BUS499 Business Administration Capstone Business & Marketing Essay

Week 6 Assignment 2
Strayer University
BUS499 Business Administration Capstone
 Week 6 Assignment 2
Organizations operating in today’s turbulent business environment have to address significant challenges in order to succeed. McDonald’s is a popular fast-food company that has 35,000 outlets spread across 100 countries. With such globally distributed operations, the challenges it faces from its environment are intensified. The company through its franchisees also employs around 4 million people who help it serve around 70 million people daily. The company has to ensure that it satisfied the needs of these customers otherwise it risks losing market to competition. This paper examines the issues in its external and internal environment and how it responds to them. The paper identifies technological and socio-cultural segments as they influence McDonald is the most. The forces that are most significant for the firm are buyers` bargaining power and rivalry among existing companies. The paper also addresses future improvements, external threats, strengths and weaknesses, and the value chain of the firm. 
General Environment
The external environment of a firm can be described as all the external influences that affect how business decisions are made and the firm ’s financial performance (Grant, 2016). The source of these influences includes the political, economic, social, technological, ecological and legal environment. McDonald, is one of the leading companies in the Foodservice industry in the U.S., is influenced largely by the technological and social-cultural environment. 
The technological environment provides marketing opportunities and business automation for McDonald’s. The company can market its products through the use of social media. For instance, they usually send any news notification regarding promotion and products to their customers through Twitter and Facebook (McDonald's, n.d.), thus reaching millions of people through digital marketing. According to Hitt, Ireland, and Hoskisson (2017), firms analyze the capabilities offered by technology, which enables them to create more value for their customers. For instance, McDonald's is utilizing technology to ensure that all users, including those with disabilities, can access and use their mobile applications and website for efficient and timely services (McDonald's, n.d.). Further, customers are also able to locate the nearest McDonald’s restaurant within their vicinity by visiting the company’s website.
The socio-cultural environment of McDonald`s is characterized by changes in healthy lifestyles and increased cultural diversity among its customers. Mcdonalds has a diverse customer base as it serves in over 100 countries. These customers have different values and attitudes, which affect the way McDonald's makes its decisions, especially regarding products. For instance, as noted in the McDonald's Corporation annual report (2017), restaurants have a regular menu, but changes have been made to accommodate customers from different geographical backgrounds, who have different tastes and preferences. Further, the rising trend in healthy lifestyles among co...