McDonald’s Process Strategy, Research Paper Example

McDonald’s is among the well known fast food restaurants across the globe. It operates in 59 different countries, have more than 30,000 restaurants, and serve more than 46 million customers per day (Zuber, 2001). So, how has this outstanding success been achieved? The secret lies in management. This paper elaborates the process strategies applied in McDonald’s chain of restaurants. These strategies can guide others anticipating success.

Due to high competition in the fast food industry, McDonald’s has aimed at being at the top of competition through by providing their customers with better services and a variety of healthy meals at cheaper rates. To achieve this, the management has factored in the five P’s strategy which incorporates people, product, price, place, and promotion to remain competitive (Cantalupo, 2003). Each P has a chain effect on others. The first driving force- staff-which must be skillful and qualified. McDonald’s continuously train and motivate its staff so as to work effectively. The second force- products- which production is centered on taste, quality, and price of goods and services rendered to the customers. McDonald’s researches on flexibility in tastes and preferences in market, ensures that goods bought are of good quality, and the products sold are at fair prices. The third factor is place. The company focuses on clean, modern, and relevant environments for its chains. The company does not compromise on the safety and comfort of both customers and workers. The forth force- price- is represented in value and productivity. The company increases the products’ value by ensuring that they are of high quality and lower costs. The last factor is promotion which is represented in trust, leadership, and marketing. McDonald’s has tried to maintain its good reputation to customers, tried to gain trust of royal customers and focused on acquiring new loyal customers (Cantalupo, 2003). The application of this five Ps management strategy has seen McDonald’s leading the rest in the industry.

Even with such strategic approach in its operations, McDonald’s still face challenges. The corporation’s European headquarters are located in London. However, according to the corporation’s spokesman, the company still faces the problem of the ownership of intellectual property rights (Zuber, 2001). To overcome such a problem, the headquarters can be located in a city like Geneva, Switzerland. Since the company operates in over 40 markets in Europe, moving the headquarters to Geneva would allow alignment of matters concerning intellectual property rights in Europe business. Moreover, the profit margins may increase since corporate taxes are lower in Switzerland compared to that of U.K.

McDonald’s chain of restaurants can attribute their success to good management. Managers have incorporated the five Ps strategy and the results have been encouraging. Any company aiming to succeed can borrow a leaf from McDonald’s.

References

Zuber, A. (2001). Big Mac, Big value:  McD to lower prices. Retrieved August 26, 2009 from <http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3190/is_50_35/ai_80748686>

Cantalupo, J. (2003). McDonald’s revitalization plan. Retrieved August 26, 2009 from <http://www.mcdonalds.com/corp/invest/pub/revitalization.RowPar.0001.ContentPar.0001.ColumnPar.0004.File.tmp/mcd_revit alization_plan.pdf>.