Introduction
McDonald’s is one of the most successful fast-food brands in the world. The company began in the 20th century and has grown into a multinational organization providing different products to customers worldwide and employing local people in every location they open. The company’s growth has been gradual through effective management and expansion strategies that have led to its presence in most countries and popularity in all social groups (Kee et al., 2021).
The fast food chain began in America, gaining a significant market share and then moving into other countries. Their strategic market entry approach has allowed McDonald’s to have one of the most successful presence in foreign markets with a strong, loyal customer base. The organization’s vision is to become the best quick-service restaurant through value, service, quality, and cleanliness that makes every customer on their premises smile. The mission is to be the best employer in every community, provide customers with operational excellence in their restaurants, and achieve consistent profit growth through brand expansion and leveraging.
SWOT Analysis
Table 1 – SWOT Analysis
Balanced Score Card
The balanced scorecard (BSC) is an accounting report that provides an overview of the performance of a business based on the critical areas of success. The balanced scorecard allows an organization to perform completely, which cannot be achieved when financial data is used alone (Blocher et al., 2022). Four primary areas are assessed in a BSC, financial performance, customer perspective, internal processes, and learning and growth. The scorecard is vital in creating factors that make organizations competitive (Blocher et al., 2022). The diverse outlook the assessment method takes ensures that organizations have a holistic perspective of the business and determines the achievement of established goals when they are reviewed.
Table 2 – McDonald’s Balanced Scorecard
Financial Perspective
Customer Perspective
Internal Process Perspective
Learning and Growth Perspective
Critical Success Factors
Critical success factors (CSFs) are an organization’s essential elements that create a competitive advantage and lead to its success. Every business has CSFs that are unique to its operations (Blocher et al., 2022). CSFs vary due to organizational differences and goals (Naseer et al., 2022). Most firms develop their CSFs based on financial incentives. However, CSFs also focus on other factors of the organization or market that provide a company with a competitive edge. Business rivals and competition are also crucial elements in determining the CSF of a company, as the measurement is based on the ability to achieve goals and objectives
McDonald’s Critical Success Factors
Innovation and Technology
Innovation and technology are critical success factors due to the continued need to introduce new products and services in the fast food industry. Innovation is a continuous process of improving a product or service to make it better. Technology is the use of scientific knowledge to practical processes and the introduction of applied sciences (Kee et al., 2021). Change is a constant process for organizations, and innovation and technology have become integral to the effective adoption of adjustments in organizations (Al Shami et al., 2019).
Innovation and technology were selected as critical success factors to ensure that McDonald’s maintains its competitive edge in the market and succeeds. The company recognized the role of technology and innovation in the modern business world. Innovation is a consistent element in the company with the current drive-through service delivery system.
The method allowed the organization to provide customers with needed services more efficiently and at a lower cost. McDonald’s has also focused on introducing new items on its menu to improve customer choices and increase sales. Technology has also become an integral element of the organization as it has introduced online ordering that allows customers to receive meals through delivery services.
Job Satisfaction
Job satisfaction is a critical success area for every business due to the high dependence on human resources to perform organizational processes. The fast food industry is labor-intensive as companies rely on employees to produce meals and serve customers. Service provision through humans is crucial in achieving customer satisfaction in hospitality. Businesses have embraced this by focusing on achieving customer job satisfaction through various strategies.
The significance of job satisfaction in the fast food industry lies in achieving the best outcomes for the existing workers. Employees are most effective and productive when they feel satisfied with their jobs (Inayat & Khan, 2021). Job satisfaction is also essential in retaining experienced workers and maintaining the quality of products and services. Individuals who have been in an organization for a long time provide better services and products, ensuring high performance. Avoiding high turnover in a business is essential as it helps to reduce recruitment and training costs.
Customer Satisfaction
Customer satisfaction is a critical success area since customers are the primary stakeholders in every business. Companies exist to provide goods and services to clients, and meeting their needs is a core goal of every organization (Kee et al., 2021). Customer satisfaction is essential since every business has a competitor targeting the same client. Businesses must focus on their customers to learn their behavior and preferences to meet their needs and maintain their customer bases.
Customer satisfaction was selected because McDonald’s is in the fast food industry, focusing on providing customers with products that meet their expectations. The CSF is essential since the industry is highly competitive, and most companies target the same customer base, making it essential for participants to have the capacity to meet customer needs.
Marketing Strategy
The fourth CSF in McDonald’s is a marketing strategy, which entails the company’s strategies to promote and sell its products. Marketing is a vital organizational process that helps businesses to meet their goals. The CSF is essential since it ensures that the company informs its customers about its products and convinces them why they should be selected. Every business relies on marketing to inform its customers about existing goods and services and how they meet consumer needs.
