Strengths McDonald's has been a thriving business since 1955 and 20 of the top 50 corporat e staff employees started

as a restaurant level employee. In addition, 67,000 Mc Donalds restaurant managers and assistant managers were promoted from restaurant staff. Fortune Magazine 2005 listed McDonald's as the "Best Place to Work for M inorities." McDonalds invests more than $1 billion annually in training its staf f, and every year more than 250,000 employees graduate from McDonald's training facility, Hamburger University. The business is ranked number one in Fortune Magazine's 2008 list of most admire d food service companies. One of the world's most recognizable logos (the Golden Arches) and spokes charac ter (Ronald McDonald the clown). According to the Packard Children's Hospital's Center for Healthy Weight children age 3 to 5 were given food in the McDonalds p ackaging and then given the same food without the packaging, and they preferred the food in the McDonald's packaging every single time. McDonalds is a community oriented, socially responsible company. They run Ronald McDonald House facilities, which provide room and board, food and sibling suppo rt at a cost of only $10 a day for families with children needing extensive hosp ital care. Ronald McDonald Houses are located in more than 259 local communities worldwide, and Ronald McDonald Care Mobile programs offers cost effective medic al, dental and education services to children. They also sponsor Olympic athlete s. McDonald's SWOT Video To watch the full McDonald's SWOT Analysis video please register free here They are a global company operating more than 23,500 restaurants in 109 countrie s. By being spread out in different regions, this gives them the ability to weat her economic fluctuations which are localized by country. They can also operate effectively in an economic downturn due to the social need to seek out comfort f oods. They successfully and easily adapt their global restaurants to appeal to the cul tural differences. For example, they serve lamb burgers in India and in the Midd le East, they provide separate entrances for families and single women. Approximately 85% of McDonald's restaurant businesses world-wide are owned and o perated by franchisees. All franchisees are independent, full-time operators and McDonald's was named Entrepreneur's number-one franchise in 1997. They have glo bal locations in all major airports, and cities, along the highways, tourist loc ations, theme parks and inside Wal-Mart. They have an efficient, assembly line style of food preparation. In addition the y have a systemization and duplication of all their food prep processes in every restaurant. McDonald's uses only 100% pure USDA inspected beef, no fillers or additives. Add itionally the produce is farm fresh. McDonald's serves 100% farm raised chicken no fillers or additives and only grade-A eggs. McDonald's foods are purchased fr om only certified and inspected suppliers. McDonalds works closely with ranchers , growers and suppliers to ensure food quality and freshness. McDonalds only serves name brand processed items such as Dannon Yogurt, Kraft Ch eese, Nestle Chocolate, Dasani Water, Newman's Own Salad Dressings, Heinz Ketchu p, Minute Maid Juice. McDonald's takes food safety very seriously. More than 2000 inspections checks a re performed at every stage of the food process. McDonalds are required to run t hrough 72 safety protocols every day to ensure the food is maintained in a clean contaminate free environment. . McDonald's was the first restaurant of its type to provide consumers wit h nutrition information. Nutrition information is printed on all packaging and m ore recently added to the McDonald's Internet site. McDonalds offers salads, fru it, roasted chicken, bottled water and other low fat and calorie conscious alter

natives. Weaknesses Their test marketing for pizza failed to yield a substantial product. Leaving th em much less able to compete with fast food pizza chains. High employee turnover in their restaurants leads to more money being spent on t raining. They have yet to capitalize on the trend towards organic foods. McDonald's have problems with fluctuations in operating and net profits which ul timately impact investor relations. Operating profit was $3,984 million (2005) $ 4,433 million (2006) and $3,879 million (2007). Net profits were $2,602 million (2005), $3,544 million (2006) and $2,395 million (2007). Opportunities In today's health conscious societies the introduction of a healthy hamburger is a great opportunity. They would be the first QSR (Quick Service Restaurant) to have FDA approval on marketing a low fat low calorie hamburger with low calorie combo alternatives. Currently McDonald's and its competition health choice items do not include hamburgers. They have industrial, Formica restaurant settings; they could provide more upsca le restaurant settings, like the one they have in New York City on Broadway, to appeal to a more upscale target market. Provide optional allergen free food items, such as gluten free and peanut free. In 2008 the business directed efforts at the breakfast, chicken, beverage and co nvenience categories. For example, hot specialist coffees not only secure sales, but also mean that restaurants get increasing numbers of customer visits. In 20 09 McDonald's saw the full benefits of a venture into beverages. Threats They are a benchmark for creating "cradle to grave" marketing. They entice child ren as young as one year old into their restaurants with special meals, toys, pl aygrounds and popular movie character tie-ins. Children grow up eating and enjoy ing McDonalds and then continue into adulthood. They have been criticized by man y parent advocate groups for their marketing practices towards children which ar e seen as marginally ethical. They have been sued multiple times for having "unhealthy" food, allegedly with a ddictive additives, contributing to the obesity epidemic in America. In 2004, Mi chael Spulock filmed the documentary Super Size Me, where he went on an all McDo nalds diet for 30 days and wound up getting cirrhosis of the liver. This documen tary was a direct attack on the QSR industry as a whole and blamed them for Amer ica's obesity epidemic. Due in part to the documentary, McDonalds no longer push es the super size option at the dive thru window. Any contamination of the food supply, especially e-coli. Major competitors, like Burger King, Starbucks, Taco Bell, Wendy's, KFC and any mid-range sit-down restaurants. McDonald's is the leading global foodservice retailer with more than 31,000 loca l restaurants serving more than 58 million people in 118 countries each day. Mor e than 75% of McDonald's restaurants worldwide are owned and operated by indepen dent local men and women McDonald's Corporation (MCD) Strengths: 1) Globalization: 31,000 restaurants serving 120 countries. Of the 31,000 restau rants at least14,000 restaurants in the US 2) Active Children's Charity: The Ronald McDonald House 3) Adjusted Ingredients and product offerings to comply with upgraded health sta ndards deemed necessary by the USDA 4) Earns revenue not merely by fast food sales, but also as a property investor, a franchiser of restaurants.

