Free Management Dissertations - According To Its 2005 Investor Fact Sheet (mcdonald's Official Website 2005)
According to its 2005 Investor Fact Sheet (McDonald's Official Website 2005) the corporation has total revenue of $19,065 millions for the year 2004 with a net income of $2,279 millions. Systemwide restaurants have increased significantly to 31,561 (2005 Investor Fact Sheet 2005) claiming social responsibility commitment to "...protecting and building this trust (consumer trust must be earned) by giving back to our local communities, supporting Ronald McDonald House Charities and being a leader on issues like food safety, animal welfare and the environment." (2005 Investor Fact Sheet 2005).
Management Ethical Dilemma
As a global company, McDonald's has gained considerable popularity and responsibility which includes social and ethical ones. One of the most important events in the history of McDonald's management has been the class action suit lodged against the company for concealing the beef flavouring in French fries ingredient list. The "French fries" lawsuit has its origin from McDonald's July 23, 1990 press release which stated the fries were cooked in pure vegetable oil. However, in 2001 Eric Schlosser’s book Fast Food Nation had implied the natural flavouring in fast food restaurants may have been derived from beef. A consumer Hitesh Shah curious confirmed this fact with one of the McDonald's employees Megan Magee who acknowledged that McDonald's add beef tallow to water while potatoes for French fries are being cooked (AP and Kiro 2001). This has initiated a series of outrage from vegetarians and non-beef eaters. At first McDonald's had denied the fact, and claimed that its products are cooked in vegetable and corn oil. This provoked a series of unexpected development in India and in the US where the Asian communities dominated. The protests had been to force the corporation to acknowledge its wrongdoing and unethical behaviour. The suit filed by Harish Bharti continued through 2002 when the Corporation finally conceded defeat and made efforts to amend the situation by distributing $10 millions for damages to petitioners under legal directives (Guy 2003). Twenty groups of litigates had made claims on McDonald's claiming that the organization has intentionally misrepresented the content of beef tallow in French fries and hash browns. The case ensued with the list of groups increasing and including vegetarians, animal-rights groups, and religious groups like Hindus and Sikhs (Guy 2003).
McDonald's response to the situation had been at first of denial but later on took a different direction as the company declared it will only follow the directives of the Court. At the same time it has been alleged to have attempted to hire researchers of anti-vegetarian groups to counteract the claims made by the vegetarian groups (Nelson 2003).
Dissertations - Free Management Dissertations
