Ethical Criticism of McDonaldsArguably the most important aspect of an organization is its emphasis on ethical behavior. The key premise was that by ‘doing the right thing’ internally and externally, businesses created a good working atmosphere, while also benefiting society and the environment. The problem is that many ethical issues are subjective and based on one’s values and beliefs. As a result, they are often difficult to enforce and easy to neglect. The result of this is that ‘when the costs are added up, the social balance sheet contains enormous debts to society’ (McEwan, 2001). It is the notion of an organization’s ‘debts to society’, which led to the branch of ethics known as ‘corporate social responsibility’. This refers to ‘the economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic expectations placed on organizations by society at a given point in time’ (Carroll and Buchholtz, 2000). This theory of responsibility to society is based around two headings, stated by Wells (1998). Social Responsibility deals with ‘the purposes for which companies should act’ (Wells, 1998), and Corporate Responsibility is the ‘liability attached to a company for actions done in its name’ (Wells, 1998). Corporate Social Responsibility has increased in importance over the last 15 years, as globalization has led to increased pressure to meet society’s ethical demands and expectations. This pressure is a result of an increased number of stakeholders who ‘can affect or are affected by, the achievement of the organization’s objectives’ (Beauchamp, 2004), as well as the increasing influence and power of the mass media, which is able to pick up on even the smallest issues and re-present them globally. As a result, ‘in a technological age, where news spreads fast and everyone is expected to do his/her part to take care of the world, Corporate Responsibility is a business necessity’ (Allen, 2004). One example of this is McDonald’s, which published its first Corporate Responsibility Report in 2002 and this was followed up with an updated version in 2004. Yet despite this move, many critics of McDonald’s still believe that this, like many Corporate Responsibility Reports, is simply a medley of generalities and assumptions, that do not provide hard metrics of the company, its activities or its impacts on society and the environment’ (Hawken, 2002), and is ‘peripheral to the core interests of an organization’ (Strategic Direction, 2002). As a result, there is a need to analyze the claims made towards McDonalds, and whether they have been resolved within the two Corporate Responsibility Reports. McDonald’s celebrated its 50th anniversary on April 15th 2005, and over those 50 years it has become the world market leader in fast food, with an annual turnover today of ‘approximately $40 billion worldwide’ (Smith, 2003). It has maintained a high level of performance throughout those 50 years and today is as successful as ever. For example, 2004 was the first year in the past 17 in which McDonalds tailed positive same store sales every month…while January 2005, total sales increased by 8.5%. Its trademark Golden Arches and Big Mac burger are today recognized in ‘30,000 outlets, found in 119 countries, serving 47 million customers a day’ (McDonald’s Corporate Responsibility Report, 2004). Over the 50 years, ‘the McDonald’s Corporation has traveled from pioneer of a new and uniquely American eating experience, to icon of the global appeal of American capitalism, to perhaps one of the most despised corporate symbols in the history of private enterprise’ (Baker, 2005). The first McDonald’s restaurant opened on April 15th 1955, in Des Plaines, Illinois by an entrepreneur called Ray Kroc. Kroc had been attracted by a limited menu hamburger stand that turned out high-quality fast food at low prices, run by a pair of brothers, Dick and Mac McDonald. McDonald’s served more than 100 million hamburgers in the first three years and ‘the 100th McDonalds restaurant opened in 1959’ (Smith, 2003). Its success was unheralded, and the now famous marketing strategy was established by Kroc in 1963, with the Ronald McDonald clown character. McDonald’s television advertising was so successful that ‘by 1971 the Ronald McDonald clown character was familiar to 96% of American children’ (Baker, 2005). This exceptional marketing strategy has remained competitive today, as highlighted in Morgan Spurlock’s documentary ‘Super Size Me’ (2004), when more children recognize Ronald McDonald than a picture of Jesus or the American President George W. Bush. The success of McDonald’s was not just within the USA, but also globally, which became important when the US market became saturated. ‘The first British restaurant opened in 1974’ (Baker, 2005) and today there are more than 1200 restaurants in the UK, employing 73,000 people’ (Caterer-online.com, 2004). Success has also been found in a number of other countries, including Japan, Australia and Germany. In 2002, of McDonalds annual worldwide sales of £25 billion, ‘35% came from Europe and 15% from Asia, Pacific and Middle East’ (Caterer-online.com, 2004). Despite the obvious global success of McDonald’s, it reported a loss in 2002 for the first time since the 50s and experienced the rare phenomenon of some outlets closing. For example, in October, ‘pre tax profits slumped from £83.8 million to £23.6 million’ (Sweeney, 2004). Since its global expansion efforts in the 70s, McDonald’s has been shadowed by a wide variety of ethical issues, which ‘has spawned an entire industry of anti-McDonald’s protesters’ (Baker, 2005). These people have created events, such as ‘Anti-McDonald’s day’ every year on October 16th, and are the first to hit McDonald’s stores in London during the notorious anti-capitalist May Day riots. However, the incident which has done the most damage to McDonald’s ethical reputation was the
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‘McLibel’ trial, where the company expected a quick conclusion to its action against activists who had distributed a pamphlet, What’s Wrong with McDonald’s?’. Instead it ran for two and a half years and became the longest ever English trial, upon its completion in June 1997 (McSpotlight.org: The McLibel Trial, 2005). One of the main ethical criticisms consistently faced by McDonald’s over the last 30 years relates to the food offered in its stores. Critics claim that McDonald’s is a major contributing factor to the ever-increasing levels of obesity in the U.S. and other developed countries. Medical studies show that ‘waistlines ...

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