Management Sustainable Development Assignment 2022

Running Head: MANAGEMENT
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Management
Sustainable Development
(Student details :)
8/5/2019

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Sustainability Strategy: McDonalds Fast Food Company
Introduction
This report is based on research a global organization in order to produce a report on their
sustainable strategy or strategies. To do so, the report will include company overview,
company background, and information, corporate philosophy with their aims in relation to
create sustainable societies worldwide. In this context, the company chosen for writing this
report is McDonald’s Company Ltd. (McD) working since May 1971. As of now, the
company is having more than 2,899 restaurants all around the world (Corporate McDonalds,
2019). The business description of McD suggests that the management of the hamburger
restaurant chain along with other related businesses is being done by the chosen firm.
Company Overview
The fast-food chain firm McD offering quality, delicious as well as safe foods since 1971
which people can enjoy happily in a comfortable dining environment. The company
understands and reflects the fact into their operations that they exist only because of the
global societies in which they operate (McDonalds Co., 2019). In this way, McD is a global
fast-food brand having restaurants in around 100 countries worldwide. All the CSR activities
and reports till date are showing that McD owns a serious responsibility towards the society
in the way they operate their business all across the world (Corporate McDonalds, 2019).
Sustainable Development at McDonald's
The company is continuously working to achieve aims and objectives for a sustainable
society. In this context, as of December 31, 2018, McD Company has become an FSC
certified, RSPO certified, MSC certified and Rainforest Alliance certified corporation. In
general, sustainable development goals are getting achieved by the company while assessing
each of the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) individually. As we know, SDGs have
been set for the overall development of the earth in terms of sustainability-oriented actions
(Lu et al., 2015).
The below-mentioned figure is effectively showing connectivity between McD and SDGs
through talking about each of the 17 SDGs in relation to its achievement. For instance, in

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order to accomplish the fifth SDG of gender equality; the company is using diversity and
inclusion strategy which is a great attempt towards achieving sustainability for all by 2030
(Lu et al., 2015).
Source: (McDonalds Co., 2019)
Sustainability significance for McD
This discussion will contain details on what the Company McD is doing in terms of
sustainability and thereby the significance of sustainability strategy for McD’s organizational
development (McDonalds Co., 2019). The most important effort which has been put by McD
is contributing to the United Nations’ SDGs as mentioned in the above paragraphs. In
addition to that, the company is effectively engaging its stakeholders with interactive CSR
activities in a positive direction. Apart from this, creating sustainable societies is very

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important for McD, which is evident from their scale for good governance in the velocity
growth plan. In this way, the company is using a scale for good at the heart of their key
values. In addition to that, McD is utilising ESG reporting and performance in relation to
sustainability (Blewitt, 2008). The Scale for Good (SG) strategy of McD is depicting the
major efforts of the company in terms of sustainability. In this context, key components such
as food, planet, peoples, and communities, and ESG reporting are actually working for
corporate social responsibility (CSR) (Blewitt, 2008).
Source: (McDonalds Co., 2019)
Key Sustainable strategies of McD
In the context of McD’s sustainable strategies, five key sustainability strategies are as
follows:
Food
This strategy is all about aiming for a sustainable society in terms of ensuring food security
and safety. In the context of safe food as a sustainability strategy, there are some food-related
actions which have been adopted by the company (The Guardian, 2015). Here, the fast-food
company is using different quality improvement measures for offering safe, secure and
delicious food to their guests. Besides, the firm is using actions for ensuring the security and
safety of the food they provide to their customers. Thus, providing good food with the help of

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nutritional improvements, great diverse food menu and nutritional labelling McD is building
a sustainable society worldwide (The Guardian, 2015).
Aiming for a sustainable society (sourcing)
The company is using sourcing strategy as a sustainability strategy by prioritizing products
with the help of sustainable sourcing. For a sustainable society, the firm is using packaging,
recycling and commitment to families being the strategies to evolve sustainable society
(Livesey & Kate, 2008).
Planet
As we know that sustainability is directly linked to our planet earth, hence the chosen
company knows and reflecting that the basics of waste measures are to ‘contain waste’
(Panmore, 2017). The company is putting huge efforts into waste measures as well as
environmental conservation. McD is doing so by restricting and minimizing the food and
packaging wastes per customers which is helpful in the long-term form the environmental
conservation perspective (Kushwaha & Sharma, 2016).
People
The company understands that people are the only source of organizational growth and hence
McD’s business is people-oriented business. Therefore, the company supports the
development as well as career opportunities of their staff during the day-to-day work routine.
Apart from this, sustainable strategies of McD in the context of people are an employee value
proposition, career advancement, performance development system, and education institution
(Griggs et al., 2013). Besides, activities such as employment of disabled persons, work-life
balance, AJCC (all japan crew contest) and diversity and inclusion are also coming under
people-oriented sustainability activities organized by the McD.
Community
In this context, the company is doing so many things and putting their efforts for the whole
community. By contributing to social activities, McD is engaging in social contribution
activities for the healthy growth of global children. In addition to that, Ronald McDonald is
the house of the company’s charity activitiesv (McDonalds Co., 2019). Here, Ronald
McDonald House (RMH) is the facility to hospitals for ill children as well as families who
live far away from the usual hospitals. Moreover, McD is providing education support with
the help of support programs through using their hamburger restaurant business, specially