Organizations also rely on marketing to attract new customers to their products since they aim to increase the customer base and sales. Companies also rely on promotions to remind customers about their products and drive repeat sales. Advertisements and marketing campaigns are effective ways of engaging consumers and acquiring feedback about products, especially on platforms like social media where customers can react immediately to products. The CSF is selected due to the competitiveness of the fast food market and the need to maintain consumer engagement.
Importance of CSFs
The four CSFs are essential in reviewing McDonald’s success by providing an overview of the critical areas that help the company achieve its goals. The company relies on innovation and technology to provide new products and improve its services in a highly competitive market. They ensure customer satisfaction since meeting consumer tastes and preferences in fast foods is a crucial priority for the business. Its assessment tells the management of their achievements and failures.
Employee satisfaction is essential since the company is in a labor-intensive industry. Dependence on human labor requires that organizations focus on addressing the needs of their workers. Finally, marketing is an essential assessment area as it determines customer reaction to their products and helps with continuous customer engagement.
Organizational Assessment to Determine CSF Achievement
McDonald’s is successful due to continuous innovation that ensures the company provides customers with appealing products and improves efficiencies. The introduction of drive-through stops is one of McDonald’s most innovative moves. The company selected the approach to increase its uniqueness and maintain a competitive advantage.
Drive-throughs are efficient for both the customer and business by reducing the time taken to make and receive an order and eliminating the need for the traditional restaurant. The innovation has helped to increase sales and maintain the company’s competitive edge as an organization that determines customer needs and responds to them.
McDonald’s is also actively looking for new ideas for their menus and effective ways of service delivery. Introducing new items on their menus is not a new concept for customers. Most items the organization introduces on its menus lead to large sales and positive customer responses. For example, introducing coffee helped improve its breakfast menu and increase its competitiveness against companies like Starbucks.
McDonald’s also responds to consumer trends through reliance on technology and innovation. For example, customers can now order online and deliver them through Uber Eats and other delivery services. The approach responds to consumer trends that show more customers are making online purchases.
Customer satisfaction is a core principle in McDonald’s, and the organization always looks for ways to enhance customer experiences. The business achieves the CSF by ensuring convenience and time-saving in its processes. All processes that go into producing an item on the menu are streamlined to ensure that the highest quality is achieved. Factors like fulfilling a customer’s order in the shortest time possible while maintaining the same quality and taste are based on streamlined processes that ensure the efficiency and quality of services and products.
McDonald’s achieves customer satisfaction by maintaining clean and elegant dining spaces. Cleanliness is essential in the food business, and the company ensures that customers always have their meals in the safest environments. It achieves this by cleaning its premises and everything in them, a daily routine in each McDonald’s outlet. The organization emphasizes cleanliness as part of the experience for its customers and requires all employees to maintain hygiene to meet consumer expectations.
Job satisfaction is a success area the company is focusing on to achieve desired goals through various strategies. McDonald’s is one of the largest employers in the world due to its presence in most countries. The organization believes that its success relies on the level of commitment from employees. Therefore, it is dedicated to providing workers with safe, pleasant working environments. The work environment determines employees’ productivity and job satisfaction, hence the dedication toward achieving the goal.
The CSF is also achieved through rewards and recognition of employees. The motivation strategy ensures fair promotion to individuals who deserve it and rewards for exceptional performance. Appreciation is a primary human desire that employees respond to positively. The business has also invested in its workers’ career and education growth by providing training and development opportunities. Employee satisfaction is achieved through programs that show them that the organization cares.
Marketing is a success factor McDonald’s has managed to achieve effectively. McDonald’s relies on market segmentation to effectively promote the brand. The organization uses age, income, education, and job factors to determine its target market. The target customers for McDonald’s are children, teenagers, and working adults, who have been determined to be the most frequent customers in their outlets.
The organization is also dependent on various marketing methods to reach customers. McDonald’s has advertisements on major media outlets and creates content based on the local community’s preferences. The organization is also on social media, engaging customers and promoting the brand through effective marketing campaigns.
Conclusion
McDonald’s is one of the most successful fast-food companies in the world. The company has acquired a significant market share through an effective strategy that ensures the provision of the best quality food most efficiently. The SWOT analysis reveals the internal and external factors influencing the organization. The balanced scorecard shows that the company manages to set achievable goals and works on accomplishing them systematically.
The crucial success factors for McDonald’s are customer satisfaction, innovation and technology, and employee satisfaction. Customer satisfaction is integral to the company since the fast food industry is very competitive, and rivals with the same products target the same consumers. Innovation is essential in providing customers with new products and better services that help the organization maintain a competitive edge over its competitors.
The achievement of job satisfaction entails several measures that help to show the organization’s dedication to its staff. Part of the initiatives includes the provision of training and opportunities for advancement. Rewards are also provided, and the organization ensures a safe working environment. Marketing is a crucial area the organization excels as it manages to reach its target customers through various effective marketing strategies. Therefore, the four critical success factors help to assess the company and determine its proficiency as a leading market participant.
References
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