Largest Global Fast Food Companies

Running head: BUSINESS ECONOMICS
Business Economics
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

1BUSINESS ECONOMICS
Table of Contents
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................2
Answer a).....................................................................................................................................2
Answer b).....................................................................................................................................5
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
Answer a).....................................................................................................................................7
Answer b).....................................................................................................................................9
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................11
Answer a)...................................................................................................................................11
Answer b)...................................................................................................................................13
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................15
Answer a)...................................................................................................................................15
Answer b)...................................................................................................................................17
References......................................................................................................................................19

2BUSINESS ECONOMICS
TASK 1
Answer a)
McDonald’s is one of the largest global fast food companies. This American company
was founded in 1940 in California, with signature food item, hamburger, and in the past few
decades McDonald’s has established itself as the dominant market player across the globe. It
operates in the global fast food retail industry. This industry has a structure of oligopoly. As
defined by Johan (2017), oligopoly market structure consists of moderate number of sellers,
among which there are few large sellers, and a huge number of buyers. The sellers in this
structure are the price makers and not price takers. There are some large firms that dominate the
entire market. It is quite competitive and there are both price and non-price competitions among
the suppliers. The sellers sell similar but differentiated products, which are not perfect but close
substitutes of each other. These sellers in the oligopoly structure act as a group, therefore, a
decision taken by one firm is responded by others to retain their market share. Along with these,
there is another striking characteristic of this market structure of the global fast food industry.
Madsen and Gosliner (2020) explained that the major firms in this industry has a monopoly
power on their signature product, which gives market power to them, such as, McDonald’s is
preferred for its hamburgers, KFC is preferred for its fried chickens and Starbucks is preferred
for its coffee over other products they offer. Thereby, it can be said that McDonald’s is one of
the largest fast food sellers that exploits its market power from the customers’ preference for
hamburger. It is the price maker and any price decision by McDonald’s is matched by other
competitors in the market.

3BUSINESS ECONOMICS
The competition within this market structure for McDonald’s can be evaluated using
Porter’s five forces model. This is a very useful analytical framework to understand the forces
that create competition with an industry and highlight the potential areas for decision making,
and strategy development for future growth. The five forces of this model are threat of new
entrants, threat of substitutions, bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of buyers and
competitive rivalry (Moreno-Izquierdo, Ramón-Rodríguez and Perles-Ribes 2016).
Figure 1: Porter's five forces framework
(Source: Moreno-Izquierdo, Ramón-Rodríguez and Perles-Ribes 2016)
Threat of new entrants indicates the level of entry barriers or difficulties for the potential
entrants in the industry. The less are the entry barriers, higher is the chance for new entrants and
higher is the risk of competition for the established businesses. In the fast food industry, the entry
barriers are quite low and threat for new entrants is high. The startup cost and switching cost
are low in this industry, with highly variable capital cost and that create scope for market entry
for the new entrants. The smaller businesses can involve low capital while entering the market
and they may be successful in capturing the local customer base (Gerard 2018).

4BUSINESS ECONOMICS
Threat of substitution is high in this industry. The sellers sell similar fast food and
hence, availability of substitutes is high and low switching cost for the consumers. Moreover, the
competition in terms of product quality and customer satisfaction is high, implying high
performance-to-cost ratio. The bargaining power of suppliers is comparatively low in this
industry as there are large number of suppliers for raw ingredients and these suppliers are not
vertically integrated and therefore they cannot influence the supply and distribution of the
products to the companies. On the other hand, bargaining power of consumers is very high in
the fast food industry. As there are many food joints providing similar food at almost similar
price range, and the switching cost is low, consumers can easily change their brand preference.
Lastly, the competitive rivalry is very high in the fast food industry. Various large competitors
with global presence and also smaller regional firms provide tough competition, with large
number of substitutes and the marketing is done aggressively (Baburaj and Narayanan 2016).
It can be concluded from the above analysis of fast food industry that, McDonald’s faces
tough competition from four forces, like, industry rivals, bargaining power of the consumers,
threat of new entrants and threat of substitutes. Since, the number of substitutes is quite large,
and consumers have very low switching cost, hence, the competitiveness for McDonald’s is very
high. The product and customer service quality must be focused and high for all time in all its
location (Hamzeh and Bataineh 2019).

