Adina Genn

Coffee Wars: McDonald's vs. Starbucks

By staying focused on the customer experience, the company will likely continue to win fans as consumers see McDonald's coffee as good tasting and a good value. That's the basis of the "formula" that has fueled McDonald's growth since Ray Kroc took the helm, as I learned in co-writing "Everything I Know About Business I Learned at McDonald's (McGraw-Hill).

McDonald's: Innovative, Recession Resistant, and a Steady Grower

Both small and large companies can learn a lot about effective leadership by modeling themselves after McDonald's, regardless of whether they are in the food business, as I learned in co-writing my book, "Everything I Learned About Business I Learned at McDonald's" (McGraw-Hill).

Fast-Food Research Shows McDonald's Still Number One

McDonald's remains number 1 largely because of the heritage of its system. Ray Kroc's consistent presence until the day he died meant the system benefited from a total of 29 years of his continuous involvement. And his legend and legacy has been kept alive admirably by the company in numerous ways. His right-hand man, Fred Turner, like Ray, gave his entire career to the company, and the company has never been without the involvement of a spirtual founder, nor been sold or acquired, as I learned in co-writing my book, "Everything I Know About Business I Learned at McDonald's" (McGraw Hill)

Reasons for the Enduring Success of McDonald's

McDonald's successs is largely based on a concept called the Three-Legged Stool -- and that is the relationships between the trhee partners in the system: owner/operators, suppliers and corporate staff. Each depends on the others to support the group as a whole in delivering the company's mantra: Quality, Service, Cleanliness and Value, as I learned in co-writing
"Everything I Know About Business I Learned at McDonald's." I now see McDonald's as much more than a place for a quick bite, but rather a place of tremendous opportunity for its workers, at any level.