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Mcdonalds Case Study

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McDonald’s Corporation in the New Millennium
J. Paul Peter and Ashish Gokhale University of Wisconsin—Madison

Jack Greenberg, CEO of McDonald’s Corporation, stared into the clear September skies thinking about the “Big Mac Attack.” At one time, the term was an advertising slogan referring to a craving for a McDonald’s Big Mac burger. However; “Big Mac Attack” now referred to McDonald’s earnings declines in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Dynamic market expansion, new products, and special promotional strategies had made McDonald’s Corporation a leader of the fast-food industry. However, sales growth in the United States had slowed to below the industry average in recent years. Jack Greenberg was trying to decide on a set of appropriate strategies for the future in order to reverse the declines and to stay ahead of competition.

The Fast-Food Industry
Years of profit drains and flat sales are driving fast-food chains to find new marketing strategies to compete in a mature market. While McDonald’s and most other hamburger chains continue discounting and offering a variety of new products to attract customers, they also seek to shed their “cheap and greasy” image with new store designs. Major competitors in the hamburger segment of the fast-food industry in order of annual sales are McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy’s, and Hardees. Since these chains recognize the importance of drive-through customers (65 percent of sales), they are all trying to increase the speed of drive-through delivery. Strategies include using timers to encourage employees to prepare and deliver food faster, training employees in faster food preparation methods, having separate kitchens and food preparation facilities for drive-through customers, and even windshield responders that automatically bill customers. Drive-through sales are expected to grow three times faster than on-premise sales.

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