5BUSINESS ECONOMICS
Answer b)
McDonald’s has a strong presence in China. It has plans to expand its business through
4500 restaurants across the country. The business expansion was announced after a joint venture
with CITIC Capital, CITIC Ltd., and Carlyle Capital. The government owned investment group
acquired 52% stake of McDonald’s for a payment of $2 billion in 2017 and it would have full
ownership rights of the existing restaurants of McDonald’s as well as the new outlets also for the
coming 20 years (China Briefing 2017). This was aimed for securing the better business
locations for McDonald’s and enabled the fast food company to transfer almost all company-
owned outlets to the franchises. This move was beneficial for McDonald’s for reducing business
risks that could arise from competition in the industry (Zhu, Anagondahalli and Zhang 2017).
The joint venture with the Chinese company, CITIC group, is beneficial for the American
fast food giant for running its business in China. The Chinese government is implementing
harder policies and regulations against the American companies as a retaliation to the trade war
with the USA. The joint venture of McDonald’s with the Chinese firm would protect the fast
food company from the new policies unfavorable to American business (Cahill 2018). Hence, if
the Chinese government would plan to impede the growth of the American company, that would
have hurt the investment and growth of Citic also, and that would not be beneficial for the
Chinese economy.
There are a few benefits of nationalization of businesses. Feng, Johansson and Wang
(2018) highlighted that nationalization of businesses can ensure a coordinated approach towards
production and supply of goods and services for achieving a stability in the market. Secondly,
nationalized businesses often create natural monopoly in the infrastructural sector, which could

6BUSINESS ECONOMICS
be beneficial to other businesses and people. In this regard, the example of railways can be cited.
The centrally funded railways in a nation is advantageous for transporting products at lower
costs, and for reducing road traffic and pollution (Voszka 2017). Thirdly, nationalized businesses
share their profits with the tax payers unlike the private businesses as the taxes generate revenue
for the government. Fourthly, nationalization enables a business to expand further and achieve
larger economies of scales. Due to the state support and investment, businesses can expand with
a less chance of financial risk and failure. Fifthly, the confidence of people and the employees
are higher in case of nationalized business due to security provided by the government and
hence, that helps in the businesses growth. For example, in case of bank failures, the recovery is
quick for nationalized banks than the private banks (Ait-Laoussine and Gault 2017). Thus, it can
be said that McDonald’s with their joint venture with the nationalized company Citic will have a
better growth opportunity in China.

7BUSINESS ECONOMICS
TASK 2
Answer a)
The international life cycle of a product refers to the growth and evolution of the product
overtime and across the national border. The international life cycle is heavily dependent on the
marketing program of the company on both the domestic and international platforms. Product
lifecycle includes four stages, namely, introduction, growth, maturity and decline, and the
concept of international product life cycle includes market development and economies of scale
integrated with the four fundamental stages of product life cycle (Hauschild, Rosenbaum and
Olsen 2018).
Figure 2: Product life cycle framework
(Source: Hauschild, Rosenbaum and Olsen 2018)
In the first stage, that is, introduction, the product enters the life cycle and it is
characterized by limited distribution, frequent modifications to product, and high level of
promotion. There is high chances of failure, with high production and marketing costs and low

8BUSINESS ECONOMICS
sales volume. In the second stage, the product starts experiencing growth that is, increasing sales
and profit, and competition in the market. In case of businesses, many large firms acquire small
firms that have reached the growth stage. Aggressive brand promotions are done at this stage.
Distribution is another major success factor in the growth stage. Long term relationships are
established with distributors and dealers, and towards the end of the growth stage, firms achieve
economies of scales, where prices fall and production and profits increase (He, Luo and Huang
2019). Third sage is maturity. Sales of the product grows but at a decreasing rate. The product
that reaches this stage, stayed in the market for a long time. Marketing is focused on variations of
the products, that is, line extension. The last stage is the decline or death. In this stage, both the
sales and profit go down for the product. Changes in the consumers’ tastes and preferences,
availability of new entrants and substitute products are the major factors contribute in the decline
of the product. Eventually, the product moves out of the market (Kobayashi, Matsumoto and
Fukushige 2018).
McDonald’s is famous for its burgers and hamburger is its signature product. All over the
world, the demand for the signature Big Mac hamburger is very high even though there are other
substitutes available from another rivals. The company makes slight differentiation in the
hamburger depending on the cultures of the countries they are operating in. However, due to
large number of rivals with similar products in the market, the sales of McDonald’s is rising at a
decreasing rate (Dilday 2018). Hence, the company is planning and implementing measures to
make their hamburger and other products more appealing to the customers through quality,
packaging and branding to maintain or boost their share in the competitive market (Ceil 2017).
Therefore, it can be said that the signature hamburger of McDonald’s is in the maturity stage. It
has captured a market share already, and currently, it must maintain, if not increase, the market

