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Introduction
McDonald's Corporation (MDC) is arguably the leading global food service retailer and the world's largest chain of hamburger fast-food restaurants. As of 31 December 2012, MDC operated 34,480 restaurants (6,598 were company-operated restaurants and 27,882 were franchised, of which 19,869 were franchised to conventional franchisees, 4,350 licenced to developmental licensees and 3,663 were licensed to foreign affiliates) in 119 countries serving 69 million people and employing more than 1.7 million people ([13] McDonald's Annual Report, 2012). According to [16] Schlosser (2001), one in eight workers in the USA have been employed by McDonald's MDC's turnover in 2012 was $27,567 billion ($18,603 billion company-operated sales and $8,964 billion franchised revenue) and franchised sales stood at $69,687 billion. [16] Schlosser (2001) points out that McDonald's is the largest private operator of playgrounds in the USA, largest distributor of children's toys as well as the largest purchaser of beef, pork, potatoes and apples.
McDonald's had an inauspicious beginning. It started life in 1940 when two brothers, Richard and Maurice McDonald, opened a barbecue restaurant in San Bernardino, California. In 1948 the brothers reorganized their business as a hamburger stand employing production line principles. Not a great deal happened until Ray A. Kroc, a multimixer salesman became the exclusive national franchise agent for the McDonald brothers in 1954. Ray opened his first McDonald's in Des Plaines, Illinois, on 15 April 1955. In the same year, McDonald's opened its second restaurant in Frenso, California operated by Art Bender, Kroc's first franchisee. Ray Kroc bought out the McDonald brothers in 1961 for $2.7 million, forcing the brothers to leave the fast-food industry. The relationship between them had deteriorated significantly over the control of business, a point that both Kroc and the MacDonald brothers have alluded to in their respective autobiographies. In 1965 McDonald's celebrated its tenth anniversary with its first public offering at $22.5 per share and average sales for McDonald restaurants reached $249,000.00 (www.aboutmcdonalds.com).
The aim of this introductory section is to set the context for the interview with Jill McDonald CEO and President of McDonald's Northern Europe Division with responsibility for the UK, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway and the Republic of Ireland. We focus on the business model, MDC market strategy and strategic decisions as well as its...