Corporate Social Responsibility †McDonald’s Essay

McDonald is one of the most renowned fast food restaurants across the globe. The vision of McDonald’s was coined by Ronal McDonald who identified the need of its target audiences and tailor made the products as per them. The organization has established a value proposition for the target audience on the basis of a penetration pricing strategy that has appealed to the people in almost every country. Being a tough competitor to many fast food retailing giants such as the Burger King, KFC etc, the organization has implemented an adaptation approach for every country that it enters. This implies that McDonald is willing to change its product portfolio and other strategies as per the expectations of the customers in the newly entered market. This allows McDonalds to create a link with the target audience 1 McDonald and synchronize with their taste and preferences. For instance, when McDonalds entered the Indian markets in 1996 with its famous beef burger, it never expected that the Indian people will boycott the product because of their cultural norms and tradition. This forced the company to re-evaluate its strategies and introduce a new product â€Å"Aloo tikki† burger (Burger with potato stuffing) which was in line with the Indian sentiments. â€Å"Aloo tikki† has been one of the most preferred snacks for the Indian markets. Although it is not at all a healthy product but still it is in the taste and preferences of the customers. Therefore, the product was customized according to the customers. In the Australian market, the organization has even changed its brand name recently and is opening its outlets by a new nick name ‘Macca’. This is the extent of the adaptation strategy that the world has witnessed. Previously no organization has taken the initiative of changing its brand name to appeal to the target audience but McDonald has undertaken the same only to create a relationship with the target audience. The notion of corporate social responsibility has gained a lot of popularity in the recent past because of the increasing involvement of the organizations in the day to day life of the people. The concept states that an organization also has a lot of responsibilities towards its stakeholders that includes its employees, customers, suppliers, banks, financial institutions, government and the society on a whole. Therefore, the organizations should not undertake any activity that goes against the interest of the society. In fact, every organization should undertake activities that create some kind of welfare for the entire society. For instance, many organizations goes to the backward areas and provide free medical checkup for the people, distributes medicines, provides education to the children, spreads awareness regarding the women empowerment etc. All this constitutes of the corporate social responsibility activities of an organization. This also helps an organization in creating positive brand image in the 2 McDonald minds and hearts of the target audiences because they might feel high of an organization and its activities. However, in the last few years, a lot many social groups and institutions have doubted the ethics of the company and have clearly stated that McDonald does not follow the concept of corporate social responsibility. This is mainly because the organization has been introducing numerous products in the market that are harmful for the health of the customers and increases the obesity level in them. In anticipation of higher profits, many a times, the organization might not follow the ethical code of conduct that might affect their sustainability in the near future. The same has been talked about McDonald’s because its products are just for the profits of the company and has a negative impact on the obesity level of the consumers. It is a very transparent fact that obesity has become a major problem across the globe and the same should be controlled in order to have a healthy life. However, many experts and doctors have identified obesity, blood pressure and diabetes as some of the rising problems amongst the Americans and amongst the people across the globe. Not only obesity gives rise to several serious diseases in a human body but it might also affect the confidence level of an individual. This is the main reason because of which many experts have imposed serious allegations against the corporate social responsibility of McDonald’s. In this reference a lawsuit was also filed on McDonald’s in the year 2003 when an obese man named ‘Ceaser Barber’ filed suit against McDonald’s for the unhealthy products that it sells that has led to high level of obesity. However, the judge denied the law suit and McDonald’s was relieved of the case. However, in another case McDonald was considered as guilty and unethical when Stella Lieback spilled coffee (purchased from McDonalds) on her pelvic area and filed a case against the company for selling such hot coffee. The court of law found the company guilty because the lady had suffered a three sixty degree burn. 3 McDonald Nevertheless, keeping the above discussion into consideration, I must state that the concept of corporate social responsibility does not states that the organizations can not develop a product portfolio as per the needs of the target audiences. McDonald’s has rightly identified the needs of the customers and have developed these products as per their taste and preferences. Since it is the need of the customers, it cannot be ignored by an organization manufacturing the similar product lines. The key concept of marketing states that an organization has to understand the needs of the target audience and develop the products to satisfy the unsatisfied needs (Azad, 2011). The same task is being followed by the organization. The competing brands such as Burger King, KFC, Domino’s, Pizza hut and many others are also manufacturing the fast food items as per the taste of the target audiences. Therefore, McDonald’s also has to remain in the competition for obtaining a sustained growth in the market place. Above all, McDonald’s is not forcing any individual to purchase the product. It is the free will of the target audience to purchase the product from the organization and consume the same. If the consumers have deep respect for the organization’s effort in the past few decades and have a liking towards its product, the same cannot be categorized as unethical or against the concept of corporate social responsibility. As a consumer I have deep knowledge about the product that McDonald’s sell and its impact on the health of the consumers. The law of many countries states about the provision of ‘caveat emptor’ which means let the buyer beware of the products or services that they buy. This implies that the consumers are themselves aware of the products and if they are purchasing it with free will, the organization cannot be held responsible for it. In a nutshell, I feel that corporate social responsibility does not mentions anything in black and white in reference to the product’s quality. It just states in broad that the organization should not go against the interest of the society. McDonald’s, by no means, is going against the society. Rather the organization is undertaking a genuine attempt to serve to the needs and 4 McDonald wants of the target audience (Sharma, 2012). This should be appreciated by the stakeholders to encourage the efforts from McDonald’s in the future. I would like to conclude that there cannot be a universal standard for developing the product. It is highly dependent from situation to situation and should not be blamed on corporate social responsibility of the organization. References Azad, P. (2011). Marketing Management. APH publications Sharma, S. (2012). McDonald’s strategic management.