9BUSINESS ECONOMICS
share. Hence, product quality is being enhanced, aggressive marketing is conducted for the
mature product, that is, hamburger as its sales increase at a slower rate. To maintain the business,
McDonald’s has also introduced several other products on the menu, some of which are
variations of the hamburger (Chen 2019).
Answer b)
McDonald’s is a market oriented global company. As stated by Tomczak, Reinecke and
Kuss (2018), a market oriented company is one that invests substantial amount in market
research to understand what the market wants and produces or supplies those. McDonald’s
makes its business decisions and products based on market research. They focus on customers
and their preferences quite significantly. The target market of McDonald’s comprise of people of
all the age group, from children to the elderly people and therefore they have designed their
menu for customers of all age group (Christopher 2016). Moreover, they have different food
options for different times of the day, for example, McDonald’s serves healthy breakfast food
from 7am till 10am in the morning. This is a market oriented approach of business. The breakfast
items are not available after 10am, and this marketing technique has been beneficial for
attracting a large number of customers who prefers healthy breakfast. To create the breakfast
menu, McDonald’s invested large amount of money for market research for understanding the
preferences of the target market in each of the countries where they operate. For example, in
Hong Kong, McDonald’s serves macaroni in their breakfast menu as it is healthier than
cheeseburger and the people of Hong Kong prefer macaroni in their breakfast (McMillan 2017).

10BUSINESS ECONOMICS
Moreover, in Hong Kong, McDonald’s introduced the ‘double’ strategy, such as, double fish
fillet burgers and double cheeseburgers as the target market prefers the burgers with double
material on them. Thus, McDonald’s has introduced some special items as per the national food
culture in different countries along with their traditional hamburgers and french fries (Keller
2019). Hence. It is evident that McDonald’s is a market oriented company and not a cost oriented
business.

11BUSINESS ECONOMICS
TASK 3
Answer a)
Market power can be defined as the ability of a business or a group of organizations to
increase and maintain the market price above the level that would have prevailed under the
monopoly market structure. The practice of market power often results in reduced output level
and loss of the economic welfare (Stats.oecd.org 2020). It is also known as pricing power. The
different market structure has different level of market power, for example, the suppliers or
businesses provide homogenous products and there are large number of suppliers in the market.
Hence, the market power of the individual sellers are insignificant. On the contrary, in a
monopoly market structure, there is a single supplier in the market and therefore the market
power is highest for the seller, for which the price is determined and maintained by the seller
only. In case of oligopoly, the group of sellers has substantial market power to control the price.
Hence, according to the market power theory, businesses aim to increase their market power by
taking different strategies and one of those is to expand the size and operation capacity. Merger
and acquisition (M&As) is one such activity in which businesses merge for improving their
capability to set the market prices by decreasing the output level or by colluding. However, it has
also been noticed that increase in the merger activity is more likely generates operational
efficiency of the firms rather than increasing market power (DePamphilis 2019). A study by
Blonigen and Pierce (2016) showed mergers and acquisition activities led to a rise in the average
markup prices, although that had little evidence on its impact on the plant level productivity. The
authors also did not find substantial evidence of whether the M&A activities increase the

