Mcdonalds vs Burger King free essay sample

For years, McDonalds and Burger King (8K) have been the worlds two largest and most successful fast food chains. Both have battled out all these years over their operational differences which form the core of their corporate culture. The Doing It All For You (McDonalds) vs. Having It Your Way (BKs) stems from their respective production methods. McDonalds Made to Stock vs. BKS Made to Order also originate from the differences in their respective processes. Exhibits 1 and 2 show the Process Flow Diagrams (PFDs) of McDonalds and BK respectively. Exhibit 3 rovides a detailed comparative analysis of the PFDs of these two fast food chains. The main operational difference between McDonalds and BK is that McDonalds cooks their hamburgers on grills using a batch process (a batch of upto 12 patties/ grill) with human intervention to turn, sear, and pull. BK uses the machine based Continuous Chain Broiler assembly process (8 burgers/meat chain) for the production of their burgers similar to an assembly line in a manufacturing process thus, requiring no human intervention. The corporations revenues come from the rent, royalties and fees paid by the franchisees, as well as sales in company-operated restaurants. McDonalds revenues grew 27 percent over the three years ending in 2007 to $22. 8 billion, and 9 percent growth in operating income to $3. 9 billion. McDonald’s primarily sells hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken, french fries, breakfast items, soft drinks, shakes and desserts. In response to changing consumer tastes, the company has expanded its menu to include salads, wraps, smoothies and fruit. Another fast food chain is Burger King. The company began in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida-based restaurant chain. After Insta-Burger King ran into financial difficulties in 1955, its two Miami-based franchisees, David Edgerton and James McLamore, purchased the company and renamed it Burger King. Over the next half century the company would change hands four times, with its third set of owners, a partnership of TPG Capital, Bain Capital, and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, taking it public in 2002. In late 2010 3G Capital of Brazil acquired a majority stake in BK in a deal valued at $3. 26 billion (USD). The new owners promptly initiated a restructuring of the company to reverse its fortunes. At the end of fiscal year 2011, Burger King reported it had more than 12,400 outlets in 73 countries; of these, 66 percent are in the United States and 90 percent are privately owned and operated. BK has historically used several variations of franchising to expand its operations. The manner in which the ompany licenses its franchisees varies depending on the region, with some regional franchises, known as master franchises, responsible for selling franchise sub-licenses on the companys behalf. Burger Kings relationship with its franchises has not always been harmonious. Like McDonalds, Burger King sells hamburgers, chicken, french fries, soft drinks, milkshakes, salads, desserts and breakfast. McDonalds amazing taste, reasonable prices and great customer service makes it a stronger and more successful company than Burger King. McDonalds have a variety of foods which are all very delicious but the one item that stands out is their fries. The taste of McDonalds french fries played a crucial role in the chains success, fries are much more profitable than hamburgers, and was long praised by customers, competitors, and even food critics. James Beard loved McDonalds fries. Their distinctive taste does not stem from the kind of potatoes that McDonalds buys, the technology that processes them, or the restaurant equipment that fries them: other chains use Russet Burbanks, buy their french fries from the same large processing companies, and have similar fryers in their restaurant kitchens. The taste of a french fry is largely determined by the cooking oil. For decades McDonalds cooked its french fries in a mixture of about seven percent cottonseed oil and 93 percent beef tallow. The mixture gave the fries their unique flavor, they are not too salty, greasy or saggy, and they are just right and highly favored. In the Article â€Å"Best Tasting Fries, Aaron Francis explained that â€Å"McDonald’s fries are the best tasting fries that he has tasted in a long time† (9). On the other hand Burger Kings food taste horrible, the fries is salty and saggy, the burgers are huge and sloppy with a lot of calories which is unhealthy. In the Article â€Å"Horrible Fast Food, Edwin Michaels explained that â€Å"Burger Kings food is atrocious† (4). So it is very obvious that McDonalds is the best of the two. In this economy it is very important for people to spend their hard working money on food with reasonable prices. McDonalds is one of the most reasonable priced fast food restaurants in the nation. It is quite affordable and has many different food items to choose from. The food that is sold for the price of a dollar on their famous dollar menu is amazing. In the Article â€Å"Hard Times, Randy Baldwin explains that â€Å"McDonalds is a life saver when it comes to prices on their menus†(7). Burger King However has larger prices for many of the same items so no wonder people prefer McDonald’s more. The burgers on their menus are very expensive and the average meal ranges from $5 and up while McDonald ranges from $3 and up. In the Article â€Å"Expenses, Michelle Gillis explains that â€Å"She will no longer purchase from Burger King because their prices are too high†(2). Different people from all walks of life has different types of price ranges so it depends on someone’s assets what they think is reasonable or not. Customer service is not optional in todays businesses. Its crucial to creating customer loyalty and retention. Customer service is the service or care that a consumer receives before, during and after a purchase. Its one of the factors that come in to play when a consumer is determining buying value, the other is the quality of the product or service that is being offered. When it comes to customer service McDonalds is great because they know how to treat customers with the utmost respect, they always seems to have a smile on their faces and if anything goes wrong they tend to take care of it in the graceful manner possible. Their customer service is excellent. In the Article Great Customer Service, Jack Allen explains: McDonald’s customer service is great, they know how to treat the customers in the proper way, from the way they greet and address people with manners and kindness. They make sure a proper environment is provided for individual to have a meal and the way the talk to people is just amazing how much manner they have. They present themselves in a very neat and clean way with uniforms for their specific jobs, which is very attractive. (6) however, burger king’s customer service sucks in terms of how they approach an individual, speak with someone and the wait there to actually get something to eat. There employees are not very kind and caring and they also dress sloppy as said In the Article â€Å"Bad Employees, Alfred Johnson explains that â€Å"Burger King has the worse customer service† (3). Burger King need to teach better customer service. It is very obvious that McDonalds is the better of the two in every way possible. The way that the cooperation is managed due to the fact that they have not changed ownership as many times as Burger King has. Their business blueprint has served as a model for many other franchises both in and out of the fast food industry. McDonalds is able to attain a high level of standard that is guaranteed at chains throughout the globe and the other hand Burger King at the lowest of the fast food chain. What I find amazing about McDonalds their standard is attain while offering a wider variety of food item on the menu as compared to Burger King. McDonalds is able to accomplish all of this while keeping competitive in a slow economy and retain their status as the top fast food chain. The sheer volume of sales, chains, and numbers of countries they are in, serves as proof that I am not the only one that share this opinion.