Free Custom «McDonald’s Mission and Challenges» Essay Paper

Mission and Values

McDonald’s has a brand goal to make its environs the best place to eat, while providing the favorite way to eat. The company’s worldwide operations are based on the strategy dubbed the Plan to Win. All its operations are based on 5P’s: people, products, place, price and promotion. It is the continued goal of the company to improve its operations and its customers’ experience (Crowley 2011).

Values

The customer’s experience is central to all the company’s operations:  the company appreciates customers to be the sole reason for their existence. Therefore, it replicates this appreciation by ensuring they offer high quality food accompanied by excellent services. Their goal is based on quality, service, cleanliness and value.

Commitment to the people: the company avails opportunities and nurtures talent through its scholarship programs meant to mould leaders, while rewarding achievement. It considers a team of well-skilled personnel to be the backbone of its success.

 

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Believe in the McDonald’s System: The Company is guided by the ‘three-legged stool’ model which consists of operators, suppliers and employees. Its goal is to ensure needs of the three are satisfied.

Ethical business operations: all the operations are conducted, while upholding standards of fairness, openness and veracity.

Giving back to the community: the company helps its customers build their societies, support its affiliate charities and offer scholarships.

Profitable growth of the business: being a publicly traded company, McDonald’s strives to ensure it remains profitable to its shareholders.

Continued improvement: McDonald’s is always seeking innovative ways to respond to customer preference and demand.

Challenges Ahead

Structural Changes

In order to remain competitive in the market and win more customers, McDonald’s is engaged in new changes that could alter its future. Towards the end of 2011, the company announced a $1 billion plus initiative to invest in a store-to-store makeover. The franchise hopes that by the year 2015, it will transform 14000 outlets in America into gorgeous places to hang out, over and above the present service of a burger and an accompanying smoothie. Future customers will no longer find fiberglass tables, steel seats or yellow mix of colors in company’s interiors. The red roofs are to be scrapped and a definite entrance will reduce the present confusion on which door to use.  Company had already revamped more than two hundred markets by the end of the last year setting the pace for the Tampa model that is to be replicated in all branches worldwide.  

New changes are expected not only to increase the comfort of its customers, but to beat the competition from its main rivals, Burger King and Wendy’s. Its advantage over the two is its ability to finance such upgrades due to its massive sales. The initiative should also pry customers form the casual chains, such as Panera Bread. The initiative should introduce a new image in minds of McDonalds’ customers.

The makeover should prove a success, the franchise could become America’s largest restaurant chain. However, if the idea fails to pay off, then the company will lose billions of dollars. The change may reduce the company’s popularity among kids and increase its appeal to the older generation. The company has always advocated for the fast service and encouragement of customers to leave. However, it now has plans to encourage customers to stick around, as they enjoy their treat and Wi-Fi services. Judging from the new customer feedback in the already established locations, the initiative could just be the company’s game-changer.

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Menu Changes

Early in this year (2012), the company made plans to alter the pricing of its staple dollar menu. Customers were expected to spend more than a dollar for small fries and small drinks.  In replacement, the franchise hopes to sell cookies and ice cream cones for the same price. This may have been unwelcome for customers who preferred fries and drinks, but the change in pricing may not significantly affect sales of commodities. The idea is a move to source more from customers. However, the company argues that customers of fries and beverages are often served as dinner, and those who visit the franchise do so with their minds set on the kind of meal they would prefer. They would not mind paying a little extra for the same, due to this fact. They could also be enticed into purchasing an extra item after their meal. This is where cookies and ice cream cone come in (Zinczenko & Goulding 2011).

The company also launched the ‘Extra value Menu’ towards the end of March, 2012. The items on the list include some of its normal products with their normal pricing. All the items cost more than a dollar with the larger majority going for $2. The move to categorize products without any significant changes is a marketing strategy. The repackaging into a new category attracts the attention of customers into looking at the contents of the menu. Such a move can only increase sales, but failure to kick off would result in no significant changes.

Moreover, items in the snack menu are accompanied by the word ‘snack’. According to statistics, the number of times restaurants use the word snack between the year 2007 and 2010 had multiplied by two.  Customers tend to associate the word ‘snack’ with something healthier that can be eaten between meals, and which does not dig too dip in one’s pocket. McDonald’s should ignite the same feeling in its customers by using the term to refer to a majority of its products in its ‘Extra menu’. Though, there is no guarantee that customers could buy the idea, positive feedback will cause sales of the company to sky rocket (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson 2012)