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designed for children’s overall growth from primary school, and high school (Griggs et al.,
2013).
How sustainability activities reflect the vision and goals of the McD
This paragraph is going to include how sustainability or CSR activities reflect the goals and
vision of the chosen firm. This can be explained with the help of assessing the vision and the
goals of the company as follows:
 As mentioned by (Thompson, 2019), McD’s corporate vision is to flow with the
velocity to drive profitable growth and thereby become a better McD’s serving more
people delicious food each day all across the world.
 In addition, the values and goals of the company are showing that to become global
customers’ favourite place to eat is the main objective of the fast-food giant (Garnett,
2014).
In this way, detailed analysis suggests that the fast-food company is inspired by their
sustainability activities such as providing unmatched quality, best service, cleanliness, and
value customers every time they visit. Subsequently, the aforementioned sustainability
activities like SG, ESG reporting are enabling the company as a responsible leader in the
operating market. Thus, sustainability activities are offering enhanced progressiveness and
local integration to the company which ultimately reflects the above-discussed vision and key
goals of the chosen firm (Dash, 2013).
Sustainable activities of McD (environmental, economic, social)
The different sustainable activities of the chosen firm lie in diverse sustainability paradigms
include social, environmental and economic. Further details are as follows:
Environmental
There are 17 SDGs, out which goals include 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15, are directly related
to environmental sustainability. As discussed before, McD’s sustainability activities are
contributing towards achieving SDGs related to the environmental paradigm of sustainable
development (Corporate McDonalds, 2019).
Economic
In this context, by providing support to UN with the help of sustainable food sourcing, RMH,
education support, diversity and inclusion, a people business, corporate governance and

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partnership with all stakeholders, the company is working into the direction of overall
economic development of the world (Thompson, 2019).
Social
As mentioned by (Lu et al., 2015), social development related SDGs are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10,
11, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 17. Thus, by providing CSR interests and contribution for the global
societies, McD is working towards creating sustainable societies (Lu et al., 2015).
How McD markets their sustainability activities to the world
The company is presenting or marketing their sustainability activities to the whole world with
the help of organizing different sustainability-oriented summits (Schaltegger et al., 2017).
Apart from this, McD is having, building and strengthening their partnerships with all of their
global stakeholders which are the best way to market their sustainability activities all across
the globe. Moreover, SG is again the best way for communicating CSR activities in the whole
world among people (Blewitt, 2008).
Importance of sustainability considerations for McD’s competitive and
strategy position
It has been found that sustainability consideration in the context of McD is very important to
the company’s competitive position and competitive strategies as well (THOMPSON, 2018).
In addition to that, if the company is working for people, planet, and community with the
help of safe healthy food and different sustainability initiatives, then it will definitely a plus
point for organizational development and growth in future (Retail ET, 2018).
Whether the firm’s sustainability-oriented activities are enough to manage
its operations
To me, the firm is doing enough to manage their operations within a sustainable manner.
However, there is no limit for achieving SDGs as we all need to ensure a sustainable future
for our planet and company as well. Thus, although present sustainability strategies and
actions are beneficial and helpful for sustainable communities and societies, yet there could
be more opportunities for the company (McDonalds Co., 2019).
Sustainability role in managing McD’s reputation and public image
As per the research conducted in this report with the help of annual reports, recent news and
surveys, the chosen firm are managing their reputation and public image with the help of

