Running Head: Strategic Management in Food Industry
Strategic Management in Food Industry 2
ASSESSMENT 2
STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
    FOOD INDUSTRY
Submitted to: Professor___________________________
Date:_____________________
    
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction………………………………………………………3
2. Stakeholders and wider issues analysis…………………………...3
3. Creating competitive advantage………………………………… 7
4. Competitive Advantage and the stakeholders ………..……….11
A. Sustainability of Environment………………………………… 11
B. Ethics. …………………………………………………………….11
C. Leadership……………………………………………………… 12
D. Culture………………………………………………………….. 12
E. Steps to make workplaces better………………………………...12
F. Influence of global environment…………………………………12
5. Reflection of Report 1…………………………………………….13
6. Reflective Planning of Report 3………………………………..…14
7. References ………………………………………………………..16
    
INTRODUCTION
McDonald’s is a Fast Food Retailer Organisation serving through more than 32000 restaurants spread across 130 countries and catering more than 58 million people every day worldwide (McDonald’s, 2018). More than 70% of the McDonalds outlets are owned by local businessmen in each country. It offers burgers, sandwiches, fries, desserts, beverages, snacks and many other meal items. The Organisation delivers great quality meals at affordable rates customized according to the preferences of local people in different countries.
The purpose of the report is to present strategic management of fast food Industry, taking McDonalds as an example. The report analyses the main issues of stakeholders, and steps to develop competitive advantage for the fast food Companies. The report presents an overview of how can we make the fast food industry sustainable, and better for the human beings, while keeping the ethical values intact. Finally, it presents the Reflection of Report 1 and Reflective Planning of Report 3.
STAKEHOLDERS AND WIDER ISSUE ANALYSIS
1. Stakeholders and their Importance
The stakeholders are the people or the groups having interest in the business of the Company (Smithson,2017).
The main stakeholders of McDonalds Company include the employees, the customers, Investors and the Communities. Other stakeholders may be the suppliers, banks, media and the rivals (Lewis, 2018).
Employees: Employees are the topmost priority for the McDonalds Organisation. The wider issues of the employees include fair compensation and career development. The Organisation conducts many professional development and training programs. For example, the McDonalds maintain a training facility for its employees in form of Hamburger University. They also have a global mobility policy which supports the development of leadership. The wages provided by the Company are low enough even after the consistent demands of the employees for high wages. Hence, the Organisation fulfills the issues of the employees only at a partial level.
Customers: The Organisation takes the customers as the second most important stakeholder. It offers healthy and affordable food items in the menu. The supply chain streaming and standardization keeps the prices under control for the customers. But there are certain criticisms as well, the fast food is not considered as good for health. Hence the policies of the Company satisfy the interests of the customers only partially.
Investors: The major interests of the investors include revenue and profits. The stability of operations performed by the Organisation represents the stability of interests. Though the Company shows a slow growth, it is stable in growth rate. The launching of new and better products through McCafe addresses these issues significantly.
Communities: The interests of communities are supported through community development programs and the environmental programs. The Organisation has many support programs to satisfy the wider issues of this group. For example the House Charity Programs extend their financial support to the needy families. The Global Best of green initiative recognizes and awards the innovative contributions and ideas. Also the Organisation has sourcing policy which promotes the sustainable development in farms.
To address the wider issues of the stakeholders the McDonalds may enhance its compensation strategy to improve the wages rates for the employees. They can include more healthy food items in the list to address the concerns raised by the customers.
2. Issues
(a) Environmental Sustainability: By improving the environmental sustainability the owners of the food stores expect increased revenue and development of brand trust. In 2009, the Max Burger eliminated the kid's meal boxes from all its restaurants to reduce the wastage (Cooke,2012). They reanalyzed the enterprise to decrease the environmental issues. For example, installation of energy efficient roofs made of grass over the restaurants, putting CO2 labels on every item and cutting down the consumption of energy. Thus adopting the green initiatives boosted the sale of the Company. In 2009, a company in New Orleans named Naked Pizza, served hormone and antibiotic-free meat. Such initiatives boosted the sale of the Companies considerably.
(b) Ethics: By improving the ethics at the workplace, the employees expect to have better wages and the customers expect to have good quality ingredients in the food items. The fast food Organisations mostly pays low wages to the employees which are one of the main cause of lower life expectancy and poor health of workers (Weiss, 2014). The studies show, the premature deaths and health inequalities of the workers are caused due to poor care and impose considerable costs. Many fast food restaurants in US have been reported to use beef in their food items. The fast foods ingestion has known to be a leading cause of obesity. So, if they plan to eliminate the use of beef, it will definitely attract more customers as the Customer Social Responsibility of the Company will increase.
(c) Leadership: Through effective leadership, the employees expect a better work culture and smooth solutions to their daily workplace issues. The role of leadership is evident in fast food industry. Good leaders will benefit the employees and the senior management while acting like a fluent bridge between the subordinates and the top management. The leadership must have vision, trust, perseverance and good communication power (Testa & Sipe, 2009). The managers are required to motivate the subordinates while providing them emotional support whenever they need. The leaders must have values, appropriate behaviors, and effective interaction. The key values include honesty, support, integrity, pride, determination, empowerment and high morals. They must be accountable and at the same time, they must build accountability among the employees.
(d) Culture: The customers and the employees expect a customized menu that suits the culture of their local area. The fast-food industry has to serve different locations across the world, so they must also be concerned about the cultural differences between the menus of different places to satisfy the local customers. The fast-food companies must develop...