1. MC Donald’s a Case Study
x18124739
Yash Balaji Iyengar
Data Visualisation
Msc in Data Analytics
National College of Ireland
2. Millennial Eating Habits:
In today’s world people tend to eat more
outside food then home cooked food. It
is observed that Millennials spend more
on eating food outside as compared to
other generation of people. The main
reason for that is convenience and their
income level are comparatively higher.
It is noticed that millennials spend very
less time preparing food. There are two
types of restaurants, where people visit
to have food; Full-Service Restaurants
(FSR) and Quick Service Restaurants
(QSR). Full-service restaurant refers to
traditional restaurant style that has a
waiting staff, seating arrangement for
customers and variety of dishes in the
menu. Quick service restaurant has
limited number of items in the menu and
minimal seating service. It is observed
over the last couple of decades
millennials are opting to eat at quick
service restaurants. This is because as
the name suggests they provide quick
service and hot food. Sales of quick
service restaurants are increasing day
by day.
Figure 1: Average spending on outside food in
the United States
Figure 2: Food and Drink sales in QSR and FSR from 2009-2017
3. Figure 3: Leading Quick Service Restaurants in
the United States by Systemwide Sales
Figure 4: Revenue of MC Donald's Corporation
Worldwide from 2005 to 2018
Menus of Quick Service Restaurants
are small and precise. They follow the
Western American pattern of diet called
the meat-sweet diet. The ingredients
consist of eggs, beef, chicken,
potatoes, milk and sugar etc. Most of
the items in the menu are already
available in bulk and are half cooked
and highly processed. As soon as the
order is placed its cooked fully and
served to the customer. Technological
advancements have played a huge role
in the progress of quick service
restaurants; for example, drive
throughs and walk through speed up
the process by reducing wait time. Use
of cooking machinery in the kitchen
helps in achieving consistency and
product quality and reduces heavy
human labour. Even though fast food
doesn’t have high nutritional value it is
known for quick service, low cost value
meals and appeals people from all
financial backgrounds.
MC Donald’s A leading Fast
Food Chain:
Mc Donald’s was a
small hotel opened
in 1940 at San
Bernardino,
California and was
operated by Richard
and Maurice Mc
Donald. It was first launched as a
hamburger selling restaurant. Later it
was franchised and owned by Ray
Krok. The fast food chain has been very
successful in growing into a global
brand and has number of restaurants
worldwide. They have used different
strategies and novel techniques in
order to grow and become globally
successful in the fast food business.
Did You know
MC Donald’s
first sold Hot-
Dogs and not
Hamburgers?
4. Figure 5: Number of MC Donald's Restaurants Worldwide 2016
The MC Donald’s Corporation brand
name is familiar with all kinds of age
groups and people of different
background. This is because of its
global presence. The MC Donald’s
restaurants can be found all over the
world and are very successful wherever
they go; To achieve consistency at such
a level, certain approach is required.
Before entering into any international
market, extensive research is done on
the local masses in terms of the local
food industry trends, the local taste,
ethnic and religious concerns, political
concerns etc.
5. Figure 6: Revenue of MC Donald's by mode of operation
Let us
consider
India,
before
opening a
MC Donald’s restaurant in India, the
company carried heavy research on the
Indian market. It is difficult for foreign
companies to flourish in Indian markets
because the government imposes
multiple and heavy taxes on them this
is because they want the domestic
business to prosper. The company
adapts according to the local needs. In
India beef is forbidden so the MC
Donald’s menu was customised
according to the local markets,
vegetarian burgers like “MC Aloo Tikki”
and chicken and lamb burgers were
introduced. They revamped the “Big
Mac” concept with “Maharaja Mac” and
advertised it extensively.
Franchising business model:
The company implemented the
franchising strategy in the early years.
It is a concept where the franchisor sells
his products, brand and know-how to a
“Think Global, act
local” (Vignali,
Claudio 2001)
6. franchisee. The
franchisee in
return agrees to
pay a percentage
of the profits and
fees and agrees
to the terms and conditions set by the
franchisor. The franchisees are trained
at Hamburger University. Here they are
taught everything about how to manage
and operate a MC Donald’s restaurant.
The Hamburger University is located at
its Chicago headquarters. Over the
years more and more revenue is
generated by the franchised MC
Donald’s restaurants. The main
strategy the corporation uses to stay
ahead in the business is by stating few
clauses in the agreement such that they
franchisee must make an initial
monitory investment. The MC Donald’s
corporation owns the land thus leases it
to the franchisee. This gives the
company more control. This strategy
is implemented with an expectation of
long-term returns as they would be
generating stable and predictable
revenue due to rent and royalties.
Did you know a
new MC Donald’s
restaurant is
opened every
14.5 hours?
Figure 7: Revenue from Franchised MC Donald's By Operation
7. Figure 8: MC Donald's Net Income from
2005-2018
Operations Strategy:
This gradual increase in net income can
be attributed to various factors. One of
the main reasons for high income
levels is low operation costs. MC
Donald’s constantly adopts to its
surroundings and reduces store wise
operational costs without compromising
on the quality aspect. Operating costs
have been significantly reduced by
changing the food and ingredients
supplier. Number of employees have
been reduced over the years. Electricity
bills per store have been reduced by
using solar power panels and effective
LED Lights.
