Competitive Strategies & Government Policies Essay

It is not the government’s responsibility to manage what we eat. “Government is setting aside whether they have the constitutional authority to regulate what we eat (paragraph 2, source 1).” Government regulating what we eat could stop responsible people that eat healthy from treating themselves. People who have long hours of work rely on fast foods because

McDonald's has successfully created a brand/name for itself as the leading fast food retailer in the world. It is somewhat of impossibility for one to not come across a McDonald's with over 30,000 local restaurants in over 100 countries (McDonald's, 2011). Those restaurants are owned either by a franchise owner or a corporation; a percentage of all the earnings from a franchise owner, including a percentage from their annual revenue go to McDonald's.

The government with all of its power is now trying to tell you what you can and cannot eat. It is true that America has an obesity problem but people’s freewill should be respected in regarding individual lifestyle choices. Americans should have the freedom to choose what food they eat and the lifestyles they choose regardless of the impact on their health.

The government should control the American peoples’ diet. Poor diet choices result in increased health care costs which affects every tax payer in America. Poor diet contributes to obesity which results in an increase in a plethora of diseases. The cost of these diseases has a huge economic impact on the country. The government owes it to its citizens to control these costs through diet regulation. It also owes its citizens the opportunity for optimal health.

McDonalds is a corporation that has great success because of good strategy and planning. In the next five years, McDonalds needs to keep up with the changes of the consumer and social

McDonald’s should stay alert for any updates from the government institution with regard to corporate regulations as this highly damage the business on larger scale. Also the company should maintain peaceful term with the franchisees so that they do not switch to the competitor’s side and become a threat for the regional businesses.

The government should use its authority to restrict the amount of fast food Americans consume to try to minimize the problem with obesity.  Fast food is a major source of the obesity problem that is increasing at an extremely rapid pace in the United States of America.  Right now in the U.S., there are over 50 million adults alone that are obese.  With that alarming number, the government should be stepping in to enforce laws and regulations that prohibits food industry from selling high fat foods.  While the government claims it 's too hard to step in because the foods people eat are a personal choice, it took the government 20 years to respond to health warnings that were issued (Health Affairs, Kersh).  The fact that a medical consensus brought up health warnings, but those warnings were ignored, shows that the government has shown little interest in America 's health problems.  Schlosser states that " {t}he United States now has the highest obesity rate of any industrialized nation in the world (240)."  The government loves to use the slogan about kids being our future, yet a quarter of the kids in America are overweight.  Part of the reason for this is because a lot of schools are getting rid of gym class

One may agree with the government regulating our food. People all around the world are obese and struggling to get healthy again. The percentage of obese people is rising and it is getting to a concerning level. When you are obese, you become limited in movement and jobs that you can get. The world still needs workers for the land and obese people cannot do that job because they cannot move as well. Obese people are restricted in the job category and many other categories. If the government does not pitch in to stop obesity, more people will not be successful, there would still be more ways to become obese, and people would just eat and not think of the calories that go into their daily meals.

Globalization refers to the “tendency of investment funds and businesses to move beyond domestic and national markets to other markets around the globe, thereby increasing the interconnectedness of different markets. Globalization has had the effect of markedly increasing not only international trade, but also cultural exchange”³. Globalization is closely related to foreign investment in the sense that foreign investment is a contributing aspect of globalization. It has also been noted that globalization can especially impact developing countries as it “helps developing nations "catch up" to industrialized nations much faster through increased employment and technological advances” . McDonald’s is a prominent example of a company that has embraced the opportunity to globalize and achieve success doing so. McDonald’s is the largest fast food restaurant chain in the world consisting of more than 35,000 outlets spread across 118 countries. Although the company was founded in the United States, they have not limited themselves to North America; they now spread worldwide into every continent. Similar to their global growth increase, the company has also seen their revenue tremendously increase as they continue to share their product with more and more people around the world. “McDonald’s key to success is its business mantra of “think global, act local”. This has allowed the company to achieve financial success in every region it opens its fast food restaurants”4. McDonald’s has clearly found the right strategy in terms of growing their product internationally as they’re seen to be one of the most successful companies doing so, their numbers support their success as they receive around 65% of their revenue from international

Due to globalization and increased competition in the fast food industry, a very complex environment is created for McDonald’s. There are various internal and external environmental factors affecting the functions of McDonald’s corporation and demands for new innovations. The factors are as follows:

McDonald’s as we know is the biggest multinational-corporation in fast-food industry. McDonald’s is a symbol of American power and hegemony just like Coca Cola and Nike which its operations is all around the world. And how McDonald’s could successfully entering global markets ? the key components is its standardization in all McDonald’s outlets in the world known as QSC&V (Quality, Service, Cleanliness, Value). You can see and feel the same burger quality, same fast service, cleanliness of restroom and the same price in all McDonald’s outlets in every country. McDonald’s also made a strong relationship with supplier because this is another key success, every supplier which supply

“Competitive strategy involves positioning a business to maximize the value of the capabilities that distinguish it from its competitor’s” (Porter 1980:47). A successful business plan requires first and foremost the formation of an appropriate strategy. Through the implementation of a suitable strategy, the company is able to obtain its own industry niche and gain an understanding of its customers (Porter 1985). Whichever strategy is adopted it must be adequately integrated within the firms goals and missions to achieve a competitive advantage (Parker and Helms 1992).

The second force that acts on the industry is the threat of new entrants. Fortunately for McDonald’s and it’s over 30,000 restaurants world-wide, the corporation has set itself in a position of dominance. Using a growth strategy, “McDonald’s is continuously expanding its reach which makes it increasingly difficult for new fast food restaurants to enter the industry, through franchising, McDonald’s is able to reach nearly every corner of the globe” (Shell, Ellen Ruppel).

Since McDonald’s is the most well know fast food chain in the world with a market cap of 69.35 billion, brand recognition is their biggest strength. The secret of McDonald’s success is its willingness to innovate and maintain consistency in the operation of its many outlets. In recent years McDonald’s has introduced Premium Salads, Snack Wraps, fresh Apple Dippers in the United States, and Corn Cups in China. Also, McDonald 's products are priced so low that economic conditions are almost insignificant.

While, McDonalds is the world largest fast food chain that does not come without problems, the more knowledge that people have the more power they have, McDonalds has in recent years made many adjustments to preparation of certain food items, adjustments to the size food items as well as increased nutritional value to certain food items. Many