Who Does it Better? China, Canada, or the U.S.?

Research 3 countries outside of the USA in which McDonald’s does business.  Report what is unique about McDonald’s in each of these countries.

 

McDonald’s has grown from a simple mom-n-pop business to a global corporation. Today, McDonald’s is based in over 30 countries rounding the number of restaurants to approximately 34,000. Each country’s McDonald’s has the a universal mission and system; however, they also have a universal menu differences. The general items like the cheeseburger, chicken nuggets, and apple pies are all there, but there is also slight modifications for each item.

 

Is Technology In Your Food?

McDonald’s has come a long way from their simple diner days. Today, they are a global corporation that has become indulged in the digital world. Information technology has become a huge role in the ever-growing company. Technology can be seen in their new restaurants; the menus are no longer a billboard of sort, it is now basically a television. Depending on the time of the day and holiday season, the menu changes with the press of a button. Technology is intertwined into even the customer service aspect. When one orders, there is a certain software that was created specifically to get your order from the register to the cooks in the assembly line. Another aspect that technology has influenced is McDonald’s recent advertisements – everything you see from the television ads, radio ads, and even the McDonald’s website. All of the modes of advertisement were strategically assembled by an IT team. 

More specific examples of the IT Team at McDonald’s, it can be seen through the job description of various positions. For example, the position of the business technical analyst for ITR is part of the team that is responsible for developing systems that make deployment methods work more efficiently. Also, to create solutions to evolve the current processes. 

Majority of McDonald’s positions that are not based in the restaurant have a requirement that involves the eligible candidate to operate and manage information systems. 

Do You Have an IPO?

 

Initial public offering is more commonly referred to as IPO. The IPO is a process in which companies transform from private to public and sells their stocks in the firm. A company generally wants to take the action of an IPO when and if they want to sell their stocks to the public; this usually as occurs as an effort to make more money. After doing so, their status goes from private with no general shareholders to public with general shareholders.

Steps to an IPO:

1. Firm must hire an investment bank.
2. The bank puts together a registration statement to later to be filed with the SEC.
3. SEC investigates company.
4. If approved, the SEC sets a date for the IPO.
5. The underwriter creates a prospectus – all financial information of the firm.
6. The prospectus is presented to other prospective investors, also known as a “road show.”
7. As IPO date approaches, the firm and the underwriter decided on the stock price. (Depends on success of the road show and the current market condition)
8. Exchanges make their plea to the company, and then, the firm and underwriter draw up a final section.

 

In 1965, McDonald’s created their IPO and decided to go public. In the beginning stages of the IPO, McDonald’s shares were being offered at $22.50, which later rocketed to $30. As the IPO timeline continued, stocks were being sold in blocks of 100 shares at approximately $2,250. These blocks increased the number of shares to roughly 74,000 brining in almost $1.8 million by the end of 2003. 

 

 

 

Works Cited 

Koba, Mark. “Initial Public Offering: CNBC Explains.” CNBC News. 13 09 2013: n. page. Print.      <http://www.cnbc.com/id/47099278&gt;.

What’s in Your Account?

Big or small, corporations such as McDonald’s all keep a record of three basic accounting reports: the income statement, balance sheet, and the statement of cash flows. All these reports can be used as indicator to see the progress of the company.

The income statement summarizes all revenues that have entered the firm from various places such as the operations activities, expenses, other monies the business used, and the excess resources or net income after taxes, expenses, and paid costs. This statement concludes a firm’s financial operations over a specific period of time, usually a year or quarter. Through this statement, the company is able to see whether they are generating profits or losses. The income statement is so valuable because of the financial information it relays to stockholders, investors, suppliers, potential investors, and employees. One general item that stands out to me is the format of the statement. The statement is put together by very clear equations, which makes the overall look of the statement clean and easy to read and follow. 

The second report is the balance sheet. The balance sheet analyzes a corporation’s financial condition for a specific period of time. This sheet includes very precise financial keys – assets, liabilities, and owner’s equity. The company’s assets must be balanced with or equal to the owner’s equity and liability. 

The final statement that is prepared is the statement of cash flows. The statement reports cash receipts and disbursements related to the corporation’s operations, investments, and financing. An accountant reviews the changes within the firm based on their operations, investments, and finances to determine the firm’s net cash. The report gives the corporation a long-term vision into how they should handle there cash flow, so that there is never a problem with no cash on-hand. Cash-flow reports can be done either weekly or monthly not just a annual report. The best aspect of this report, to me, is that it can done on a timely matter. It is not a report that can only be generated annually, but it can be done from week-to-week.