Analysis of McDonald's: Problems and Solutions to Them

A company's weaknesses are any resources or policies that a business lacks, hindering its success. McDonald's is associated with an unhealthy food image, which negatively affects its reputation. This McDonald's problems and solutions essay will analyze these weaknesses and propose possible solutions to them.

Weaknesses of a company

Fast-food chains like McDonald’s come to mind when people talk about unhealthy food. The documentary 'Supersize Me' by Morgan Spurlock implicated McDonald's and other fast food chains in our society's health problems. Each McDonald's dish contributes a large amount of calories but does not provide enough nutrition for customers. Trans fat and beef oil are included in McDonald’s dishes, which negatively impact customer health. As a result, customers concerned about their health will stop eating at fast-food restaurants like McDonald’s, leading to a decline in the company's income.

In addition, McDonald's is over-reliant on low-skilled workers, most of whom are semi-skilled. These are mostly people who can’t find a better-paying job, including college students who take part-time jobs. Most McDonald's workers don't have high degrees, and flipping burgers has never been a well-paying job. Therefore, these workers have trouble staying motivated, and they often see their job as a stepping stone to something better elsewhere. Furthermore, a large number of McDonald’s workers leave, meaning the organization is constantly hiring new staff. Since most of these workers are untrained, training them to become regular staff is expensive.

Moreover, due to the popularity of McDonald’s, it often faces the problem of long queues, which worsened after the introduction of self-service kiosks. Customers who don't know how to use the self-service kiosks often ask waitstaff for recommendations or have questions about how dishes are prepared. Since the company cannot offer these services on a screen, it wastes a lot of customer's time to make an order, resulting in long queues during peak hours.

Possible solutions

To address these weaknesses, McDonald's can organize a food campaign to combat its unhealthy food image. McDonald's can use its chain's ingredients and invite some famous celebrity chefs to serve cuisine during the campaign. For example, McDonald's can use their signature menu, the Chicken McNugget, to create a Kung Pao chicken drenched with sweet and sour sauces and add the finishing touch with parsley. This will change consumers’ stereotypes about McDonald's. McDonald's can also trim down the nutrition facts of their food by setting a nutritional guideline to shake off its junk food image. For instance, McDonald's can set its happy meal option to have 600 calories or less and reduce the amount of sodium used so that parents can let their children have a healthier happy meal without worrying about health issues.

Additionally, McDonald's can implement a training program for every existing worker. The training program can teach workers how to cook the patty, fry the French fries, and assemble the burgers. With the focus on developing its training program, McDonald's can reduce the number of low-skilled workers. This will increase their costs, but it will give customers a better dining experience and improve workers' performance. If training does not work well, McDonald's may need to reconsider its hiring process and select workers with experience in the same industries.

Lastly, McDonald's should arrange some manpower stand-by at the kiosk machine to guide customers step by step on how to use the machine. This will reduce queuing time, as customers will understand how to order and make payments using the machine. McDonald's should also restore the cashier services as some customers would prefer to use the old way to order their food. When there are several services to choose from, the long queue problem will be solved.

Conclusion

References

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