McDonald's restaurants - : Corporate overview

McDonald's restaurants - Corporate overview

McDonald's restaurants can be found in 120 countries and territories around the world and serve nearly 54 million customers each day. The company also operates other restaurant brands, such as Piles Café and Boston Market, and has a minority stake in Pret a Manger. The company owned a majority stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill until completing its divestment in October 2006. Until December 2003, it also owned Donatos Pizza. It also has a subsidiary, Redbox, which started in as 18-foot (5.5 m) wide automated convenience stores, but as of 2005, has focused on DVD rental machines McDonald's restaurants are found in 120 countries and territories around the world and serve nearly 54 million customers each day. The company also operates other restaurant brands, such as Piles Café and Boston Market, and has a minority stake in Pret a Manger. The company owned a majority stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill until completing its divestment in October 2006.

 

 

 

       

Chaptre II:Types of restaurants

The site of the first McDonald's to be franchised by Ray Kroc is now a museum in Des Plaines, Illinois. The building is a replica of the original, which was the ninth McDonald's restaurant opened.

Nowadays McDonald's restaurant chain developed a lot.

Most McDonald's restaurants offer both counter service and drive-through service, with indoor and sometimes outdoor seating. Drive-Thru, Auto-Mac, Pay and Drive, or McDrive as it is known in many countries, often has separate stations for placing, paying for, and picking up orders, though the latter two steps are frequently combined; it was first introduced in Arizona in 1975, following the lead of other fast-food chains. In some countries "McDrive" locations near highways offer no counter service or seating. In contrast, locations in high-density city neighborhoods often omit drive-through service. There are also a few locations, located mostly in downtown districts, that offer Walk-Thru service in place of Drive-Thru.Specially themed restaurants also exist, such as the "Solid Gold McDonald's," a 1950s rock-and-roll themed restaurant. In Victoria, British Columbia, there is also a McDonald's with a 24 carat gold chandelier and similar light fixtures. 

Some McDonald's in suburban areas and certain cities feature large indoor or outdoor playgrounds, called "McDonald's PlayPlace" (if indoors) or "Playland" (outdoors). The first PlayPlace with the familiar crawl-tube design with ball pits and slides was introduced in 1987 in the USA, with many more being constructed soon after. Some PlayPlace playgrounds have been renovated into "R Gym" areas."R Gyms" are in-restaurant play area that features interactive game zones

 

designed for children aged 4 to 12. Equipped with stationary bicycles attached to video games, dance pads, basketball hoops, monkey bars, an obstacle course, and other games which emphasize physical activity.The "R Gym" features the Toddler Zone, an active play environment with age appropriate games that develop physical coordination and social skills; the Active Zone, designed for children aged four-to-eight that promotes physical fitness through fun play; the Sports Zone which features a series of sport oriented activities to promote aerobic exercise for children aged 9-to-12; the Parent Zone which features seating and provides a monitoring area for their children; and the Dining Area which allows families to eat.

McDonald's restaurants awn a lot of istablishment with all kind of facilites.Amoug them are playgrounds,motels,sportgrounds,cafes a.s.o.   McCafé is a café-style accompaniment to McDonald's restaurants.Due to popularity of Starbucks and coffee shops in general, McDonald's introduced McCafés to capitalize on this latest trend. McCafé is a concept of McDonald's Australia in 1993. Today, most McDonald's in Australia have McCafés located within the existing McDonald's restaurant. In Tasmania there are McCafés in every store.As of the end of 2003 there were over 600 McCafés worldwide.McCafé is also becoming increasingly present in southeastern Michigan restaurants, according to an internal source. The company looks to have all restaurants McCafé-capable by the end of the 2007 fiscal year. The first McCafés opened in March.

According to a March 2007 article in Consumer Reports, McDonald's beat out Starbucks, Burger King, and Dunkin' Donuts in a coffee taste test. This was surprising news to some, as McDonald's has been historically known for burgers, fries, and shakes, not coffee.

   

McDonald's has become emblematic of globalization, sometimes referred as the "McDonaldization" of society. The Economist magazine uses the "Big Mac index": the comparison of a Big Mac's cost in various world currencies can be used to

informally judge these currencies' purchasing power parity. Because McDonald's is closely identified with United States culture and lifestyle, its international business expansion has been termed part of Americanization and American.

