CUEGIS

With reference to an organization of your choice, discuss how change and ethics
have influenced the role of marketing
- McDonald’s is an American fast-food chain that is one of the largest in the world,
known for its hamburgers. With +36,000 stores in over 120 countries, and is highly
successful, uses franchises in order to rapidly expand globally. It was initiated in 1940
with a restaurant opened by brothers Richard and Maurice in California.
Marketing refers to the management process of identifying, anticipating and satisfying
consumers’ requirements in a profitable way. It involves meeting the needs and desires of
customers by ensuring the product, price, place and promotion are effective in
encouraging customers to buy the firm’s products. Many factors affect how a business
makes its marketing decisions, such as change and ethics. Change refers to the adaptation
of business organizations’ objectives, strategies and operations in response to
competition, new technologies and trends in consumer behavior. Strategy refers to the
significant long-term planning decisions that organizations make in order to meet the
needs and wants of their stakeholders. Ethics can be defined socially accepted moral
principle that guides decision making.
McDonald's became the leader in the fast food industry with their strong focus on
customer service, response to competition, and use of marketing techniques early on in
their development, their vision statement is “Our purpose goes beyond what we sell.
We’re using our reach to be a positive force. For our customers, our people, our
communities, our world.”

In order for McDonald’s to be a positive force, it regularly changes its strategy to keep up
with the market demand and to remain competitive, ever since the business started;
McDonald’s made major changes to its menu.
Through extensive market research, they have adapted to meet the needs of consumers
(breakfast menus, healthier food etc.) which is a market oriented approach.
In 1991, McDonald’s became the world’s first company to voluntarily phase out the use
of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the production of foam packaging. CFCs were
associated with ozone depletion, so their withdrawal by the world’s largest restaurant
chain helped to reduce the harmful effects on the ozone layer. In 2018, the company
announced it would phase out the use of plastic straws.
McDonald’s UK and Ireland has announced it will be offering more choice on the Happy
Meal, giving customers the option to ‘swap out’ the Happy Meal toy. In selected
restaurants, the business will provide customers with the option to swap the toy for a fruit
bag, and in early 2020 there will be a trial of always offering customers a choice between
a book and a toy; however this turned out to be expensive. ‘Always Working’ TV ad has
also been released, highlighting changes that have been made to the Happy Meal over the
years, including 47% less salt in the aforementioned nuggets.
The removal of McFlurry plastic lids, and the removal of single-use plastic from
McDonald’s salads (with all main meal and side salads now served in cardboard
containers). These ethical changes will reduce plastic waste by 1005 metric tonnes
annually therefore these ethical changes helped build a good corporate image for
McDonalds’ since they are being socially responsible towards customers and the
environment.

In conclusion, Mcdonald’s uses ethical actions and changes to influence their marketing
decisions to boost the profits and uses ethical ways to build a socially responsible brand
image, this involves meeting the needs and desires of customers by ensuring the product,
price, place and promotion that are effective, this had lead the company to be one of the
largest companies in the world.