12BUSINESS ECONOMICS
operational efficiencies through reallocation of production activities to more efficient production
plants or through the reductions in the administrative operations.
The M&A activities are undertaken in the fast food industry due to various reasons. Over
the years, there have been quite significant M&A deals that had significant impact not only on
the firms’ business performance, but also on the overall growth of the industry. In 2018, one of
the largest M&A deals was the acquisition of Costa Coffee by Coca Cola at $5.1 billion and
merging of the product lines. Nestle SA invested $7.15 billion to get the right of marketing
Starbucks coffee outside the cafes (Santana 2018). In 2015, H.J. Heinz Co. and Kraft Foods
Group Inc. entered into M&A deal, and the new Kraft Heinz merger is the third biggest food
company in the USA and fifth biggest in the world with an anticipated market value of more of
more than $80 billion (Douglas 2015). Another American fast food company, Smashburger was
acquired by Jollibee, a Philippines based restaurant, in a $100 million deal. The aim of this
acquisition was to achieve a turnaround for the Denver based burger chain and increase its
market share by increasing customer traffic. At the same time, it has been announced that the
M&A activity will help the Philippines based food brand to grow in the USA while it will give
the growth opportunity to the American company also in Philippines (Luna 2018).
The above examples of M&A activities in the fast food and beverage sector indicates that
achieving market power is one of the agendas of these deals. In case of Heinz and Kraft merger,
both the companies are big brand names in their respective domains, however, due to large
competition, the market power of the individual companies are not significant. Going for a
merger enables the companies to have a larger market share as well as a larger market power to
influence the prices. On the other hand, in case of the merger of Smashburger and Jollibee, it can
be said that achieving market power is not the sole objective of the companies due to the reasons

13BUSINESS ECONOMICS
like, the industry has many sellers and quite large market leading brands, such as, McDonald’s,
Burger King, Wendy’s, Carl’s Jr., Sonic, White Castle, Five Guys, Shake Shack etc. Therefore,
market competition is quite high and none of the brands are able to influence the market price
alone (Market Realist 2019). Thus, in this industry, M&A can increase the market share and
customer base, but it may not have the desired outcome in terms of market power.
Answer b)
Profit maximization and sales maximization are two different concerns for the businesses.
Sales maximization and profit maximization are not the same issue and sales maximization does
not always mean profit maximization. While profit maximization is a business oriented
approach, sales maximization is a customer oriented approach (Lee 2019). Sales maximization is
a short term goal for the companies, which needs to be achieved for profit maximization in the
long run. In case of McDonald’s, the company aims to maximize sales. It follows a market or
customer oriented approach and the products are targeted towards all age group of customers. At
the same time, McDonald’s implements economy pricing for all its products. It serves simple
basic food to people belonging to all age group and all economic classes, which highlights its
fundamental business strategy of sales maximization with simple value addition (Abel 2015).
Hence, its target market consists of people of all age group and all income group. Keeping
economy pricing helps the company to reach out to a large market and its brand image is also
helpful for meeting the sales objective in short run.

14BUSINESS ECONOMICS
McDonald’s also conducts market research to understand the specific needs of the
customers and new products are designed and prices are determined based on the market
research findings. Therefore, to serve a larger target group with changing demands, land new
customers and earn higher revenue, dynamic methods like economy pricing is helpful and sales
maximization strategy is appropriate than profit maximization strategy. Thus, it can be said that
McDonald’s pursues sales maximization strategy to establish a large market share and earn
higher revenue in the short run, which leads to higher profit in the long run (Shan et al. 2019).

15BUSINESS ECONOMICS
TASK 4
Answer a)
McDonald’s business expansion strategy is primarily dependent on its signature product
of hamburger. This product has earned the brand reputation for McDonald’s since its inception.
Therefore, the demand for Big Mac hamburger is one of the major market demand aspects for
McDonald’s in any of its location. In the world of fast changing consumer demands, health
awareness, environmental awareness and high availability of high quality substitute goods, the
market competition for McDonald’s hamburger is quite high (). The future demand estimation
for a product or service depends on various factors like, price of the product or service, quality,
consumers’ income level, tastes and preferences, competitive forces etc. In the context of
McDonald’s hamburger, the existing price level and income of consumers would not be
significant influential forces on the market demand, as McDonald’s maintains economy prices
for the hamburger.
The major three factors that would affect the future estimation of demand of McDonald’s
hamburger are increase preference for healthy food items, environmental sustainability and
quality of the product. Firstly, as highlighted by Fenko (2019), the awareness of people has
increased substantially regarding healthy food choices. Thus, people are selecting healthier food
options in their regular diet. The hamburger and french fries are less healthier and have less
nutritional value than an item with macaroni, salads or grilled or roasted lean meat items (Smith
2019). Hence, people are now avoiding fried and breaded fast food items and replacing those
with healthier options. This is going to influence the market demand for McDonald’s’ hamburger
in a significant manner.

