[Related to Solved Problem 1.1 on page 7] For many years,
McDonald’s used frozen beef patties to make its hamburgers. It recently began market testing how consumers in the United States would respond to hamburgers
made of fresh beef that had never been frozen. In early
2017, McDonald’s expanded the market test from only 55
restaurants to more than 300. The switch to fresh, neverfrozen beef patties would be a huge undertaking involving
“how [the beef] is transported to the restaurants, how it
is stored when it arrives and how much it affects employees’ process of making burgers.” If you were a manager at
McDonald’s, how would you go about analyzing whether
to switch to fresh, never-frozen beef patties? In your
answer, consider whether your decision would have to be
all or nothing—all fresh, never-frozen beef patties in all
McDonald’s hamburgers—and whether you would have
to switch in all McDonald’s locations around the world (in
119 countries) or just in certain countries.
Sources: Samantha Bomkamp, “McDonald’s Expands Fresh Beef
Test Again,” chicago.tribune.com, March 17, 2017.