McDonald's was the first restaurant to consistently offer clean restrooms, driving customers to demand the same of other restaurants and institutions. In East Asia in particular, McDonald's have become a symbol for the desire to embrace Western cultural norms. McDonald's have recently taken to partnering up with Sinopec, China's second largest oil company, in the People's Republic of China, as it begins to take advantage of China's growing use of personal vehicles by opening numerous drive-thru restaurants.In addition to its effect on business standards, McDonald's has also been instrumental in changing local customs. By popularizing the idea of a quick restaurant meal, Watson's study suggests, McDonald's led to the easing or elimination of various taboos, such as eating while walking in Japan. McDonald's also flattens the social strata during dining - there is no problem of losing face for certain customers (who might be embarrassed when someone else ordered a more expensive item in a restaurant); the food at McDonald's is all similarly priced.

 

   

 

Chapter III:CRITICISM

Because McDonald's multi-national, multi-billion dollar business and standardized products and procedures have come to symbolize globalization and the American way of life, the company has often found itself a target of activism and a focal point of public debate. In particular, it has generated much discussion about corporate ethics, consumer responsibility, obesity, the environment, intellectual property, animal rights, the death of many due to heart problems, to offense of both the Islamic religion and the Jewish religion, and the destruction of modern society.Since the mid-1990s, a backlash against globalization has been well-documented in the media, on the internet and in books like Naomi Klein's No Logo. McDonald's restaurants have been the targets of protests, peaceful and otherwise, by environmental, anti-globalization and animal rights activists.

In 2001, Eric Schlosser's book Fast Food Nation included criticism of McDonald's' business practices. Among the critiques are allegations that McDonald's (along with other companies within the fast-food industry) uses its political influence to increase their own profits at the expense of people's health and the social conditions of its workers.

 

 

      The criticism also brings into question McDonald's advertisement techniques where it targets children In June 2004, the UK's Private Eye reported that McDonald's was handing out meal vouchers, balloons, and toys to children in pediatric wards. This was especially controversial as the report was made within weeks of a British Government report stating that the present generation may be the first to die before their parents due to spiraling obesity in the British population.In 2002, vegetarian groups, largely Hindu, successfully sued and won against McDonald's for misrepresenting their French fries as vegetarian Even after the discontinuation of frying the French fries in beef tallow in 1990, the French fries still had beef extract added to them. The French fries sold in the U.S. still contain beef and animal flavoring. McDonald's biscuits also contain beef flavoring along with animal flavoring.Also in 2004, Morgan Spurlock's documentary film Super Size Me produced negative publicity for McDonald's, with allegations that McDonald's food was contributing heavily to the epidemic of obesity in American society, and failing to provide nutritional information about its food for its customers. For 30 days Spurlock ate nothing but McDonald's (supersizing whenever asked). He ate everything on the menu at least once and continued to eat after he was full. At the same time he consciously attempted to get little or no exercise. By the end of themonth he reported mood swings and sexual dysfunction and had gained 24.5 pounds (11.11 kg). Others have disputed Spurlock's claims. (see below)After the film was shown, offering several healthier menu items. However, while the healthier menu items have appeared, the Supersize meal option still remains available at some locations. The company also began a practice of putting nutritional information for all menu items in light grey small print on the reverse of their tray liners.

 

Chapter IV:McDonald's advertising

  campaigns and slogans

McDonald's has for decades maintained an extensive advertising campaign. In addition to the usual media (television, radio, and newspaper), the company makes significant use of billboards and signage, sponsors sporting events from ranging from Little League to the Olympic Games, and makes coolers of orange drink with their logo available for local events of all kinds. Nonetheless, television has always played a central role in the company's advertising strategy.To date, McDonald's has used 23 different slogans in United States advertising, as well as a few other slogans for select countries and regions. At times, it has run into trouble with its campaigns.In 1996, the British adult comic magazine Viz accused McDonald's of plagiarizing the name and format of its longstanding Top Tips feature, in which readers offer sarcastic tips. McDonald's had created an advertising campaign of the same name, which suggested the Top Tips (and then the alternative - save money by going to McDonald's). Some of the similarities were almost word-for-word: "Save a fortune on laundry bills. Give your dirty shirts to Oxfam. They will wash and iron them, and then you can buy them back for 50p." - Viz Top Tip, published May 1989."Save a fortune on laundry bills. Give your dirty shirts to a second-hand shop. They will wash and iron them, and then you can buy them back for 50p." - McDonald's advert, 1996.The case was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum, which was donated to the charity Comic Relief. However, many Viz readers believed that the comic had given

