McDonalds Company has experienced public failure in some of the menu items. The success of fast food companies such as McDonald's requires the constant creation of new items on the menu to attract customers. McDonald's has produced hundreds of varying food products in various outlets in the world. Some of the items on the menu have been successful such as the iconic Big Mac, while others have experienced a spectacular failure. The reason behind the failure of these items is that people did not enjoy their taste. The food products that have completely failed are the hula burger, McGratin Croquette, McLobster, Pizza and McPizza, McSpaggeti, McAfrica, and others (Bhasin, 2011). These failures have prompted McDonald's to keep on working to produce new products that the consumers will enjoy. The process has been researching food products that would improve the tasks of the menu items, healthy and dependent on consumer trends.
McDonald’s legitimation can be seen in different ways. The company is guided by animal welfare policies, which are seen in the way they handle the animals they use to make some of their products. Animal welfare indicates that McDonald’s applies the humane and ethical norms of care, responsibility, and protecting the non-human species (Jackson & Harrison, 2012). The legitimation supports the Cooperate Social Responsibility of taking care of their animals, categorized into the laboratory, wild, and farm animals. Legitimation at McDonald’s is also seen in public communication initiatives. McDonald’s makes annual reporting on it’s cooperate social activities. The reports are aimed at informing the third party on the efforts of the company on how the company is performing, ensuring ethics and supporting the welfare of the animals they use to make their food products (De Blasio, 2008). It is also a way of promoting transparency on the financial and managerial activities of McDonald’s.
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Different sets of broader business standards guide McDonald's. The standards are based on three main factors which are ethical, truthful, and dependable. The company recognizes that in building a reputation based on these standards is a process that will take time. The company is guided by seven fundamental principles that guide their actions, behavior, and decision making. The first one is placing consumers experience at the core of all operations (McDonald's, 2008). The second is a commitment to the people, and the third is to believe in the McDonald’s System. The fourth principle is conducting business ethically. The fifth is giving back to the society; the sixth principle is growing the business profitably and lastly, continually pursuing improvement. McDonald’s is also committed to promoting and respecting human rights. There is a code of conduct which guides the respect of human rights, which is seen along the supply chain, offices, and restaurants and interaction between workers and clients (McDonald's, “n.d.”).
McDonald’s is faced with different risks and vulnerabilities. The company has been called upon several times due to unethical issues related to the way they handle animals. The issue has prompted the company to communicate about the animal policy publicly and their efforts on promoting care and animals they deal with. Unethical issues have also been associated with human rights, such as the way employees were treated (Greenspan, 2017). The promotion of human rights has helped to address the issue. McDonald’s is faced with stiff competition from companies such as KFC, Burger King, Pizza Hut, and Starbucks. These brands are largely recognized internationally and require McDonald’s to share the market. The market trends keep on changing, food needs for healthy products, where people prefer healthier foods such as vegetables instead of meat. McDonald’s, therefore, has to keep on changing the menu despite the failures they experience.
References
Bhasin, K. (2011, August 30). 12 McDonald's Menu Items That Failed Spectacularly. Retrieved November 8, 2019, from https://www.businessinsider.com/failed-mcdonalds-items-2011-8?IR=T#mclean-deluxe-10.
De Blasio, G. G. (2008). Understanding McDonald’s Among the “World’s Most Ethical Companies“. Electronic Journal of Business Ethics and Organization Studies , 13 (1), 5–12
Greenspan, R. (2017, February 5). McDonald's SWOT Analysis & Recommendations. Retrieved November 9, 2019, from http://panmore.com/mcdonalds-swot-analysis-recommendations.
Jackson, M., & Harrison, P. (2012, January). Integrated Marketing Communication, unhealthy food and power: an under-investigated dynamic. In Proceedings of the 37th Macromarketing Conference (pp. 434-444). Macromarketing Society, Inc..
McDonald's. (2008). Standards of Business Conduct: The Promise of the Golden Arches. McDonald’s Creative Services , 1–48.
McDonald's. (n.d.). McDonald's: Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. Retrieved November 9, 2019, from https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/mcdonalds-0 .
