Affect of Global Trends on Leadership at McDonalds and the Fast Food Industry - Research Paper Example

Final Project Assignment Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 1.0 Globalization 2 1.1 Introduction 2 1.2 Current Trend 3 2.0 Affect of Global Trends on Leadership at McDonald’s and the Fast Food Industry 5 3.0 Strategies to Deal with the Effect and Plan for Continued Development 5 4.0 Conclusion 7 References 8 1.0 Globalization 1.1 Introduction Globalization has impacted various industries throughout the world in a number of ways. The fast food industry has over the years also felt an impact of globalization. McDonald’s is one of the leading names in the global fast food industry and it has generally utilized the positive aspects of globalization in order to make their presence felt internationally. The fast food industry has become successful globally. The globalization of the manufacturing and distribution of products all over the world led the people to consume it. The US fast food industry is in huge demand and has penetrated the market of other nations as well. The US based retail store, McDonald’s has made its entrance in the foreign markets for expanding its market in fast food globally. It has 30,000 restaurants in at least 119 countries with a serving capacity to near about 50 million on a daily basis. It has been leading in the global market with its renowned and valuable brand. They focus on high-quality customer service in order to earn trust from their stakeholders (Centre for Responsible Business, 2005). 1.2 Current Trend Fast food has a great demand in the global world. It has a great influence in our lifestyle and culture. According to ‘US Fast Food Market Outlook 2010’, the trend of fast food is growing; as a result it leads to the development of overall restaurant industry. The US fast food industry is growing dynamically despite being struck by the economic turmoil. Fast food has a detrimental effect on the health of the people especially children and younger generation. (PRLog, 2009). Obesity is growing globally and is causing health problems among every generation. It has been observed that the percentage of obesity is rising among the young children and as a result it brings risk to their health. In this present world, fast food is growing rapidly for its cheap price level and easy availability. But they contain high percentage of salt, fats or sugars. When it becomes a part of daily lifestyle, then it certainly increases the chance of obesity (Currie & Et. Al., 2009). People suffering from overweight along with obesity have increased considerably in the United States. Obesity has nowadays turned out to be a disease of epidemic proportions. Due to the fact that maximum people are obese, it can be estimated that in United States 1 out of 3 people are obese. Excessive fast-food accessibility results in obesity and overweight. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), approximately 64% of the U.S adults and 15% of children and youngsters are overweight. It was estimated that obesity resulted to 300,000 deaths in the year 2002 (Evangelista & Et. Al., 2004). A global issue was faced by the fast food industry in 2008. Southern forests, specifically the Southern swampland region of the Mid-Atlantic Coast is considered to be the natural beauty of the American scenery. Due to garbage and waste of fast food industry, the place has been destroyed. Various food items are wrapped in boxes, cups and disposed in that area. Thus, for protecting the biodiversity the fast food industries are provided with several suggestions such as reduction of excessive use of packaging of food products as well as reducing the use of paper packaging that comes from the endangered forests. The paper packaging that comes from the supplier can also be eliminated. Recycling process should be implemented in the restaurant industry. The forests need to be maintained and improved by use of fiber when working with suppliers of packaging (Dogwood Alliance, 2008). For example, in China, the restaurants of McDonald’s have attracted children to purchase their foods. They have also spread the trend of having products of McDonald’s in the birthday party in China as a part of their marketing strategy. As a result, children along with older generation people are suffering from health diseases and obesities in higher rate (The Levin Institute, n.d.). 