16BUSINESS ECONOMICS
Secondly, it has been proved that agricultural sector emits larger volume of GHG into the
environment than the transport sector. Livestock is the major source of GHG from the
agricultural sector. As people all across the world consume high volume of meat, like, beef, pork,
lamb, mutton etc. the farming involves huge amount of livestock on a continuous basis to meet
the demand of the market. This activity is contributing a massive amount of harmful gases into
the environment, which in turn contributing in global warming (Caro 2019). Thus, environmental
and sustainability awareness of people is often influencing them to become vegetarian or vegan.
Thus, if more people turn vegetarian or become vegan, that would affect the future demand for
McDonald’s’ hamburger.
Thirdly, McDonald’s has often been criticized for its poor quality. There are many other
fast food sellers that provide high quality hamburgers than McDonald’s in terms of taste,
ingredients and nutritional value. According to Business Insider report (2020), Burger King is
the biggest rival of McDonald’s as it serves similar meal at a similar price. It has been found
from surveys that the hamburger of Burger King are juicier, tastier and has better toppings than
the one McDonald’s provides. The french fries in Burger King are also better in terms of quality,
taste and preparation than that of McDonald’s. Moreover, McDonald’s does not mention the
nutritional value in their food which others have started practicing.
Therefore, it can be said that for future demand estimation for the hamburger of
McDonald’s, it is necessary to consider the above mentioned factors in times of market research,
that is, people’s preferences regarding the healthier food options, inclination towards vegetarian
or vegan food for sustainability and better quality food provided by the rivals.

17BUSINESS ECONOMICS
Answer b)
To gather information for estimating the future demand for its food products and services,
McDonald’s must conduct a market research. The most suitable market research strategies would
be conducting a consumer survey on the social media and gathering consumer feedback from
those who come to store for a meal (Lavrakas et al. 2019). Firstly, conducting a survey is
extremely useful for collecting large amount of quantitative as well as qualitative data from a
large number of consumer, and using social media is all the more beneficial as it creates scope
for reaching out to a larger and random crowd of all age group and all income classes in a time
and cost saving manner. Quantitative data can be collected and that can be analyzed using
quantitative analysis techniques to understand the trend and pattern in the data depicting the
potential future demand. The survey can also be conducted without collecting any personal
information from the participants, thereby maintaining anonymity condition (Fowler Jr. 2013).
Secondly, the company can gather qualitative feedback from the customers who come to the
stores for a meal. They can be given a feedback form along with their bills and will be asked to
fill the form with feedback about the food they had and suggestions for improvement. This
method is helpful for collecting qualitative data about the product and services while maintaining
the anonymity condition (Barday et al. 2020). The feedback about the food quality and the
suggestions for improvement will be analyzed using qualitative interpretation method and based
on the findings, McDonald’s can bring changes in its products as well as in the services to meet
the ever changing consumers wants, needs and preferences.
Since, McDonald’s follows a market oriented approach and sales maximization strategy
in its business model, hence, collecting primary data for estimating future demand for
McDonald’s product and services would be the most appropriate method in market research.

18BUSINESS ECONOMICS
This would help to gain direct overview of the consumers’ perceptions about the product and
services and the company can address those in a much faster manner.