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evolving sustainability strategies (Neate, 2015). The company is using Scale for Good
strategy, according to which delicious food can also be sustainable for customers, producers,
and the environment. In this way, sustainability is playing a key role in managing McD’s
reputation and public image globally (UNESCO, 2018).
A critical assessment of the McD’s sustainability approach
A critical assessment of McD’s sustainability approach is suggesting that the company is
becoming one of the world’s leading restaurant brands; while using SG strategy to make their
vision a reality (Bass & Dalal-Clayton, 2012). The critical analysis is showing that the
company is considering corporate social responsibility as an opportunity for business and
community development. However, there are areas within which the company needs to
improve during the upcoming years, they are as follows:
 Online Social Campaigns: the company can conduct digital social campaigns
highlighting the lifestyle and health safety topics for community health development
(Corbett & Corbett, 2009).
 Health-oriented programs for adults: although the firm is doing a lot for children’s
health yet they are not putting considerable efforts for adult health.
 Funding campaigns for chronic, life-threatening diseases like cancer, Aids and many
more (Dresner, 2010).
Conclusion
In a nutshell, the chosen firm McD is doing well in the field of sustainability and CSR
activities with the help of initiatives such as climate action, packaging and recycling, beef
sustainability, youth opportunities, and commitment to families. Besides, it has been found
that the company is hugely supporting the UN derived SDGs at large extent.
While we’re committed to taking on many challenges facing society today, we’re elevating a
few global priorities where we believe we can make the greatest difference and drive
industry-wide change. We can’t do this alone – to make truly meaningful progress, we will
need to use our scale and reach to collaborate with others both within and beyond the
McDonald’s system. Moreover, the company is analysing of major social and environmental
impacts of their food and their business. In whole, the company is continuously working in

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the direction of material environmental and social issues which matter most to their
customers and employees, Franchisees, suppliers and wider stakeholders.
References
Bass, S. & Dalal-Clayton, B., 2012. Sustainable development strategies: a resource book.
London: Routledge.
Blewitt, J., 2008. Understanding Sustainable Development. UK: Earthscan.
Corbett, M. & Corbett, J., 2009. Designing sustainable communities: Learning from village
homes. UK: Island Press.
Corporate McDonalds, 2019. Using our scale for good. [Online] Available at:
https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/scale-for-good/using-our-scale-for-good.html
[Accessed 08 July 2019].
Dash, M.C., 2013. Concepts of Environmental Management for Sustainable Development. 1st
ed. U.K.: Module Handbook.
Dresner, S., 2010. The Principles of Sustainability. UK: Earthscan.
Garnett, T., 2014. Three perspectives on sustainable food security: efficiency, demand
restraint, food system transformation. What role for life cycle assessment? Journal of Cleaner
Production, 73, pp.10-18.
Griggs, D. et al., 2013. Policy: Sustainable development goals for people and planet. Nature,
495(7441), p.305.
Kushwaha, G. & Sharma, N., 2016. Green initiatives: a step towards sustainable development
and firm's performance in the automobile industry. Journal of cleaner production, 121,
pp.116-29.
Livesey, S.M. & Kate, K., 2008. "Transparent and caring corporations? A study of
sustainability reports by The Body Shop and Royal Dutch/Shell." Organization &
environment, 15(3), pp.233-58.
Lu, Y., Nakicenovic, N., Visbeck, M. & Stevance, A.S., 2015. Five priorities for the UN
sustainable development goals. Nature, 520(7548), pp.432-33.

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McDonalds Co., 2019. McDonald CSR Report 2018. [Online] Available at:
http://www.mcdonalds.co.jp/content/dam/web/mcdonalds/company/csr/images/
CSR2018_e.pdf [Accessed 05 Augustus 2019].
Neate, R., 2015. McDonald's: a brief history in 15 facts. [Online] Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/may/02/mcdonalds-a-brief-history-in-15-facts
[Accessed 02 December 2018].
Panmore, 2017. McDonald’s Organizational Culture Analysis. [Online] Available at:
http://panmore.com/mcdonalds-organizational-culture-analysis [Accessed 08 July 2019].
Retail ET, 2018. Go green: McDonald's switching to environment-friendly packaging and
recycling. [Online] Available at: https://retail.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/food-
entertainment/food-services/go-green-mcdonalds-switching-to-environment-friendly-
packaging-and-recycling/62524710 [Accessed 08 July 2019].
Schaltegger, S., Burritt, R. & Peterson, H., 2017. An introduction to corporate environmental
management: Striving for sustainability. London: Routledge.
The Guardian, 2015. 10 things you need to know about the global food system. [Online]
Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/food-blog/10-things-need-
to-know-global-food-system.
THOMPSON, , 2018. McDonald’s Organizational Structure Analysis. [Online] Available at:
http://panmore.com/mcdonalds-organizational-structure-analysis [Accessed 02 December
2018].
Thompson, A., 2019. McDonald’s Organizational Structure & Its Characteristics – An
Analysis. [Online] Available at: http://panmore.com/mcdonalds-organizational-structure-
analysis [Accessed 08 July 2019].
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[Accessed 06 January 2019].

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