Business Finance Homework Help

Primary Discussion Response is due by Friday (11:59:59pm Central), Peer Responses are due by Tuesday (11:59:59pm Central).

Primary Task Response: Within the Discussion Board area, write 400–600 words that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas.

Part 1 (post this response in the main U2 DB thread “Unit 2 Discussion Board”)

In the Unit 1 Discussion Board, you reviewed a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, and trends (SWOTT) analysis of a fast-food franchise that was done in 2013. There have been many more recent changes with the fast-food giant toward improved business results. Read this article on these changes, and conduct a brief SWOTT analysis based on these new changes that includes the following:

• Strengths: The internal and external characteristics of a company that are stronger than its competitors
• Weaknesses: The internal and external characteristics of a company that are weaker than its competitors
• Opportunities: The issues internal and external to a company that can affect the company and its competitors in a favorable way
• Threats: The issues internal and external to a company that can affect the company and its competitors in an unfavorable way
• Trends: The internal and external patterns in the organization, market, or industry

Part 2 (post this response in the appropriate topic within U2 DB (labeled “for” and “against”)

Based on the first initial of your last name, complete the following:

• First initial A-L: Provide an argument for the success of the strategies that a fast-food franchise has instituted. Submit your position by posting in the Unit 2 Debate forum under the for topic. ( My First Initial Is A )

in both considerations, provide research that supports your assertions.

Responses to Other Students: Review the opposing thread comments. Respond to at least two of your classmates in the opposing thread with at least a 100-word reply about their Primary Task Response regarding items you found to be compelling and enlightening.

For assistance with your assignment, please use your text, Web resources, and all course materials.

Reference

Peterson, H. (2015, May 2). McDonald’s is about to unveil a huge plan to save its business – Here are 8 things investors need to hear. Retrieved from the Business Insider Web site: http://www.businessinsider.com/mcdonalds-unveils-t…

First Student : Sarah

Part 1) S- McDonald’s has two clear advantages over it’s rivals that it can exploit. The first is clear brand recognition. Many competitors cannot rely on the golden arches attracting hungry travelers from all around simply by being recognized. The other advantage is their internal supply chain. McDonalds has an ability to sell its products cheaper and keep its self-supplied simply because of the volume that it is capable of moving. It can reach out to many different regions and make sure its stores have what they need while many competitors must pay higher prices and take greater risk with supply.

W- What was once McDonalds greatest strength has also become a weakness. The brand has suffered recently from bad press and outdated stores that no longer provide top quality products. Rebranding a company is time consuming and expensive, but to remain on top McDonalds needs to make some major perception changes and get customers to believe it.

O- Breakfast has become a major seller as busy customers find ways to save time in the morning. Offering a good quality breakfast at a low cost will win customers over and possibly bring them back as the day progresses if they decide they like the offerings well enough.

T- As the healthy eating trend continues, fast food is facing a shrinking market share in general. Customers have a desire for healthier food options, and it is something McDonalds will have to address while keeping its costs low to meet its current value proposition of cheap and convenient.

T- The trend is for faster service at cheaper prices. McDonalds will need to identify a way to make it a quick option to stop in for a bite to go. If the bill startles the customer or they wait for 10 minutes they will lose patients and become more willing to explore other options. Give the customer what they came for and Taco Bell is not a major competitor.

Part 2) The new strategy set forth by McDonalds CEO, Steve Easterbrook will be successful. McDonald’s has been allowing itself to gradually drift from its value proposition of fast quality food at a low price. With the emergence of the health trend McDonalds has faced a slump in sales. There is still a large market available for traditional fast food however and McDonalds has the name to dominate it. The attraction to fast food is its low cost and convenience (Business Insider, 2015). By refocusing the company on providing quality fast food it can recapture its lost customer base and expand into competitors as well. A large market demographic for McDonalds is the 15-40 age group which is interested in eating out for cheap (UKessays, 2021). The updating of their stores and improving of the quality of their menu will help to bring this demographic back into the fold. Paying employees more may also help improve quality which will in turn encourage repeat business from this demographic.