19BUSINESS ECONOMICS
References
Abel, G., 2015. What Mcdonald’S Can Teach Us About Selling. [online] The Next Web.
Available at: <https://thenextweb.com/insider/2015/05/09/what-mcdonalds-can-teach-us-about-
selling/> [Accessed 10 April 2020].
Ait-Laoussine, N. and Gault, J., 2017. Nationalization, privatization and diversification. The
Journal of World Energy Law & Business, 10(1), pp.43-54. URL:
https://academic.oup.com/jwelb/article-abstract/10/1/43/2847027
Baburaj, Y. and Narayanan, V., 2016. Five Forces Framework. The Palgrave Encyclopedia of
Strategic Management, pp.1-7. DOI: 10.1057/978-1-349-94848-2_632-1
Barday, K.A., Sabourin, J.L., Brannon, J.B., Karanjkar, M.S. and Jones, K., OneTrust LLC,
2020. Data processing systems for integration of consumer feedback with data subject access
requests and related methods. U.S. Patent 10,564,935. URL:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US10353673B2/en
Blonigen, B.A. and Pierce, J.R., 2016. Evidence for the effects of mergers on market power and
efficiency (No. w22750). National Bureau of Economic Research. URL:
https://www.nber.org/papers/w22750
Business Insider, 2020. I Ate Similar Meals At Mcdonald's And Burger King To See Which
Would Do It Better, And The Smaller Chain Beat Out The Bigger One By A Hair. [online]
Business Insider. Available at: <https://www.businessinsider.in/slideshows/miscellaneous/i-ate-
similar-meals-at-mcdonalds-and-burger-king-to-see-which-would-do-it-better-and-the-smaller-

20BUSINESS ECONOMICS
chain-beat-out-the-bigger-one-by-a-hair/its-flavorful-and-its-solid-maybe-a-little-too-solid-/
slideshow/74245678.cms> [Accessed 10 April 2020].
Cahill, J., 2018. Why Mcdonald's May Be Safe In China. [online] Crain's Chicago Business.
Available at: <https://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20180622/ISSUE10/180629955/
mcdonald-s-citic-capital-partner-may-protect-it-in-china> [Accessed 10 April 2020].
Caro, D., 2019. Greenhouse gas, livestock and trade. In Encyclopedia of Food Security and
Sustainability (pp. 88-92). Elsevier. URL:
https://www.forskningsdatabasen.dk/en/catalog/2439406963
Ceil, C., 2017. Service Quality and Branding Strategies at McDonalds. Available at SSRN
2984100. [PDF PROVIDED]
Chen, S., 2019. The Product Life Cycle and Product Design. In The Design Imperative (pp. 123-
142). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. URL: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-
78568-4_9
China Briefing, C., 2017. Joint Venture Strategy In China: Learning From Starbucks And
Mcdonald's. [online] China Briefing News. Available at:
<https://www.china-briefing.com/news/joint-ventures-in-china-learning-from-starbucks-and-
mcdonalds/> [Accessed 10 April 2020].
Christopher, M., 2016. Marketing: an introductory text. Macmillan International Higher
Education. URL: https://books.google.co.in/books?
hl=en&lr=&id=3EpdDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR11&dq=Christopher,+M.,+2016.+Marketing:
+an+introductory+text.

21BUSINESS ECONOMICS
+Macmillan+International+Higher+Education.&ots=B9rCuO2gjP&sig=MKS9ZO5g6Kt3qkCR
Wr8tn0hX8U4&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Christopher%2C%20M.%2C
%202016.%20Marketing%3A%20an%20introductory%20text.%20Macmillan%20International
%20Higher%20Education.&f=false
DePamphilis, D., 2019. Mergers, acquisitions, and other restructuring activities: An integrated
approach to process, tools, cases, and solutions. Academic Press. URL:
https://books.google.co.in/books?
hl=en&lr=&id=21apDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=DePamphilis,+D.,+2019.+Mergers,
+acquisitions,+and+other+restructuring+activities:+An+integrated+approach+to+process,+tools,
+cases,+and+solutions.
+Academic+Press.&ots=cmZBbsRB9z&sig=ZacygSzPcLU7NmbKlpd9WPqliBM&redir_esc=y
#v=onepage&q=DePamphilis%2C%20D.%2C%202019.%20Mergers%2C%20acquisitions%2C
%20and%20other%20restructuring%20activities%3A%20An%20integrated%20approach%20to
%20process%2C%20tools%2C%20cases%2C%20and%20solutions.%20Academic
%20Press.&f=false
Dilday, A., 2018. “Your Own McDonald’s!”: Race, McDonald’s, and the Inner Cities. American
Papers, p.74. URL: http://amst.fullerton.edu/American%20Papers%202017-2018.pdf
Douglas, L., 2015. Why You Should Pay Attention To The Heinz/Kraft Merger. [online] Time.
Available at: <https://time.com/3770785/heinz-kraft-merger/> [Accessed 10 April 2020].
Feng, X., Johansson, A.C. and Wang, Y., 2018. Strengthened state capitalism: Nationalized firms
in China. Stockholm China Economic Research Institute, Stockholm School of Economics Asia
Working Paper, (51). URL: https://swopec.hhs.se/hascer/papers/hascer2018-051.1.pdf

