Introduced in 1968, the Big Mac was the brainchild of Jim Delligatti, one of Ray Kroc's earliest franchisees, who by the late 1960s operated a dozen stores in Pittsburgh. In 1979 the happy meal was introduced.
Attached is an excerpt from McDonalds 2001 annual report showing the company’s figures for the last 11 years.
Future Expansion
Even the very largest companies have to keep growing. McDonalds opens 100’s of new restaurants each year.
It recently has not performed so well though perhaps because people are becoming more health conscious and don’t see fast food as a sensible diet and perhaps also because of growing numbers of vegetarians.
Information & Communication Technology
McDonalds has a very good website full of useful information like annual reports so shareholders can look at how McDonalds is doing. It also has the history of McDonalds and the news. However as you can not sell burgers over the internet there is not much else they can do to improve the ICT.
Success Factors
The company is aware that it needs to improve its performance and this is shown by the chairman’s comments in the 2001 annual report.
“Let me state the obvious: we can and must do better than the 4 percent constant currency sales increase we generated in 2001. We must deliver the kinds of growth in sales and profits that can make a positive difference in the value of your investment in McDonald’s.
The reality is there will always be challenges. It is our job to manage through the challenges by leveraging our strengths to overcome them. We often tell our children, “With challenges
come opportunities.” The same is true for businesses. So, more than ever before, McDonald’s must adapt and evolve to seize
opportunities as they unfold.
Over the years, our core strengths have driven our business success. They differentiate McDonald’s from other companies, are not easily imitated and can be leveraged to create a significant benefit for consumers and shareholders. We intend to build on these strengths to return our business to double-digit
growth.”