McDonalds is also focusing on how fast they can turn out product to reduce waiting times. They have several initiatives in place that will increase speed of delivery. This will allow for a greater turnover which will lead to increased sales and it will also improve customer satisfaction since fast food is meant to be fast. The simplification of the menu and the decreased promotions will allow employees to fill orders faster while also increasing revenue by simplifying their tasks and the burden on the supply chain (Peterson.H, 2015). The decision to add an all-day breakfast option is also a sure winner since the breakfast out trend has become very popular. It is likely that these new strategies will work well for McDonalds and allow them to resume their place at the top of the fast-food chain.

Citations

1) A market analysis of the McDonalds corporation. UKEssays.com. (n.d.). https://www.ukessays.com/essays/marketing/a-market-analysis-of-the-mcdonalds-corporation-marketing-essay.php.

2) Peterson, H. (2015, May 2). McDonald’s is about to unveil a huge plan to save its business – here are 8 things investors need to hear. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/mcdonalds-unveils-turnaround-strategy-2015-4.

Second Student : Brain

May 20, 2021

McDonald’s decline has occurred for numerous reasons as previously discussed. However, with a dominating share of the market and their decision to focus on the issues brought to them by their franchisees they remain in a strong position to regain their position in the market. In a more health conscious society, McDonald’s was able to capitalize on the opportunities to “right” some wrongs of the past. Announcing more natural meal ingredients with the focus on moving away from GMOs and other unnatural ingredients. While the article details the issues caused by the larger menu, we can see McDonald’s has taken some action on that while simultaneously attempting to solve another weakness in their SWOTT analysis. Mentioned last week the lack of the “connoisseur” burger has allowed the opportunity for them to attempt to compete with the offerings of Five Guys and other competitors.

There’s no doubt that some of McDonald’s decisions over the past few years have strained their relationships with franchisees and diminished their reputation in the process. As the article mentions, free coffee promotions no doubt impacted bottom lines, and wait time. Again, as mentioned last week, their coffee fared well against perceived higher end competitors in taste tests. Building their coffee brand reputation was an opportunity to create a strength and drive in business even while taking a short turn loss.

Although this article was written prior to its full implementation we can see McDonald’s putting a lot of this SWOTT analysis into action with the “All-Day Breakfast Menu”. McDonald’s breakfast represented a strength, and the weakness of it was the limited hours of the offering. The natural opportunity from there seemed like an easy fix. While this didn’t solve many of the struggles mentioned with the menu items and wait times. It is a difficult balancing act for any restaurant corporation to achieve. While the wait-times and other issues were less existent years ago when burgers and fries were the only option, it’s hard to argue McDonalds wouldn’t drive away numerous customers to other establishments if it suddenly contracted offerings. Seizing on their weaknesses compared to competitors offering value menu, success of other food items, is the reason that McDonald’s made these decisions in the first place. According to QSR McDonald’s loyalty programs initiated recently in some areas has driven both customer satisfaction a likelihood to repeat as McDonald’s Q1 sales surpassed their prepandemic numbers. The use of other technologies, ordering through the app for pick up, and doordash/ubereats can also allow them to combat the longer wait time issues. McDonald’s needs to continue to perform a SWOTT analysis on helping their franchisees cover costs of remodels and staff raises the article highlights, but the strength of a corporation their size is the certain capital they have to solve these problems.

References

Coley, B. (2021, April 29). McDonald’s Loyalty Program Gathering ‘Overwhelming’ Response. QSR magazine. https://www.qsrmagazine.com/fast-food/mcdonalds-loyalty-program-gathering-overwhelming-response.

Peterson, H. (2015, May 2). McDonald’s is about to unveil a huge plan to save its business – Here are 8 things investors need to hear. Retrieved from the Business Insider Web site: http://www.businessinsider.com/mcdonalds-unveils-t…