Reading the topic Fast Foods you can easily suggest the name McDonald’s without any second thought. This multinational giant with its distinguishing symbol of two stripes and White & Golden color, its burgers, hamburgers, and joyous Meal, has not been a small dreamy figure from the first half of the twentieth century. Here, the author will disclose more information about McDonald’s, its history which started from becoming the single drive-in restaurant and grew to occupying the entire world, plus outlining the major events that contributed to the overall success of this giant.
The Humble Beginnings
The chronicle of the evolution of McDonald’s company started in the 1940s with the two siblings – Richard & Maurice McDonald. The McDonalds brothers started their restaurant in San Bernardino, California in 1940. Formerly, it was a basic car hop drive-in restaurant with comparatively extensive publication and carhop-ordering food items via roller skates. They soon found out that they had a problem which required them to rethink the business model of the firm for it to function more efficiently and make profits.
The Birth of the “Speedee Service System”
McDonald originally started as a barbeque restaurant in 1940 owned and operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald in California, USA but in 1948 the McDonald brothers shut the restaurant to work on restructuring the restaurant as a fast-food joint and a year later a new service concept would be introduced. reduced which services they offered to the public, and from their menu, there were only nine items which included; burgers, fries, and drinks. This enabled them to devise the “Speedee Service System”, which went down in history as the first ever fast food concept, that was aimed at facilitating speed, efficiency, and standard adherence.
Their strategies included a cashier booth to reduce the number of people that one had to talk to, food that was pre-cooked, and an assembly line that would ensure a customer did not have to wait for his or her food for too long. The mass selling of set skills led to decreased labour costs as well as enhanced customer circulation that shaped their success in the future.
The Ray Kroc Era
This paper is aimed at identifying the main events that took place and the key players in the early period of the fast food restaurant industry, particularly focusing on McDonalds, and will begin by stating that the McDonald fast food chain was founded in 1954 by Ray Kroc, a Multimixer milkshake selling machine salesman. It is in this capacity that Kroc marveled at how efficiently the brothers were running their business and realized the need for growth. In 1952, he proposed to franchise the idea across the nation and in the following year 1955, McDonalds franchised the company and opened the first franchise restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois.
He had a very ambitious goal, which the fast food business did not only bring him the ability but also a vision to run Kroc’s restaurant. He also strived to establish the standard look across geographical regions in America; this meant that regardless of the city, a McDonalds customer whether in California or New York was to receive similar quality food and services. They indeed played a great role in the McDonald establishment laying a strong foundation through change from a regional icon to a national brand.
McDonald’s Goes Global
McDonalds fast became a leader in the fast foods sector after its development in the United States in the early 1960. It was only after this that the next step was natural, namely, international expansion. McDonald became international when the first restaurant of this giant chain was established outside the United States in 1967 in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. This was the start of McDonald’s that took it to the worldwide business center.
Thus, in the 1970s and in 1980s McDonalds extended its growth into various countries, strictly focusing on the changes in the culture and in the senses of the population. Currently McDonald’s corporation is present in more than hundred countries and caters to millions of people on a daily basis.
Key Innovations and Milestones
Several key innovations and milestones have marked McDonald’s journey to becoming a global icon:
- Introduction of the Big Mac: This item was developed by the franchisee Jim Delligatti in 1967 and was later included among the list of standard McDonald offerings. This success was followed by a cooperative advertising campaign all across the country in 1968.
- Happy Meal Launch: A McDonald’s innovation in the year 1979; The Happy Meal was to reshape the consumption standard of McDonalds by pulling in families with children as well as reestablishing the brand’s appeal to the young customers.
- Drive-Thru Service: The first recorded use of a McDonald’s drive-through was in 1975 at Sierra Vista in Arizona where it was used to attend to the soldiers since they were not allowed to get out of their cars if they were in uniform. It is true that it revolutionized the fast-food industry and this model is still fully functional today in McDonald’s restaurants.
- Ronald McDonald House Charities: Founded in 1974, this program offers housing and services to bodies with critically ill children, in proximity to health care facilities. It demonstrates continued and sustained effort that McDonald’s put into ensuring that the company shows support for the areas it operates in.
The Evolution of the Menu
However, with regards to popular food choices, while the ‘Big Mac’, ‘Quarter Pounder’, and ‘fries’ remain the specialties of McDonald’s for many years, the company has been making a number of changes in relation to the company’s food menu and offerings. As the population struggles with obesity, McDonalds has listened to its clients and included salads, fruits, yogurt parfaits into fast foods menu. Also, the firm has copied foods that are unique to the region in a specific country in order to reflect the geography.
Adapting to the Digital Age
In the growingly digital age, McDonald’s has paid particular attention to integrating technology in its operations to bring about efficiency at the customer interface. Further, fast-food restaurants have adopted self-service kiosks, mobile order and delivery, and drive-through services to help bolster operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. These are some of the advancements operating within McDonalds’ larger change agenda, as the fast-food giant seeks to maintain its business position in the age of digital consumption.
Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility
Since McDonald’s is a fast-food corporation across the globe, it understands its corporate obligation to solve the problems faced by the environment and the people around it. The following are some promises this company has made including cutting greenhouse gasses emissions, procuring sustainable ingredients, the reducing waste disposal. Campaigns that include the employment of reclaimed packaging material and the limiting of plastics straws are ways that enhance sustainability.
Conclusion
This history of McDonalds starting off as a simple drive-in restaurant and growing into the world’s largest fast food chain is an example that touches every facet of the economic model. The idea of speedee service system, which was the foundation on which McDonalds was built, expansion of World’s famous golden arches and its successful establishment can be attributed to this theory by proving its consistency to the needs of customers which was actually its main motivation.
This paper aims at describing how McDonalds was founded, important aspects that are likely to aid understanding of some principles of successful business organizations. Despite the times that have gone by and witnessing McDonalds transforming to suit its changes in circumstance and the decisions of its clientele, it still can be considered as the embodiment of the fast food restaurants and a dream of many becoming an owner of a fast-food chain.
In terms of the realization of the future, McDonalds looks promising and with reference to past experiences, the company is optimistic to continue being an icon for the next generations.