5) Branded (name recognized) menu items such as Big Mac, Quarter Pounder and Chi cken McNuggets Weaknesses: 1) Advertisement techniques that target children 2) Consumers use disposable income to purchase fast food meals so when the budge t it threatened, consumers redirect these funds 3) Public perception: McDonald's has been impacted by negative press like the do cumentary "Supersize Me" by Morgan Spurlock in which he contributed our societie s obesity to McDonald's and other fast food chains. Opportunity: 1) IInnovation: Continued adaptation to societies needs such as USDA and Supersi ze Me upgrade. 2) Conservation: Researching green energies and green packaging solutions and in corporating these findings as a part of their marketing strategy and advertiseme nts. 3) Exploration: Create new product offerings. Continue to use technology to infl uence revenue strategy: possibly use text messages to deliver specials offers to individuals who sign up for such services. Threats: 1) Current world economic standing: the company's revenue streams are diversifie d, but depending on the the length of this "recession", they will inevitably be negatively impacted by the trickle down effect. 2) More Casual Dining Restaurants increasing their "burger" offering and decreas ing the price: Restaurants like Ruby Tuesdays have $6 burger meals that they str ongly advertise If you're not in a hurry, which one would you choose? 3) Public Health Crisis: with a growing number of obesity cases among Americans, fastfood chains like McDonalds will continued to be overshadowed by their previ ous product offerings (Supersized Meal, no fruits or yogurt, slim salad selectio n). Strengths It has a strong global presence and is considered as a market leader in both the domestic as well as the international markets. It is a global brand that owns 31,000 restaurants serving in 120 countries. Of t hese 31,000 restaurants at least14,000 restaurants are situated in the US. It uses economies of scale for reducing the cost, as its huge expansion diversif ies the overall risk involved with the economic performance. They own an active children s charity by the name The Ronald McDonald House . It takes steps in adjusting the Ingredients and product offerings in order to co mply with the upgraded health standards deemed necessary by the USDA. It earns revenue by fast food sales as well as a property investor and a franchi ser of restaurants. It has a firm real estate portfolio. It has branded menu items i-e Big Mac, Chicken McNuggets, which further promote McDonalds. It is recognized as one of the world s most recognized logos.

It is recognized as a socially responsible and community oriented firm. It adapts to the cultural differences regarding the region where the restaurant is set up. It has located itself in major airports, cities, highways, tourist locations, th eme parks. It has an efficient food preparation style that follows the process in a systema tic way. It takes food safety extremely cautiously. It was the first to provide the customers about nutrition facts. [adsense] Weaknesses It uses advertising that mostly targets children. High employee turn-over. It has yet to accomplish going on the trend of organic food. Price competition with the competitors resulting in low revenue. Lack of innovative products. Opportunities It can adapt to the needs of the societies and undergo an innovative product lin e. It can research ways to use green energy and packaging which will work as a part o f their promotional effort as well as fulfill their social responsibility. It can create new product offerings, use mobile text messaging to offer services that appeal to consumers. It can upscale some of its restaurant settings at luxurious locations to attract more customers. It can provide optional items that are regarded to be the basis of allergy for s ome. It can slow down the level of expansion in order to increase the profitability o f the organization. Threats The recession negatively impacts the holding position of the firm regarding its revenue streams, even though they are quite diversified. Foreign currency fluctuations are regarded to be a major problem as it uses stan dard pricing for its food items.[adsense1] More restaurants that are increasing their food offering and declining the price .

Health issues regarding the fast food chain. Heavy investments on promotional campaigns which decrease the gaining of market share. Some parents criticize the firm s cradle to grave marketing strategy that focuses on kids, who later on take it as a trend to their adulthood. Sued various times for unhealthy food, usually with addictive additives. Emergence of major fast food competitors: Burger King, Starbucks, Wendy s, Taco Be ll, KFC. The expansion has made the firm vulnerable to the slow economies of the other co untries