| McDonald’s: Polishing the Golden Arches
Case Analysis by Amber Zirnhelt
© 2006 Amber ZirnheltOriginally Submitted for Management 680: Corporate Strategic Planning and Policy
Professor Frank ShipperPOLICY AND FUNCTIONAL STRATEGIES McDonald’s has been an industry leader within the fast food industry for years. In the introductory phase of their business operations they focused on following a generic low cost strategy consisting of offering consumers low priced food products in order to, “make eating out on a regular basis affordable for families…” (Marino 627). Faced with changing consumer trends and competitors pursuing aggressive competitive strategies focused on product differentiation and quality; McDonald’s then CEO, Jim Cantalupo, determined in order to address the companies recent profit losses and challenges a different stand on generic strategy must be taken. Through the implementation of McDonald’s Plan to Win strategy, Cantalupo shifted the company’s generic strategy to differentiation by focusing on marketing to turnaround the negative publicity recently experienced through offering customers a better overall fast food experience as compared to their competitors. McDonald’s financial strategy focused on decreasing capital expenditures by 40% while using their cash from 2003 operations to pay off debt and return cash to stockholders. These financial strategies have allowed the company to implement the Plan to Win strategy while also improving stock performance and sales. Through a growth strategy that involves renovating, rebuilding, and relocating buildings; McDonald’s hopes to create a, “fresh, sophisticated, but family-friendly atmosphere” (Marino 642). However in order to sustain growth and success, additional investments may be needed in the future. McDonald’s personnel strategy promotes their desire to market an