Figure 9: Operating Costs and Expenses for MC Donald's from 2015-2018
8. MC Donald’s
have always
put more
emphasis on
Human
Resource
Management.
Lots of
employees
are hired and trained at Hamburger
University which is at their Chicago
headquarters. They prefer to hire local
people as their employees when they
venture into foreign markets as they
believe the local people know the
markets well and can understand the
customer’s needs. The company also
helps their employees and aids
education by providing scholarships to
the deserving employees. They
provide a certain degree of freedom to
its employees by providing them the
option of flexible working hours,
employee discount on the meals etc.
Over the years, the number of
employees working in MC Donald’s
worldwide are reduced. This is again an
example of MC Donald’s adapting to
the situations. Due to advancements in
science and technology the company is
now incorporating automation into their
restaurants. They have installed Kiosks
into their restaurants. This lets the
customer to make their own order and
eliminates the need for a cashier.
Labour costs can be reduced by
addition of robots into the cooking area.
There is a fully automated MC Donald’s
restaurant in Phoenix Arizona. This
ensures customer satisfaction and
efficiency and consistency in serving
food to the customer and increases
income as the company is saving
labour costs. MC Donald’s also plans
to analyse its customers based on their
ordering behaviour and recommend
addons to its customers while placing
the order.
Figure 10: Total number of Employees working in MC Donald's Worldwide from 2012-2018
Did you know an
average customer
waits for around
181 seconds in a
MC Donald’s
Drive thru before
collecting its
order?
9. Promotion and
Advertisement:
Right since the inception of the brand,
MC Donald’s have placed a heavy
emphasis on promoting their products
by advertising them well. The company
not only advertises its products and
promotes its brand on television, radio
and newspaper but also uses traditional
methods like hoardings and billboards.
They not only promote their products
but also promote the concept of good
atmosphere and pleasant experience at
MC Donald’s Restaurant. Their
multiple advertisement strategy target
people of all age group and different
backgrounds. They use different
strategies to target people of different
age groups. The “Happy Meal” which
was used to target children was a huge
success as they provide a toy with
every meal and the toy of a cartoon
which was trending or most popular in
the market during that time. “I am lovin’
it” is a global advertising brand
campaign created by the MC Donald’s.
It was launched in September 2003.
Figure 11: MC Donald's Advertisement Spend
from 2009-2017
Figure 12: Most Pictured Brand on Twitter
10. MC Donald’s
promote
their brand
name
heavily by
sponsoring
sports
events and
sports teams. They make donations in
educational trusts and institutions. They
are the second most pictured brand on
twitter. This just shows their global
presence and how much people
advertise about it by posting about them
on social media. The main reason MC
Donald’s puts so much emphasis on
advertisement and promotion is to stay
fresh and on everybody’s mind. By
constantly showing their golden arches
brand or their products like burger to the
people they create a memory in
people’s mind. If a person feels hungry
then subconsciously in their mind, they
would think of MC Donald’s, by doing
this they remain relevant and a familiar
name in the business.
Figure 13: ACSI score for MC Donald's 2000-
2018
Conclusion:
In this case study we have discussed
about a Fast Food brand MC Donald’s;
various strategies they have used to
become a global brand and maintain
their position in the market. The key
takeaway from this study is the ability of
a company to adapt according to the
changing market trends. How the
company makes a thorough research
and devises a plan before venturing into
a foreign market. The company
strategically advertises its products
such that they attract not only the upper
class but also the middle- and lower-
class people, which gives the
consumers a feeling of belongingness
thereby developing brand loyalty. Their
attention to detail and incorporating
new technology to increase income is
just one of many aspects that allow a
company to grow in terms of revenue
and customer satisfaction.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M
cDonald%27s
https://www.statista.com/study
/14355/mcdonalds-statista-
dossier/
https://www.businessinsider.co
m/what-it-costs-to-open-a-
mcdonalds-2014-11?r=US&IR=T
https://economictimes.indiatim
es.com/opinion/interviews/mcd
onalds-cut-costs-without-
compromising-on-quality-amit-
jatia-westlife-
development/articleshow/5218
3671.cms
Did you know the
Golden Arches
Symbol is more
recognised by the
people globally
than the cross ?
11. Appendix:
Figure
Number
Chart
Type
Justification Tool Used
1 Bar
Graph
Bar graph is used to
display the average
spending of US citizens on
outside food. It is chosen
because it displays
categorical data clearly.
Tableu
2 Line
Graph
Line Graph is used to
compare sales of QSR and
FSR. This graph is chosen
because it is easy to
visualize time series data.
Qlik Sense
3 Donut
Chart
It is used to display sales of
different fast-food chains.
This chart is used because
its easy for the viewer to
percieve and understand
the data.
Power BI
4 Line
Graph
It is used to display
Revenue of MC Donald’s
Corporation over the years.