   

permission for their use, leading to Top Tips submissions such as: "Geordiemagazine editors. Continue paying your mortgage and buying expensive train sets ... by simply licensing the Top Tips concept to a multinational burger corporation."In 2003, a ruling by the UK Advertising Standards Authority determined that the corporation had acted in breach of the codes of practice in describing how its French fries were prepared. A McDonald's print ad stated that "after selecting certain potatoes" "we peel them, slice them, fry them and that's it." It showed a picture of a potato in a McDonald's fries box. In fact the product was sliced, pre-fried, sometimes had dextrose added, was then frozen, shipped, and re-fried and then had salt added.

 

   

Chapter V:Professional behaviour guide

McDonald promotes the principle of deployment of the activities on ethic and legal basis. The rules and procedures presented cannot cover every particular situation which can appear in the everyday life. The correct estimation and judgement of every particular issue is guaranteed. Some changes may appear in these stipulations because of the legislative changes from the company. These changes will be notified to all the employees.

The management of McDonald. tries to offer to all the employees a pleasant and honest environment of work. The management procedures try to assure that the standards are respected and the communication is encouraged at the different levels in the company. Although, it is known that there is no statute, policy or procedure to assure an honest and right behaviour. This behaviour can be imposed only by the employees   

1. Comunication

At McDonald, the ways of communication are very numerous and the employees have to know to aply them.

Every time when there is something to point out, problems which affect their risibility, problems which are related to the atmosphere from the place they work, there is a direct way that has to be followed.

This starts from the level of the highest manager and continues with the manager of the restaurant.

If the persons who were contacted cannot resolve the problem, then any member of the management or the general director can be contacted in accordance with a correct and efficient approach.

Ways of communication:

1. Conferences inside the restaurant: the director of the restaurant organizes meetings for information regular. The managers organizes these kind of meetings weekly and they are part of the schedule. The presence of the managers at these meetings is imerative.

2.Communication sessions

These sessions are actually the meetings between the employees of a restaurant and a representative of the Company. The aim of these meetings is to elaborate initiatives, suggestions or to discuss problems. The sessions are organized between 3-6 months and all the members will be announced about the particular date. During theses meetings, the members can tell their opinions or can find answers to their questions. Also, they will be paid because the meetings are part of the schedule.

Inside the restaurant panels can be found which will let you know if there are events in the Company, at local or global level. It is very important for the employees to read all the messages in order to be aware of the news and the changes which may appear

Once a year, the employees are asked to complete a confidential survey regarding the activities, the atmosphere and the procedures inside the restaurant. These comments help the company to improve the management process and the requests of the employees.

2. The conflict of interests

The personal interest of the employee is any advantage taken by himself in the favor of his her husband/wife, relatives, friends or other persons with which someone made business.

Therefore, the employee is the only one who knows if he is in the same situation and he/she must

be very cautions to every potential or real conflict of interests. 

 

take measures in order to avoid this kind of situations

to inform his/her superior regarding any conflict of interests from the very beginning it begun

to conform with any decision which obliges him/her to give up any advantage which is the base of this kind of conflict.

If an employee is working for other company as well, he/she must be sure that this will not interfere with the obligation of upgrading McDonald 's interests. 

No employee must be in the situation of getting compensations from a partner of McDonald

The Company,with her representatives ,doesn't offer any kind of unwelcome payment and any other valuable thing which can influence the judgement of any situation or taking any decision.

