Assignment Task
Caselet / Scenario
McDonald’s began as a small restaurant run by the McDonald’s brothers, with a limited menu, concentrating on just a few items – burgers, fries and beverages – which allowed them to focus on quality and quick service (McDonald’s, 2022). The McDonald’s brothers were looking for a new franchising agent and Ray Kroc saw an opportunity. In 1955, Ray Kroc founded McDonald’s System Inc., a predecessor of the McDonald’s Corporation, and six years later bought the exclusive rights to the McDonald’s name and took over the operating system (McDonald’s, 2022). 70 years later, McDonald’s is now a global brand, with a 23.22 billion US dollar turnover in 2021 (Statista, 2022).
In 1993, McDonald’s executives were looking for an opportunity to generate some organic business growth. McDonald’s saw a possible opportunity to grow revenues through the coffee segment of the market. By 2002 the McCafé concept had spread to 13 countries, and the first McCafé opened in SA in 2008. McDonald’s knows it needs to stay innovative to maintain its strong position in the market. McDonald’s has shown this by introducing new award-winning McCafé coffee drinks and implementing effective loyalty programmes in some markets. An extended menu includes some new trendy offerings like ice-brewed coffee and more.
According to Lock (2017), McCafé is planning to transform some of its sites into fastcasual venues. A new concept that will serve fresh and healthy foods fast for customers on-the-go. In the future, we may have a fast-food concept mixed with a premium-level restaurant approach.
Question 1 Provide a thorough explanation of strategic fit, provide McDonald’s’ vision and mission, and evaluate McDonald’s’ strategic fit. Please remember to reference and cite your sources correctly.
Question 2 Provide a thorough explanation of the role of the internal environment in gap analysis, by explaining McDonald’s’ internal environment, correctly presenting examples of McDonald’s’ resources and capabilities, and evaluating McDonald’s’ internal environmental fit. Please remember to reference and cite your sources correctly.
Question 3 Provide a thorough explanation of the role of the external environment in gap analysis, then correctly present examples of external environmental trends that are currently affecting McDonald’s in the South African market. Evaluate McDonald’s’ external environmental fit by applying the concept to McDonald’s and providing your opinion on whether there is a strategic fit based on the analysis of the environmental trends. Please remember to reference and cite your sources correctly.
Question 4 Provide a thorough explanation of gap analysis, and then make use of the gap analysis to discuss if the opportunity for McDonald’s to expand into fast-casual venues is appropriate for McDonald’s. Use information gathered through your previous analyses as supporting evidence in your discussion. Please remember to reference and cite your sources correctly.
Question 5 Provide a thorough explanation of the role of the strategy formulation in gap analysis. Prepare an appropriate marketing strategy for the McDonald’s expansion opportunity, including the product market, market segment and marketing mix (4Ps). Apply the concept of strategy formulation fit to the McDonald’s scenario. Please remember to reference and cite your sources correctly.
Question 6 According to West, Ford and Ibrahim (2015), an organisation’s pricing strategy involves key decisions related to buyer behaviour – how much, where, when and how the buyers pay. Individual pricing decisions are also made under the guidance of an organisation’s objectives and the desired market position.
Through the use of application and examples, provide a thorough explanation of each of the key elements of pricing in relation to McDonald’s’ current McCafé market offering in the South African market. Please remember to reference and cite your sources correctly.