22BUSINESS ECONOMICS
Fenko, A., 2019. Influencing healthy food choice through multisensory packaging design.
In Multisensory Packaging (pp. 225-255). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. URL:
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-94977-2_9
Fowler Jr, F.J., 2013. Survey research methods. Sage publications. URL:
https://books.google.co.in/books?
hl=en&lr=&id=WM11AwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Survey+research.&ots=6OyKwcgS9
-&sig=VhIfhl5ilu0FStUK-GKfO6u4zqw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Survey
%20research.&f=false
Gerard, H.T., 2018. The Relevance Of Porter’s Five Forces In Today’s Innovative And Changing
Business Environment. URL:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gerard_Bruijl2/publication/326026986_The_Relevance_of
_Porter's_Five_Forces_in_Today's_Innovative_and_Changing_Business_Environment/links/
5c14165c299bf139c7593f03/The-Relevance-of-Porters-Five-Forces-in-Todays-Innovative-and-
Changing-Business-Environment.pdf
Hamzeh, A.A. and Bataineh, A.Q., 2019. Exploring and Analyzing (Go) Decision for Burger
Makers to Enter Singaporean Market. International Journal of Academic Research in Business
and Social Sciences, 9(11). URL:
http://hrmars.com/hrmars_papers/Exploring_and_Analyzing_(Go)_Decision_for_Burger_Maker
s_to_Enter_Singaporean_Market.pdf
Hauschild, M.Z., Rosenbaum, R.K. and Olsen, S.I., 2018. Life cycle assessment. Springer. URL:
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-3-319-56475-3.pdf

23BUSINESS ECONOMICS
He, B., Luo, T. and Huang, S., 2019. Product sustainability assessment for product life
cycle. Journal of cleaner production, 206, pp.238-250. URL:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652619320335?via%3Dihub
Johan, S., 2017. The Structure Of Consumer Finance Industry In Emerging Market (Empirical
Evidence: Indonesia 2000-2015). Jurnal Manajemen Bisnis dan Kewirausahaan, 1(2). URL:
https://journal.untar.ac.id/index.php/jmbk/article/view/4771
Keller, C., 2019. How Mcdonald's Became The Leader In The Fast Food Industry - Marketing
Strategy. [online] Profitworks.ca. Available at: <https://profitworks.ca/small-business-sales-and-
marketing-resources/blog/marketing-strategy/541-how-mcdonalds-became-the-leader-fast-food-
industry-marketing-strategy.html> [Accessed 10 April 2020].
Kobayashi, H., Matsumoto, T. and Fukushige, S., 2018. A simulation methodology for a system
of product life cycle systems. Advanced Engineering Informatics, 36, pp.101-111. URL:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1474034617303993
Lavrakas, P.J., Traugott, M.W., Kennedy, C., Holbrook, A.L., de Leeuw, E.D. and West, B.T.
eds., 2019. Experimental Methods in Survey Research: Techniques that Combine Random
Sampling with Random Assignment. John Wiley & Sons. URL: https://books.google.co.in/books?
hl=en&lr=&id=WLaqDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR19&dq=Lavrakas,+P.J.,+Traugott,+M.W.,
+Kennedy,+C.,+Holbrook,+A.L.,+de+Leeuw,+E.D.+and+West,+B.T.+eds.,
+2019.+Experimental+Methods+in+Survey+Research:
+Techniques+that+Combine+Random+Sampling+with+Random+Assignment.+John+Wiley+
%26+Sons.&ots=JEJQtqwTlh&sig=9b5rUThrTPNpopfxH4CJjj1FtLA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage
&q&f=false

