Free Management Dissertations - Management Ethics: Mcdonald’s Case Of Beef Flavouring In French Fries Summary
Management Ethics: McDonald’s case of beef flavouring in French fries
Summary
The following is an exploration of management ethics issues in the case of McDonald's and its lawsuit of mislabelling of French fries. The discussion first explores the company's dynamics, followed by a description of the suit on hand and evaluation of the same. Lastly, the researcher offers some suggestions for alternative actions by the organization.
Table of Contents
Introduction- Company Background4
Management Ethical Dilemma5
Evaluation of Organizational Response6
Suggestions for alternative resolutions8
Bibliography10
Appendix12
Introduction- Company Background
Started as a drive-in venture by the brothers Dick and Maurice "Mac" McDonald's in 1937, the small enterprise successfully captured the nation and spread across the globe decades later had been McDonald's Corporation. Initially the brothers focussed on hot dogs, shakes, sandwiches, ribs, barbecued beef, hamburgers and a handful of other items. However, later in 1948 realizing the high demand of hamburgers accounting for 80 percent of the business, they had decided to concentrate on selling of burgers and focussed on reviewing their business model to "Speedy Service System". With the first franchisee signed in 1952 McDonald's paved way for its growth across the nation. But it had been the ideology and efforts of Ray Kroc that created the McDonaldization of the world. By the end of the 1970s, McDonald's had over 5000 restaurants and in 1984 its earnings reached over $10 billion in sales with new restaurant opening every 17 hours across the world. McDonald's expansion continued to take place with each CEO (chief executive officer) integrating a blend of his own management style and elements. The latest one had been Catapulco (who passed away recently) who had been entrusted with one of the biggest challenges of reviving the empire from its downward trend since the 1990s when McDonald's faced numerous adverse consumer trends.
The 1990s saw the emergence of health consciousness among consumers who shy away from fat filled food like fried products and opt for healthier diets. Fast food chains like McDonald's learned to adapt by integrating healthy food and through marketing campaigns managed to appeal to its consumers to support their enterprises. However, they could not change the essence of their business - hamburgers and fries. Increasing aggressive competition forced the company to integrate quality, service, cleanliness (QSC) evaluation system, and adopt a strategy of "Made for you". In 2002 the organization however reported a net loss for the first time since going public in 1965. Even then at the time the McDonald's chain system had been ranked at top of the Top 10 Largest Chains Based on 2003 Systemwide Sales by Nation's Restaurant News (See Appendix).
