History Of Mcdonalds

Submitted By muel8055
Words: 765
Pages: 4

McDonald's is the leading global foodservice retailer with more than 32,000 local

restaurants serving more than 60 million people in 117 countries each day. More than 75% of

McDonald's restaurants worldwide are owned and operated by independent local men and

women. McDonald’s serves the world some of its favorite foods – For example, world famous

fries, Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, Chicken McNuggets and Egg McMuffin. McDonald’s rich

history began with it’s founder, Ray Kroc. (www.mcdonalds.com)

Ray Kroc, at 52 years old, invested his entire life savings to become the exclusive

distributor of a milk shake maker called the Multimixer. Hearing about the McDonald's

hamburger stand in California owned by Dick & Mac McDonald running eight Multimixers at a

time, he packed up his car and headed West. It was 1954. Ray Kroc had never seen so many

people served so quickly. He pitched the idea of opening up several restaurants to the McDonald

brothers, convinced that he could sell eight of his Multimixers to each and every one. "Who

could we get to open them for us?" Dick McDonald said. Well," Kroc answered, "what about

me?" Ray Kroc opened the Des Plaines, Illinois restaurant in 1955 and never looked back. In

1965 McDonald's went public with the company's first offering on the stock exchange.

(www.mcdonalds.com)

That was the humble beginnings of a big giant in the business world. McDonald’s

operate their business by certain values and by upholding these values they have a easy recipe for

the systems success. These values are as follows: “ We place the customer experience at the core

of all we do, We are committed to our people, We believe in the McDonald’s System, We

operate our business ethically, We give back to our communities, We grow our business

profitably, We strive continually to improve” (www.mcdonalds.com) With these values Ray

Kroc built an empire that is the McDonald’s company today. Most of their competitors are

always looking to the McDonald’s brand for ideas because they are the leader in the quick

service industry.

The quick service industry operates in an extremely competitive environment.

products as McDonald’s does. Among McDonald's competition in the field of fast food chains

are Yum! Brands Inc., which owns the Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, KFC, and Long John Silver's

chains, and Burger King Holdings Inc. McDonald's attempted to increase its competitive edge

with these rivals by acquiring brands in addition to its McDonalds stores (including Boston

Market and Chipotle Grill) but has sold off these additions in 2006 and 2007. According to the

McDonald's 2007 Annual Report, the corporation's strategy to compete with its rivals involves a

focus on "being better, not just bigger" ("2007 Annual Report"). In recent years, both

McDonald's and its competitors have worked to associate their brands with affordability, each

working to increase the number and quality of low-cost offerings. (www.associatedcontent.com)

When studying industry