The protocol gifts are offered for maintaining some relations with business partners, not for gaining not diserved advantages. A McDonald employee can offer, can deliver or receive gifts or other gains only if:

-this doesn't represent money;   

-are considerate protocol gifts;

-cannot be interpreted us bribe;

-doesn't over run any legal precaution or regulation.

-any unconvenable utility offered or promised or any unproper payment offered to McDonald's employ, to McDonald customers or purveyor.

-accepting the unconvenable utiliites or unproper Payment by a McDonald employ;

- offering gifts, services, excessive promotional facilities or the promise of advantages for any customer. 

McDonald politic forbides claiming, restraining or accepting money from customers

     

Interpersonal relations at the workplace are based on reciprocal trust and loyalty for colleagues and McDonald's.

During the work time, either you are inside or outside the company as a McDonald representative, as an employ of McDonald you are not allowed to have a abusive, threatening, averse,brutal and obscene comportment.

All wages have the obligation to use society resurse only in legal intention and etichs,for direct benefice of McDonald.

Any employ doesn't have the right to seal, to borrow, donate or alien goods from McDonald propriety indifferent of case or value, excepting the case you are authorized in this way by the company.

In the office is forbid to use, sale or illegal possession of drugs or medicine abuse.

It is also forbid the consumption of achool in the office and during the program.

3.Working environment

McDonald engages to offer to every employ a working agreeable and professional environment,therefore each of the employ has to assume responsibilities for keeping a space of working very honest and to avoid interest conflicts.

Personal relation between employs, even if there is a hierarchical rapport between them, can create a lack of objectivity in appreciating the performance and can be percepted by the other employs like favoritism - this way they will complaint about discrimination.

This is the reason for which McDonald politic doesn't permit that between a framework system to exist direct hierarchic rapport from a employ to a other employ that is husband/wife or close relative.

The employs who know that are in this situation or know that it will be in a suborder relation of subordination, they have to let the director of restaurant know about this issue. 

     

 

If possible, one of the employ has to be moved in an other restaurant, if this operation can't be done, then one of the employ has to stop working at McDonald. Every situation will be analyzed by Mcd manaer and the decision will be communicated to every part.

McDonald promovates a space of working without any kind of conflicts based on discrimination.

The company considers that every employ is a member of a team, where everybody's opinion count, equity exists and every employ is treated with respect and in a correct manner.  

McDonald objective is to assure equal conditions of work for every person no matter what the race, nationality, language, religion, social position the employ is. 

This politic is taken into consideration for every employ, also for the ones who want to work inside the company during the stages-publicity, conscription and employment. Therefore, work relations aren't conditioned by employment, conscription, selection and promotion in work, by formation and professional improvement of the employ, ownership at the race, nationality, language, religion, social category, credo, sexual orientation, age, disabilities, sex.

McDonald is forbidden to keep confidential the data about race, nacionality, language, religion, social category, credo, sexual orientation, age disability, sex or other  

data with private character for a person which wants to work at McDonald or is already a McDonald employee.

Every employ will keep confidentiality about the information related to his activity therefore this cannot be revealed to any not authorized person.

By confidential information we can understand any information, indifferent by the form of presentation or by the base, used by McDonald company or under

 

McDonald's possession,regarding to social activities, to physical and juridical persons with who McDonald's Company is in very close relation of business, identification data about the employs, costumers or purveyors: name, address, phone number.

4. Safety and health of employees

Grub-stake hygiene-materials must be assured free to the McDoanld's employs in the purpose of assuring the hygiene and protecting to the persons, completing the general measures of preventing some professional diseases .   

Personal hygiene is a necessity so that the employs should look good in front of the customers .This has to include regular bath, using shampoo and roll-on, keeping clean their hand and nails.

The visible tatoos are not permitted.

The employs must wash their hands every time when they start the work, after a break,after they used the closet or every 30 minutes or any time it is necessary.

The employers are forbidden to use special gloves for cleaning, these must be available in the restaurant.

If they contacted or were exposed to any transmissible disease, the employs have to inform the manager and to stop working.

The Company politic in this situation is that any employ must go to doctor.

 

If the doctor confirms the intoxication, the employ cannot start the work without the doctor's confirmation.