Line graph is used as it
effectively visualises time
series data.
Tableu
5 Bubble
Chart
Bubble Chart is used to
display Number of MC
Donald’s Restaurants in
Different countries. This
chart is chosen as it
displays large amount of
data very effectively and
gives lots of insights.
Tableu
12. 6 Dodge
Bar
Graph
A side by side Bar Graph
is used to display Revenue
of MC Donald’s by type of
restaurant. This graph is
used as it compares the
revenue generated by both
types of restaurants.
R
Programming
Language
7 Multiple
Donut
Chart
This chart displays
revenue obtained due to
franchised restaurants due
to different factors.
Multiple donut chart is
used because it displays
relative proportion of
multiple classes of data.
Datawrapper
8 Bar
Graph
This chart displays net
income of MC Donald’s
Corporation over the
years. Bar Graph is used
as it displays the
increasing trend very
accurately.
Python
9 Multiple
Line
Graph
Multiple Line Graph is
used to display the
Operating Costs of MC
Donald’s Restaurants over
the years. This graph is
chosen as it can be used
to compare different types
of operations and changes
in the operation costs.
Tableu
13. 10 3D- Bar
Graph
It is used to visualise
Number of employees
working in MC Donald’s
over the years. This graph
is chosen due to its
attractive visuals and it
effectively communicates
the time trend information.
Microsoft
Excel
11 Line
Graph
It is used to display MC
Donald’s advertisement
spend. Line Graph is
chosen again because it
effectively communicates
the time series data to the
viewer.
Datawrapper
12 Horizontal
Bar
Graph
Horizontal Bar Graph is
used to display the
number of logos mentions
on twitter for different
brands. This graph is used
as it visualises count data
effectively.
Tableu
13 Line
graph
It is used to display the
customer satisfaction
index of American citizens
for MC Donald’s
Restaurants. IT is used as
it easily communicates the
trend.
R
Programming
Language
14. Code Used:
R Code:
setwd("D:NCI_CourseSem 2Data
VisualisationDataMc_DonaldsStory
mode download")
library("readxl")
library("ggplot2")
library("ggthemes")
mac <- read_excel("6_mcdrevenue.xlsx")
colnames(mac) <- c("Years", "Operation
Type", "Revenue")
mac
ggplot(data = mac) + aes(x = Years, y =
Revenue, fill = `Operation Type`) +
geom_bar(stat = "identity", position =
"dodge") +
scale_fill_manual(values=c("lightblue",
"darkblue"), name="Operation Type") +
labs(title = "Revenue of MC Donald's by
Mode of Operation", y= "Revenue in Billion
USD") +
geom_text(aes(label=Revenue),
position=position_dodge(width=0.9), vjust=-
0.25)
setwd("D:NCI_CourseSem 2Data
VisualisationDataMc_DonaldsStory
mode download")
library("reshape2")
library("readxl")
#install.packages("xlsx")
library("xlsx")
a <- data.frame(read_excel("10_operating-
costs-and-expenses-of-mcdonalds-2009-2018-
by-type.xlsx"))
colnames(a) <- c("MC Donald's Operating
Costs", "Franchised Restaurants Occupancy
Expenses", "Selling, General and
Administrative Expenses", "Other Operating
Expenses", "Food and Paper", "Payroll and
Employee Benefits", "Occupancy and other
operating expenses")
b <- melt(data= a, id = "MC Donald's
Operating Costs")
write.xlsx(b, "operating costs and
expenses.xlsx", row.names = F)
setwd("D:NCI_CourseSem 2Data
VisualisationDataMc_DonaldsStory
mode download")
library("readxl")
library("ggplot2")
a <- data.frame(read_excel("16_american-
customer-satisfaction-index_-mcdonalds-
restaurants-in-the-us-2000-2018.xlsx"))
View(a)
a
colnames(a) <- c("Years", "ACIS")
ggplot(data = a, aes(x=Years, y=ACIS)) +
geom_line(size=2, colour="LightGreen") +
labs(title = "American Customer Satisfaction
Index", x="Years", y="ACSI Score") +
15. geom_text(aes(label=ACIS),
position=position_dodge(width=0.9), vjust=-
0.25)
Python Code:
#!/usr/bin/env python
# coding: utf-8
# In[ ]:
import pandas as pd
import numpy as np
import math
import operator
import os
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
get_ipython().magic(u'matplotlib inline')
# In[ ]:
os.chdir('D:NCI_CourseSem 2Data
VisualisationDataMc_DonaldsStory
mode download')
# In[ ]:
data = pd.read_csv("9_net-income-of-
mcdonalds-2005-2018.csv")
data
# In[ ]:
plt.rcParams['figure.figsize'] = (10,6)
matplotlib.style.use("ggplot")
# In[ ]:
data.plot.bar(x='Net income of McDonald's
2005-2018', y='Net income in billion U.S.
dollars')
# In[ ]:
plt.savefig("netincome", bbox_inches="tight")
# In[ ]:
# In[ ]:
