company focuses on offering different products and services compare to its competitor (Thompson & Strickland, 2005 p. C-223).             During 2002 – 2003, most of the food chain company is focusing on lowering the prices of their products in order to gain competitive advantage, but the company refused to follow the said trend and continue to focus on the quality of their products than price. As a result, Wendy’s had been able to offer unique items such as Garden Sensation, that enables the company to become prominent as a company that offer healthy items in their menu (Thompson & Strickland, 2005 p. C-223).             In terms of expansion, Wendy’s focuses on international expansion in Latin America, and uses acquisitions of smaller brands and joint ventures as the primary approach in expansion (Thompson & Strickland, 2005 p. C-224).             For the duration of the second quarter of 2007, McDonald’s reached a total of 8.3 million of sales, showing an increase, compare to 7.7 million in the same quarter of the previous year. The company recorded a decline in their franchise revenue, from .3 million during the second quarter of the prior year to .6 million of 2007 second quarter, this is because there is fewer open franchise restaurants compare to 2006 (FindArticles.com, n.d.).             Based on the said facts, it can be seen that Wendy’s maintains its core strategy, which is to focus on the quality of their product and not on global expansion. In addition, Wendy’s is also offering different healthy products that are not available in the menu of its competitors. Wendy’s also implements acquisition of smaller brand as their primary expansion approach, one of this is their acquisition of Baja Mexican Grill, however, under the management of Wendy’s Baja had started to lose money, that’s why the company decided to sell Baja in 2006. Aside from that, the company also acquires the Tim Hortons, but the company started some of its share in 2005.             The main disadvantages of the company is that it does not have an easily recognizable product that can be connected by the customers to the brand like Big Mac of McDonald’s and Whopper of Burger King (Orji & Bao, 2005 p. 10).     Jack in the Box             Jack in the Box is one of the most important competitors of McDonald’s in the industry and it was founded in 1951. During 2002, the company has a total of 1,850 restaurants in about 17 states. During the same year, the company recorded total revenue of .2 billion dollars that was up to 4.7% from 2001 (Thompson & Strickland, 2005 p. C-223).             The main strategy of the company during the said time is that it focuses its services and products towards the demands, needs and preferences of adult customers only, this is different from McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Burger King that focuses on the demands of the whole family. The company had been able to produce their innovative items like teriyaki chicken bowl and chicken fajita pita. Just like Wendy’s, Jack in the Box did not involved itself in the price war, instead it focuses its efforts towards the improvement of the quality of their product, together with the effort to attract women, that helped the company to reduce their dependency over the young males which is considered as a crowded market (Thompson & Strickland, 2005 p. C-224).             At the end of fourth quarter, September 28, 2008, the company recorded net earnings of .9 million or a total of 47% of diluted share, compare to the .8 million or 43% diluted share during the fourth quarter of 2007. It shows that the net earnings are 9.3 million or .01 per diluted share in 2008. It show that both the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2008 showed a negative impact of about 4 to 5 % diluted share due to the losses and costs that are related to the Hurricane Ike (Chain Leader, 2008).             The company sticks to its strategy to focus on a particular age segment of the customers, and that is to offer products and services that are suitable to the preferences, demands and needs of adults. That is the reason why the company focuses on different innovations and developments that will offer the customers the on-the-go convenience. As matter of fact, the company is the first main hamburger chain to develop and increase its own idea of drive-thru dining and most of its branches have its internal eating areas that are open for public for 18 – 24 hours every day (Jack in the Box, 2006).             Due to the growing demand for personalized products as well as healthy preferences of the customers, the company offers their Build Your Meal calculator, where in the visitor can go the website of the company and then their preferred burger or sandwich based on their tastes, online that will help them to analyze the nutritional information. Aside from that, the company also offers fresh and hot product due to the assembly-to-order program. The company also uses acquisition as their approach in expansion; the Qdoba Mexican Grill was acquired by the company in January of 2003 (Jack in the Box, 2006).   Sonic             Sonic was founded by Troy Smith in 1953 in Shawnee, Oklahoma as Top Hat. By 2003, the company recorded a growth of 2.4 billion in revenue that is considered as 6.2% increase, and it had grown to more than 2,700 locations, where in more or less 80% were franchise. Sonic is smaller compare to other competitors in the industry, but it had been able to be listed as one of the Top 200 Best Small Companies by Forbes for the last 10 years; one of the Hot Growth Companies of Business Week during 2002 and 2003; and one of the top franchise opportunities by the Entrepreneur Magazine (Thompson & Strickland, 2005 p. C-224).             Sonic focuses on its unique drive-in restaurant business, which is considered as the largest in America is one of the strategies of the company in order to meet the demands of the customers. Aside from that, the company also offer broad selection of items in their menu and offer a different restaurant atmosphere which bring back the old times. The Sonic tried to focus on its item that will offer fun and novelty. Aside from that, the company has a strong and very good relationship with its franchisees that helped them to add new products in their menu. As a result, in 2004, the company shows increase of 16 – 17% in their earnings per share (Thompson & Strickland, 2005 p. C-224).             