Operations Strategy
Write an essay on the following:
McDonalds has come to epitomize the ‘fast-food’ industry. When the company started in the 1950’s it was the first to establish itself in the market. Now there are hundreds of ‘fast-food’ brands in the market competing in different ways. Examples of fast-food chains are companies such as Burger King, KFC, Dominos, Subway. These companies generally offer a counter service often supplemented by an eat-in area. Examples of other companies in the sector are Nandos, Pizza Express and Starbucks. Expensive restaurants would not be appropriate for analysis as they are not in the same market segment.
Using the Hill methodology for operations strategy formulation conduct the following analysis for a typical McDonald’s restaurant in the UK and one other company in the fast-food sector.
- For each company deduce what you believe to be its competitive factors (order winning and qualifying). Translate these factors into performance objectives for operations.
- Discuss the strategic fit for each company between its performance objectives and its operations structure and infrastructure.
- Provide a comparison regarding the fit across the 2 companies.