Taking a job inside the McDonald's company will be done just after making a medical exam before, with the confirmation from the doctor of work medicine that the employ is able to work. Every restaurant director has the obligation to complete the expose card at professional risks and the card for medical exam

 

from employment; the doctor from the work medicine will complete the card for aptitudes, with the conclusion of the medical exam for employment.

Once you become an employ, you have the obligation to take care of your health and the security from the place you work, as well as the health from the other person who can be affected by the action or your emission during the program.

Also, the obligation returns to respect every rule and procedure for assuring the health and security at the place you work, using clothes for protection or other resorceles provided.

If there is a situation with dangerous potential, which wasn't include in the rules and procedures settled, you have to inform very quickly the manager who must take measures and inform very quickly the director.Cooperation from every employ is vital for the success ofthe measure of health and security at the place you work. Neglecting the measures of health and security at the office constitutes a grave disciplinar aberration.

The company assures for the employs regular education regarding the health and security measures at the office according to the law.

McDonald must action in the spirit of protection of the environment and community in the middle they carry on their activity, respecting the legal stipulations.

The employers must respect all the settlement determinated by the law about the environment protection.

McDonald's employs must inform very quickly the manager about the existence of an ensure storehouse by toxic material or toxic potential, as well as the prove about storage, dispersal or sloop some of this kind of dump goods in the nature in insecure condition

   

Chapter VI:Competitors

Burger King (often abbreviated to BK) is a large international chain of fast food restaurants, predominantly selling burgers, french fries, soft drinks, desserts, and various sandwiches. It is headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, just outside the city of Miami. Hungry Jack's is a franchisee of Burger King that owns, operates and franchises over 300 restaurants in Australia.

 

Type Public (NYSE: BKC) Founded in suburban Miami, Florida, USA Headquarters 5505 Blue Lagoon Drive,
Miami, Florida (precisely in unincoporated Miami-Dade County) Key people John Chidsey, CEO; James McLamore and David Edgerton, Founders Industry Fast food Products Fast food (including hamburgers, french fries and milkshakes) Revenue $2.48 billion USD (2006) Operating income $170.00 million USD (2006) Net income $27.00 million USD (2006) Employees 340,000 (2006) Parent Burger King Holdings Inc. Website burgerking.com

Wendy's is a chain of fast food restaurants founded by Dave Thomas based in Dublin, Ohio and owned by the American corporation Wendy's International, Inc. There are over 6,700 Wendy's restaurants worldwide.

 

 

   

Type Public (NYSE: WEN) Founded 1968 Headquarters Dublin, Ohio, USA Key people Dave Thomas, Founder Industry Food Products Fast food, including hamburgers, chili, french fries, and dairy desserts Revenue $3.783 billion USD (2005) Net income $224.1 million USD (2005) Employees 57,000 ( ) Website www.wendys.com

 

  Conclusion

McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of fast-food restaurants, primarily selling hamburgers, chicken, french fries, milkshakes and soft drinks. More recently, it also offers salads, fruit,snack wraps, and carrot sticks. The business began in , with a restaurant opened by siblings Dick and Mac McDonald in San Bernardino, California. Their introduction of the "Speedee Service System" in established the principles of the modern fast-food restaurant. The present corporation dates its founding to the opening of a franchised restaurant by Ray Kroc, in Des Plaines, Illinois on April 15, , the ninth McDonald's restaurant overall. Kroc later purchased the McDonald brothers' equity in the company and led its worldwide expansion.

McDonald's was the first restaurant to consistently offer clean restroom,to the customer and demanded the same to other restaurants and institutions.In East Asia in particular,McDonald's have become a symbol for the desire to embrace Western cultural norms.

McDonald's has become emblematic of globalization,sometimes referred as the "McDonaldization" of society.Beacuse McDonald' is closely identified with United States culture and lifestyle,its international business expansion has been termed part of Americanization and American culture imperialism.

McDonlad's great success is based on its real rules. Everybody inside the company must obey them. The customer must be served as good as possible and each employees must share his/her smiles with the customer. The atmosphere in the restaurants is always nice and people enjoy coming here. Maybe this is the best advertising campaign that McDonalds had during all these years. And this campaign continues on and on