2.0 Affect of Global Trends on Leadership at McDonald’s and the Fast Food Industry Though fast food industry is rising rapidly in the worldwide, yet the industry is facing challenges to maintain the food quality, nutritional value and healthy diets in food. McDonald’s being in the leading position in the industry of fast food market is facing challenges in the global industry. Nowadays, the growth of obesity is in rise and is creating adverse affect in the health. McDonald’s offers food items to children which often cause them asthma, obesity and heart disease. They are serving extremely high-fat food to people who are at great risk of the health consequences from obesity. These factors will create bad impact on the industry and the brand name which may ultimately bring loss in the industry (Gibison, 2010). McDonald’s is over-using the packaging of foods which need to be stopped for protecting environment. The change of packaging style may influence McDonald’s and fast food industry. A string of issues related to the fast food industry have caused the industry to suffer from criticism and loses in their fast food market. 3.0 Strategies to Deal with the Effect and Plan for Continued Development The environment is also affected by the fast food industry because of their discharge of waste and garbage. Thus, for saving the environmental hazards the industry must take certain precautionary steps. McDonald’s is a big purchaser of paper packaging. For packaging of food and drink, 83% is made of certain type of paper or other wood-fiber substances. Recycled paper makes up 31.5% of the total material used in McDonald’s packaging. That makes them the largest buyer of recycled fiber in the fast food sector. For example, in China, healthy diet and nutritional value have to be included in the food to reduce health problems. All fast food industries should provide low calorie food to the people in order to keep them fit. For reducing obesity, fast food industry must include all the nutritional charts of food along with their calorific value. The issues related to the obesity and fat, led McDonald’s to reduce the fats for French fry. They prepared line of salads and leaner side of Chicken McNuggets. McDonald’s has also introduced “Real Life Choice” on January 6, 2004 in New York. The main focus was to provide low-fat food items to the consumers while having fast foods. As a result the consumers became aware of the food items that should be included for healthy diet. To provide prior importance to the obesity factor and make people aware of the obesity, they can look to remove French fries along with cold drinks from the menu chart. They should follow and introduce nutritional and low calorie food. In the US, obesity is growing rapidly and majority of the fast food industries are especially from the US. Thus, fast food industry must take steps to reduce the obesity problems from all the generations of the people by introducing the low calorie food with nutritious value. As a result, the quantity of fat content in the food will be less and it will subsequently help the people to maintain a healthy diet system (Gibison, 2010). 4.0 Conclusion Most of the people are of the opinion that the fast food industry renders helpful service to consumers through various delicious items. But the fact is that due to excessive intake of this unhealthy food both young and older generations are suffering from obesity and various health diseases. The fast-food companies have directed a large amount of their marketing efforts at low-income group. Fast foods have adverse impact on health as well as on environment. Therefore, these consequences that have impacted globally might not affect McDonald’s; rather it might limit the impact of the corporation. References Centre for Responsible Business, (2005). Center Launches New McDonald’s Research Fellows Program. News Release. Retrieved Online on February 19, 2010 from http://responsiblebusiness.haas.berkeley.edu/documents/CenterLaunchesMcDonaldsResearchFellowsProgram.pdf Currie, J. & Et. Al., (2009). Introduction. The Effect of Fast Food Restaurants on Obesity. Retrieved Online on February 19, 2010 from http://www.econ.berkeley.edu/~sdellavi/wp/fastfoodJan09.pdf Dogwood Alliance, (2008). Would You Like Some Deforestation. Fast Food Industry Packaging Report. Retrieved Online on February 19, 2010 from http://www.nofreerefills.org/files/NoFreeRefillsReport.pdf Evangelista, M. A. & Et. Al., (2004). Background. U.S.A. the Fast Food Nation: Obesity as an Epidemic. Retrieved Online on February 19, 2010 from http://mtbi.asu.edu/downloads/Obesity.pdf Gibison, A., (2010).The Ethical Problems Big Business Domestically. McDonald’s: A Good Image With Bad Ethics. Retrieved Online on February 19, 2010 from http://www.neumann.edu/academics/divisions/business/journal/review_08/Gibison.pdf PRLog, (2009). Summary. US Fast Food Market Outlook 2010. Retrieved Online on February 19, 2010 from http://www.prlog.org/10398515-us-fast-food-market-outlook-2010.html The Levin Institute, (No. Date). The Influence Of U.S. Corporations On Local Mores. Culture and Globalisation. Retrieved Online on February 19, 2010 from http://www.globalization101.org/uploads/File/Culture/cultall2009.pdf Read More