I was inspired by one of my classmates ( Pawan George’s) blog to evaluate why McDonalds is still the number one fast food chain in the world.
Why is Mcdonald’s #1?
Pawan George does raise interesting point , he is right when he claims that the success of McDonalds rises from the combination of a wide product portfolio and the low prices of its products. However I believe the secret to their success lies much deeper than that. Many different processes come together to ensure the prosperity of McDonalds. One of the most important parts lie in the emphasis that the company places on consistency. A large part of their expansion strategy lies in their franchising policy. With franchises especially quality management is a huge issue. To address this Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonalds said,”It doesn’t matter if you’re visiting a McDonald’s in California or Connecticut, America or Australia – you’re going to have a similar experience wherever you are.”(Franchise Direct, 2017). This consistency results in people wanting a McChicken wherever they are in the world.
Ever since McDonalds opened their first restaurant they have followed an extremely aggressive expansion strategy. McDonalds was the first proper fast food chain to enter Asia and has hence managed capture a significant portion of the market share there. In this age of information overload the company that manages to reach consumers first is usually the company that stays in the mind of the consumer. McDonalds was the first fast food chain to enter India in 1996 and still has a market share that is much larger than any of its competitors like KFC or Burger King.
The culture of innovation that has been instilled in the company over the years has an equal if not bigger say in the success of McDonalds. The business is able to adapt and innovate to any new market that it enters. For example, India as a culture is very different to that of the western world. In India beef is not eaten at all and vegetarians represent the majority of the population. Thus, McDonalds modified their menu to remove all beef burgers and introduced new vegetarian burgers like the “McAloo Tikki.”
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Pawan George raises a similar point in his blog when he sheds light on the different McDonalds menus all around the world. He references a “Samurai Pork Burger” in Thailand and a “McArabia” in Oman.
In conclusion, the success of a company that operates on the scale of McDonalds can not be attributed to just one or two reasons. It is a host of many different factors that come together that allow for McDonalds to make the profits that it does. But I believe that McDonald’s aggressive expansions strategy and culture of innovation played huge roles in their success.
Word Count;: 450
Sources
Franchise Direct. (2017, April 12). How Has McDonald’s Been So Successful for So Long? | FranchiseDirect.com. Retrieved from http://www.franchisedirect.com/information/markettrendsfactsaboutfranchising/thesuccessofmcdonalds/8/1111
McDonald’s: Best fast-food restaurant? – Pawan George’s Blog [Web log post]. (2017, October 15). Retrieved from https://blogs.ubc.ca/pawangeorge/2017/10/15/mcdonalds-best-fast-food-restaurant/