As of now, the company still implements and maintain the said strategy in order to come up with the expectations of the customers. However, just like the other major competitors, Sonic had started to deal on the nutritional values of its products in order to respond on the growing demand of the customers for healthier food. The official website of Sonic offers and shows page that will show the company’s menu and the respective nutritional values that shows the calories, fat, sugar and other aspects that are related to nutritional contents of their products.     Conclusion             Base on the performance of McDonald’s from 2003 up to the present, it can be said that the Plan to Win strategy was successful because the company had been able to maintain its position as the most important player in the fast food industry. However, there are different threats and opportunities that must be focused by the company in order to maintain the said position. Primarily, the growing consciousness of the world regarding the negative impact of fast foods, not only for health but to the physical aspects is affecting its overall demand. That’s why the company must focus on giving their customers varieties of items in their menu that will cater to their healthy preferences.             In addition, it is also important to consider the growing competition in the industry because most of the players are offering almost-the-same products and most of them is involved in the price war.             Globalization offer a great opportunity for expansion, however, it is important to consider that it also offers difficulties in terms of management and marketing due to the fact that each and every nations inhibits differences in terms of cultures and traditions that will influence the customers’ preferences, demands and the entire buying behavior and patterns.             Above all, McDonald’s must focus on giving CSR that is considered as a powerful marketing tool. 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Smart Hiring at the Next Level: The Complete Guide to Finding and Hiring the Best Employees, Sourbooks, Inc.   Business Wire 2007: Wendy’s Announces Strong 2007 Second-Quarter Results, FindArticles.com,  Available from: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/ mi_m0EIN/is_2007_July_26/ai_n27352315, Accessed 25th November, 2008] [*1]        Appendices   Appendix A – SWOT Analysis and Plan to Win Strategy 2003       People   Place   Product   Price   Promotion         S T R E N G T H S   §Strong brand image and reputation § Strong brand image and reputation § Strong brand image and reputation § Strong brand image and reputation §Strong brand image and reputation § Strong global presence § Strong global presence § Strong global presence § Strong global presence §Strong global presence § Specialized training for managers known as the Hamburger University § Strong real estate portfolio § Holds majority of the market share in the world’s fast-food hamburger industry § Holds majority of the market share in the world’s fast-food hamburger industry § Holds majority of the market share in the world’s fast-food hamburger industry                     W E A K N E S S E S   § Weak product development and innovation § Many stores started to look out-dated § Declining share in the market § Failure to respond to the changing needs and demands of the customers §Declining share in the market § Quality and taste of products   § Weak product development and innovation   § Weak product development and innovation § Poor management   § Quality and taste of products   §Quality and taste of products § Failure to respond to the changing needs and demands of the customers   § Failure to respond to the changing needs and demands of the customers   §Poor marketing         §Failure to respond to the changing needs and demands of the customers   O P P O R T U N I T I E S   § Growth of the fast-food industry § Globalization, expansion in other countries § Globalization, expansion in other countries § Globalization, expansion in other countries §Globalization, expansion in other countries   § Growth of the fast-food industry § Growth of the fast-food industry § Growth of the fast-food industry § Growth of the fast-food industry     § Changing trends in eating habit   § Changing trends in eating habit     § Low cost menu that will attract the customers   § Low cost menu that will attract the customers               T H R E A T S   § Increasing competition in the local and global fast-food industry § Increasing competition in the local and global fast-food industry § Changes in the global economy § Changes in the global economy § Changes in the global economy Fast-food chain industry is expected to struggle to meet the expectations of the customers § Fast-food chain industry is expected to struggle to meet the expectations of the customers § Increasing competition in the local and global fast-food industry § Increasing competition in the local and global fast-food industry § Increasing competition in the local and global fast-food industry     § Changing diet preferences and health expectations Fast-food chain industry is expected to struggle to meet the expectations of the customers § Changing diet preferences and health expectations     § Fast-food chain industry is expected to struggle to meet the expectations of the customers   § Fast-food chain industry is expected to struggle to meet the expectations of the customers                                 Appendix B: McDonald’s Competitor’s Logos   <div style="mso-element:comment-list"> <div style="mso-element:comment"> <div id="_com_1" class="msocomtxt" language="JavaScript" onmouseover="msoCommentShow('_anchor_1','_com_1')" onmouseout="msoCommentHide('_com_1')">  [*1]THIS PORTION CANNOT BE CHANGED. </div></div> </div> </div> Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Strategic Business Analysis: McDonald’s

Strengths McDonald’s is considered as a global brand that is available in most countries in the world and shares the same...