24BUSINESS ECONOMICS
Lee, I., 2019. Pricing schemes and profit-maximizing pricing for cloud services. Journal of
Revenue and Pricing Management, 18(2), pp.112-122. DOI: 10.1057/s41272-018-00179-x
Luna, N., 2018. Jollibee Foods Corp. Acquires Final Stake In Smashburger. [online] Nation's
Restaurant News. Available at: <https://www.nrn.com/mergers-acquisitions/jollibee-foods-corp-
acquires-final-stake-smashburger> [Accessed 10 April 2020].
Madsen, K. and Gosliner, W., 2020. Fast Food Embodied. Bite Back: People Taking on
Corporate Food and Winning, p.121. URL: https://books.google.co.in/books?
hl=en&lr=&id=HZ_NDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Madsen,+K.+and+Gosliner,+W.,
+2020.+Fast+Food+Embodied.+Bite+Back:
+People+Taking+on+Corporate+Food+and+Winning,
+p.121.&ots=7eozCyI4dg&sig=x70Vby9VWOLeGHdersV-
rgF0ow4&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
Market Realist, 2019. Must-Know: Mcdonald’S Has Got Tough Competition. [online] Market
Realist. Available at: <https://marketrealist.com/2019/11/must-know-mcdonalds-has-got-tough-
competition/> [Accessed 10 April 2020].
McMillan, A., 2017. 4 Ways Mcdonald's Is Radically Different In Hong Kong. [online]
TheStreet. Available at: <https://www.thestreet.com/investing/4-ways-mcdonalds-is-way-
different-in-hong-kong-14316470> [Accessed 10 April 2020].
Moreno-Izquierdo, L., Ramón-Rodríguez, A.B. and Perles-Ribes, J.F., 2016. Pricing strategies of
the European low-cost carriers explained using Porter's Five Forces Model. Tourism
Economics, 22(2), pp.293-310. DOI: 10.5367/te.2016.0551

25BUSINESS ECONOMICS
Qian, Y. and Chen, J., 2019, July. Analysis of Intangible Resources of McDonald's and Its
Influence by Balanced Scorecard Method. In 2019 International Conference on Contemporary
Education and Society Development (ICCESD 2019). Atlantis Press. DOI: 10.2991/iccesd-
19.2019.50
Santana, D., 2018. The Top Restaurant Mergers And Acquisitions Deals Of 2018. [online] Skift
Table. Available at: <https://table.skift.com/2018/12/21/the-top-restaurant-mergers-and-
acquisitions-deals-of-2018/> [Accessed 10 April 2020].
Shan, W., Yan, Q., Chen, C., Zhang, M., Yao, B. and Fu, X., 2019. Optimization of competitive
facility location for chain stores. Annals of Operations Research, 273(1-2), pp.187-205. DOI:
10.1007/s10479-017-2579-z
Smith, M., 2019. Healthy Fast Food | Is There Such A Thing As Healthy Fast Food?. [online]
HelpGuide.org. Available at: <https://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-eating/healthier-fast-
food.htm> [Accessed 10 April 2020].
Stats.oecd.org, 2020. OECD Glossary Of Statistical Terms - Market Power Definition. [online]
Stats.oecd.org. Available at: <https://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=3256> [Accessed 10
April 2020].
Tomczak, T., Reinecke, S. and Kuss, A., 2018. Market-oriented Business Unit Planning.
In Strategic Marketing (pp. 97-170). Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-658-
18417-9_4

26BUSINESS ECONOMICS
Voszka, E., 2017. Nationalization or privatization? The fragmentation of the mainstream. Annals
of Public and Cooperative Economics, 88(1), pp.91-120. URL:
https://econpapers.repec.org/article/blaannpce/v_3a88_3ay_3a2017_3ai_3a1_3ap_3a91-120.htm
Zhu, L., Anagondahalli, D. and Zhang, A., 2017. Social media and culture in crisis
communication: McDonald’s and KFC crises management in China. Public Relations
Review, 43(3), pp.487-492. URL:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Julie_Zhu12/publication/315974227_Social_media_and_cu
lture_in_crisis_communication_McDonald's_and_KFC_crises_management_in_China/links/
59ed38daaca272cddde0615b/Social-media-and-culture-in-crisis-communication-McDonalds-
and-KFC-crises-management-in-China.pdf