I left a comment on a friends blog and forgot to reference it on my main one.
This comment is with reference to my classmate Sam Scott’s Blog post on McDonald’s new Kiosk concept.
“Interesting take on the addition of kiosks to one of the worlds largest fast food chains. I agree with the fact that McDonalds will be able to reduce operating costs and increase customer satisfaction through reduced error. However in my opinion, the 30% increase in price seems quite excessive and I feel McDonalds will have to reduce this to maybe 15-20% if they really want to gain from the advantages Mr Mahesh Nagarajan spoke on customisation. In essence these new kiosks would make ordering more convenient, but not necessarily give customers a different/more specialised food order.
The bigger issue I feel revolved around these new kiosks is something you briefly mentioned towards the end of your post. Recently Canadian provinces have begun increasing their minimun wage rates due to debates on liveable incomes. By introducing kiosks, McDonalds is bypassing this increase in their operating costs, which may be beneficial to the financial stakeholders of the firm. However, personally I feel that because of the current state of the Canada’s economy, what McDonalds is trying to do is quite unethical and is a clear case of Profits Vs. Social Responsibility. McDonalds is currently estimated to be employing around 85,000 people in Canada, hence the introduction of new self-service kiosks could have an enormous impact on Canada’s lower middle class.”
Blackwell, Richard, and Tavia Grant. “Minimum Wage Increases Reignite Livable Income Debate.” The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail, 01 Oct. 2015. Web. 05 Oct. 2015.