Strategic Management: A Comprehensive SWOT Analysis of McDonalds

This report presents a SWOT analysis of McDonald's, a leading fast-food chain. It begins with an introduction to strategic management and the importance of SWOT analysis in understanding a business's internal and external environments. The analysis identifies McDonald's strengths, including its strong brand name, global presence, competitive pricing, financial stability, and ability to target a wide customer segment. Weaknesses include limited menu offerings and lack of innovative advertising. Opportunities for growth include introducing healthier menu options, enhancing social media presence, and expanding 24-hour service. Threats include increased competition from other fast-food chains and growing health consciousness among consumers, which reduces fast-food consumption. The conclusion emphasizes the value of strategic management and SWOT analysis for understanding a company's current situation and future growth prospects. The report includes a list of references to support the analysis.

Strategic Management
McDonalds’ SWOT analysis

Strategic Management 1
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Strengths.......................................................................................................................................1
Weaknesses..................................................................................................................................1
Opportunities................................................................................................................................1
Threats..........................................................................................................................................2
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................2
References........................................................................................................................................3

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Introduction
Strategic management plays a vital role in the success of any business. Effective management
strategies adopted by organizations lead to dynamic growth of the business (Hill, Jones &
Schilling, 2014). This report throws light on one such strategy. The strategy selected is SWOT
analysis. The idea behind conducting a SWOT analysis for any business is to gain a deeper
insight about the business’s internal as well as external environment. This report lays emphasis
on the SWOT of McDonalds which is a leading name in the fast-food industry.
Strengths
One of the biggest strength of the McDonalds’ is its strong brand name. The wide presence of the
business across 80 countries has enabled McDonalds to cater to a large number of customers on a
daily basis. McDonalds’ competitive pricing strategy assists the firm in ensuring that it is
affordable to a massive customer segment. McDonald’s is a financial fit firm and this aspect of
the business helps them in managing unforeseen risks.
Another strength of the brand is its ability to target a wide customer segment (Armstrong &
Kotler, 2015). McDonalds target market includes youth between the age of 15-38 years, working
professionals who are looking for a quick snack, school and college students who prefer
inexpensive snack option and lastly families with children are also targeted by McDonalds happy
meal offering.
Weaknesses
One of the biggest weaknesses of McDonalds is the limited offerings of their menu. Currently,
their menu is limited to burgers, fries and beverages. They have put efforts in expanding the
menu, however, most of their outlets offer a limited product line (Meyer, 2015). McDonalds also
lacks innovation advertisement which plays a vital role in attracting new customers.

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Opportunities
Owing to the increasing health consciousness of the people today, McDonalds must introduce
healthier eating options. This could include whole wheat burgers, lactose free, gluten free and
vegan products.
McDonalds must also enhance its social media presence and work upon creating more user
generated content to enhance brand equity in the market. Social media marketing could also be
used to enhance customer interaction and build a deeper relationship.
McDonalds could also increase the number of outlets which are open 24 hours a day. This would
cater to the increasing population of people who work on night shifts as well as students who
study at night.
Threats
Increasing number of fast-food joints has increased an overall competition in the industry.
Burger King, KFC, Five Guys Burgers and Wendy’s are all leading names in the industry.
Moreover, the unorganized part of this industry has also added to the competition faced by the
firm.
Growing health consciousness among people has made them averse to fast-food chains and
reduced overall consumption in the industry.
Conclusion
Strategic management helps businesses in ensuring that the business is effectively managed.
McDonalds is a global brand and a perfect example of efficient strategic management. SWOT
analysis of McDonalds has presented with the company’s internal environment (strengths and
weaknesses) as well as external environment (opportunities and threats) (Rothaermel, 2015).
Such an analysis helps in a providing a better understanding of the business’s present situation
and prospects of future growth.

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References
Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M. and Brennan, R., (2015). Marketing: an introduction.
United Kingdom. Pearson Education.
Hill, C.W., Jones, G.R. and Schilling, M.A., (2014). Strategic management: theory: an
integrated approach. United States. Cengage Learning.
Meyer, P., (2015). McDonald’s Marketing Mix: 4Ps Analysis. Panmore Institute. October, 7.
Rothaermel, F.T., (2015). Strategic management. United States. McGraw-Hill Education.