Choose an organization or industry-sector based in or operating in a country or countries with which you are familiar. * b) Consider all the topics covered in the module pack and prepare notes on how...

Strategic Management
Table of Contents
3Summary
3Part 1:
31) PESTLE categories
52) ‘Ease of doing businesses
63) Cultural differences between countries
64) Score in terms of democracy
75) Ethical Issues
8Part 2-Set 2: Competitive environment
81) Elements of changing competitive environment
112) Impacts of the changing competitive environment on chosen organisation
123) Evaluating how chosen organization has responded to the competitive environment
14References
Summary
McDonalds is one of the largest and renowned fast food chains serving more than 60 million customers across the world. The company has established presence in almost 119 countries of the world with headquarter in United States. The production line principles related to fast delivery, minimum wastage, less lead time, reduced waiting time for the customer, high productivity, etc are clearly followed and adopted in the McDonalds. The large customer base has enabled the company to hold considerable dominance in the fast food industry and stimulating growth and development pace. The company operates mainly in the form of franchise, or food outlets. The growth of the revenue pattern of the company for the past three years was about 9 percent acting as an indicator of high growth. The main food items prepared and sold by the company includes different kinds of burgers like hamburgers, cheeseburgers, and other items like French fries, roasted chicken, soft drinks, desserts and so on (McDonalds. 2013).
Part 1:
1) PESTLE categories
PESTLE is the acronym of political, economic, social, technological, and legal and environment factors. PESTLE analysis is the most popular and widely used tool for conducting situational and environmental analysis of a company. In this regard, PESTLE analysis of the McDonald’s in United States is represented as below:
Political: This factor takes into account political beliefs, ideology hold by government, and many more. The business organisations need to consider political factors in order to run their business operations successfully in the political dimension of any economy. For instance, government of United States assigns due importance to the medical values of the food materials and tests prepared food in order to determine whether such foods contain necessary medical values and ingredients. McDonalds prepares its fast foods in accordance with such requirement in order to continue the business operation without any problem (Baumol & Blinder 2011).
Economic: Inflation, interest rates, exchange rate, etc are considered and evaluated by this element. It also analyses overall performance of the country in terms of GDP, fiscal situation, monetary position, growth and development prospects of the economy, etc. United States is one of the largest and growing economies having more than $11tn GDP growth (Ryans 2000). The overall economic climate of the country is favourable fostering tremendous growth and development opportunities to the company.
Social: Social factor takes into account society attitude, cultural beliefs, opinions, family size, and structure and so on. The cultural trend of US depicts that concept of nuclear and small families are gaining considerable popularity in the country. The increasing work pressure and complexities of life led the family members to consume fast foods and ready to cook foods at frequent intervals. McDonalds utilises such trend in the company’s interest and tap market accordingly.
Technological: The pace of creating new knowledge and method of working is included in this dimension. The pace of technological development is quite fast in US as new products, work processes, and techniques are introduced at the regular intervals in the economy. Likewise, McDonalds in US is regularly engaged in discovering new techniques of food processing, customer support, and relationship management.
Legal and environmental: Framework of legal and environment policies, judicial system, tax regulations, trade laws, etc. Legal and environment climate of the country is quite strict as the business firms are required to comply with regulatory requirements in a proper and adequate manner. There is no relaxation to the business firms in case of non-compliance with the laws and regulations. The business operations of McDonalds are conducted in accordance with prescribed laws and regulations in order to avoid legal litigation and issues.
2) ‘Ease of doing businesses
‘Ease of doing businesses is an index developed by World Bank in order to measure the countries in terms of business regulations and protections. The country having high ranking in the index means there are better and efficient business regulations and processes encouraging business firms to establish their business operations. On the other hand, low ranking discourage or gives negative message regarding business regulations and processes of a country. The World Bank has developed a framework named Top10 whereby countries are ranked from top to bottom (World Audit Org. 2013). United States stands at the forth position in the index and thereby fosters positive and encouraging business environment to the organisations.
The positive ranking in the World Bank’s index create significant impact on the existing or prevailing business firms. McDonalds also lies in the same category and influences significantly on account of this high ranking. The firm has identified that simple and hassle free regulations and effective protection of business rights and obligations pave the path for many other business firms to select United States as their destination. The entry of new business firms has increased the complexities for McDonalds. The most common complexity is witnesses in terms of increasing competition.
It has been identified that number and proportion of fast food outlets is increasing tremendously in the United States on account of good ranking by the World Bank. Apart from competition, the company is also facing significant pressure on the profit margin and sustainability position in the fast food industry. This is so because competitors are posing regular threats on the market share and profitability position of the company and putting it on verge of business decline (Ryans 2000).
3) Cultural differences between countries
Cultural differences create significant impact on both domestic and international business firms. It would not be exaggerated to mention that cultural differences determine the success and growth of business firms. It mean business firms capable of coping and handling cultural differences can record success and growth in the...