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McDonald’s: Using Social Media to Connect with Customers
Background Note
The origins of McDonald’s date back to the 1930s when two brothers, Richard “Dick” J. McDonald and Maurice “Mac” McDonald, opened a restaurant called Airdrome in Arcadia, California, that sold hot dogs, tea, and coffee. Buoyed by the good response to their first restaurant, the brothers decided to expand their business.... In 1940, they opened the McDonald’s Barbecue restaurant in San Bernardino, California. The barbeque restaurant had about 25 items on its menu like barbecued beef and pork sandwiches. It employed 20 carhops to provide food service to customers........ |
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After running the barbecue restaurant successfully for eight years, the brothers found it difficult to manage such a large scale business with its extensive menus and staff, and the huge crowds thronging the restaurant. In 1948, they decided to scale down operations. They shortened the menu to only hamburgers, cheeseburgers, French fries, and drinks and developed a process to make these quickly with fewer resources. The process increased the service speed, helping them serve more customers in the same amount of time..........
