Contents

1.0 INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................. 1
1.1 Overview of Food and Beverage Service ........................................................................................... 1
1.2 Overview of McDonald ..................................................................................................................... 1
2.0 CONTENT AND TOPIC ANALYSIS .................................................................................... 2
2.1 Supply Chain Issue ............................................................................................................................. 2
2.2 Environmental and Ethical Issues. ...................................................................................................... 2
2.3 Slow and inaccurate service. ............................................................................................................... 3
2.4 Highly Competitive ............................................................................................................................. 4
3.0 SOLUTION AND SUGGESTIONS FOR MCDONALD MANAGEMENT ISSUES. ................ 5
3.1 Analyze the Risks. .............................................................................................................................. 5
3.2 Step Up Initiatives to Minimize Its Negative Environmental Impact. ................................................ 5
3.3 Self-service kiosks. ............................................................................................................................. 6
3.4 Exit foreign markets and devote additional resources to marketing and advertising. ......................... 6
4.0 CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................... 7
References ................................................................................................................................... 8
1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Overview of Food and Beverage Service

F&B stands for the food and beverages service that can be classified under hospitality
management which refers to actions that ensure the preparation of food and beverage service (Vale
Couto, 2020). This service is more focused to increase the value of raw food by using various
technologies available. First and foremost, the food and beverages service can be divided into two
major categories such as the production of edible goods that later will be sold in the market.
Processing foods is one of the examples included in the production of edible goods such as the
production of cheeses, canned beverages, and many others. Besides, the food and beverage service
also include the distribution of finished products that have been produced in the factory such as
mentioned. Distribution includes the delivery process of finished goods into the hands of
consumers whether they will be put in the restaurants, bars, and many others.

1.2 Overview of McDonald

McDonald's, founded in 1940 by brothers Maurice and Richard McDonald in San

Bernardino, California, is one of the world's largest food service retailers. It has nearly 35,000
restaurants worldwide, serving roughly 70 million people daily. Over 1.7 million people are
employed by the retail food business, which has operations in more than a hundred countries.
McDonald's employs over 14,000 Malaysians around the country, giving chances for career
advancement, training, and development (McDonald's Malaysia., n.d.). The Company franchises
and operates McDonald's restaurants, which serve a locally-relevant menu of quality food and
beverages in 119 countries. The company offers a varied range of foods such as hamburgers,
cheeseburgers, crispy fried chicken, French fries, coffee, and various desserts.

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2.0 CONTENT AND TOPIC ANALYSIS

2.1 Supply Chain Issue

Since the pandemic hit Malaysia, the most beloved fast-food outlet, McDonald’s has faced
repeated issues such as supply chain issues. Supply chain management can be defined as the flow
of service and goods from their origin between some organizations until it reaches the consumers
(McAllister G., n.d). It is very crucial especially in food and beverage service as it can satisfy the
consumers’ expectations and increase the value of the restaurants. But in other contexts, fast food
chains such as McDonald’s are facing great concern regarding their supply chain. The efficiency
of delivering their customer’s needs has dropped greatly since. As of January 2022, McDonald’s
has confirmed through their social media that they are unable to satisfy their customers' demand
by serving the large size of french fries until further notice. On the other hand, another outlet in
Taiwan also has confirmed that they are having problems with shipping and causing them to have
a hashbrowns shortage (Free Malaysia Today, 2022).

2.2 Environmental and Ethical Issues.

McDonald’s needs to be concerned about their company's environmental and ethical issues
which have serious environmental problems with waste from packaging materials. This waste is
created by the company's plastic materials, which are used to wrap and package food such as fries'
boxes, drinking cups, straws, burger wrappers, and packaging lids. In addition, the company also
utilizes a lot of useless packaging waste that ends up on the streets or in landfills. The packaging
and plastic waste that is not properly recycled can harm our planet, creating litter and pollution.
Globally, McDonald's uses nearly 2.8 tons of packaging every minute, representing almost 1.5
million tons per year. In France, McDonald's restaurants use 115 tons of packaging daily and about
42,000 tons a year (Rob Cole., 2017). The convenience and portability of food packaging is the
primary reason for the prevalence of waste products in the food industry. People from this modern
era prefer easy and quick foods, resulting in a significant increase in the food industry's waste that
is harmful to the environment.

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 Besides, waste generation and inappropriate disposal cause bad effects on human life,
animal life, and environmental pollution. The United Nations recently said plastic-associated
chemicals in food and groundwater might risk human health. Other than that, McDonald's is the
world's most significant beef consumer. Beef is particularly harmful because cows emit large
amounts of methane and potent greenhouse gas through burps and waste (Tom Perkins, 2021). As
a result, methane emitted by the cows reared for the beef industry contributes significantly to the
global warming crisis.

2.3 Slow and inaccurate service.

McDonald’s offers a menu with its hallmark goods such as the Big Mac, Happy Meal, and
French fries in most markets. The company also runs many franchised outlets, where it earns a
good profit and receives a high percentage of sales, but customers appear to be put off by
McDonald’s poor service, which is causing a massive problem for the fast-food chain. As it has
introduced new things to the menu, McDonald’s has struggled to serve the consumers swiftly. As
the firm introduced new food and services, it has been admitted that McDonald’s needs to work
toward reducing the complexity of the menu and processes.

Some McDonald’s locations have also closed, such as one in North Carolina that said it
could not find enough workers to continue operating normally. This could lead to slow service at
McDonald's due to a shortage of workers (Bob Cut Editors, 2022). In addition, it reported that a
McDonald’s in Illinois was giving away iPhones to new hires (Blasi, 2021) and McDonald’s in
Florida was giving away $50 to anyone who walked in for an interview. However, McDonald’s
personnel had not recovered, and the issues would continue into 2022.

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2.4 Highly Competitive

Another issue is that the market is highly competitive. The fast-food market has a lot of
competition among the companies. Every company was looking for a competitive advantage that
would allow them to survive in the market. The fast-food business is saturated in terms of firm
concentration. McDonald's has strong competition in the quick service eating corporation from
well-known competitors such as Burger King, Wendy's, and KFC, who offer nearly identical
products and services.

Moreover, McDonald's also faces strong competition from Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts.
McDonald's performance in the market against its competitors has recently raised concerns
because of several factors. This is a problem that McDonald's is facing both domestically and
internationally since competitors are progressively stealing a large chunk of its market share
(Mourdoukoutas, 2013). The sluggish economy, particularly in Europe, is one of McDonald's
biggest concerns (Mourdoukoutas, 2013). People can no longer afford to eat out all of the time
because the cost of living has risen dramatically. As a result, the company's sales have been low.
Furthermore, the cost of ingredients has risen, and the company cannot afford to make the menus
any cheaper to attract more customers if it makes a profit. Therefore, McDonald's had to be highly
creative with its goods to stand out from the competition and attract customers (GREGORY,
2017).

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3.0 SOLUTION AND SUGGESTIONS FOR MCDONALD MANAGEMENT ISSUES.

3.1 Analyze the Risks.

In this post-pandemic era, many organizations are trying to move back on top of the ladders
to fix the economy. One of the actions that can be taken to fix supply chain issues is to analyze
where the risks lie within this issue. Any organization should look deep and deal straightforwardly
with their supplier. Pay attention to all details such as transportation of their goods, distribution,
manufacturing, and other important small hidden details. It is better to recheck all of this
information rather than have big harm in the future. Other than that, the firm also should estimate
the total cost that they are willing to lose in the future if their goods are not available at the moment
(Shih W. C., 2020). They should come up with alternative plans to be displayed as a backup so
that they can always satisfy their customers' needs. Furthermore, the firm can enlarge its supply
base. As we already know, one of the biggest supply bases is held by China and they are actively
shipping their products out to the world. The firm should also enlarge their supply base by dealing
with manufacturers from other countries to reduce the risk if any problems arise in the near future.

3.2 Step Up Initiatives to Minimize Its Negative Environmental Impact.

Next, McDonald’s needs to take relevant action to overcome the waste from their stores
that finds its way into the environment. McDonald's must step up its initiatives to minimize its
negative environmental impact. The company should devote more resources to research focused
on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. McDonald’s should also ensure that their suppliers adopt
safe practices in reducing the impact of their livestock on the environment. Carbon sequestration
can mitigate greenhouse emissions from agriculture and livestock in the long run. Finally,
McDonald's must reduce the quantity of trash generated by packing. They must utilize reusable
packaging materials such as using biodegradable packaging materials like corn-based plastic
because these materials can be easily broken down in a commercial composting facility and reward
their customers who use their plastic bags with incentives.

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3.3 Self-service kiosks.

Self-service kiosks, which are becoming more popular and widespread in Europe and
Canada, are the greatest and easiest way to reduce the amount of time spent in a McDonald’s.
Hundreds of self-service kiosks have been installed at McDonald’s outlets in the United Kingdom
since 2015 (Byers, 2020). These popular machines provide quick and accurate ordering, as well as
secure payment choices (Page, 2020). In addition, with the introduction of digital kiosks and table
service, groups with larger orders will be able to take their time to order as much as they like,
rather than tying up cashiers’ time and causing time-crunched customers to wait. Online and
mobile ordering and payment could also help speed up the service.

3.4 Exit foreign markets and devote additional resources to marketing and advertising.

Furthermore, the company can exit foreign markets where it has no chance of succeeding
and instead focus on markets where it is well established. This will allow the company to make
the most of the resources at its disposal to outperform its competition. Following that, the business
can devote additional resources to marketing and advertising in their new areas. This may take
some time to generate results, but when new products arouse a lot of interest and desire, individuals
will gradually shift their attention to McDonald's. However, this should be done with a lot of
ingenuity in order to entice potential customers to like what the firm has to offer. Finally, the
company can allocate more resources to marketing and advertising in the areas where it has
established a presence. This should be accompanied by the provision of cuisines popular among
residents of those foreign countries.

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4.0 CONCLUSION

In conclusion, McDonald’s is one of the world’s largest fast-food corporations. They

continue their journey to success by keeping their customers in mind regarding product selection
and pricing. McDonald’s has achieved a competitive advantage in the food service industry by
implementing efficient techniques and maintaining high-quality standards. Nowadays, we can see
that McDonald’s faces a lot of issues such as supply chain issues, environmental and ethical issues,
and mainly customer dissatisfaction about the service of McDonald’s, which is slow and inaccurate
service. Therefore, maintaining its fundamental qualities, an uncompromising focus on quality and
consistency, while cautiously experimenting with new options will be critical to its future success.

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