I'm Lovin' It
The first week of Winter Quarter has passed and I have so much I would like to blog about, but I will start with my favorite activity of the past week.
In Operations Management, we discussed McDonald's Restaurants and their "Made For You" production systems. Not for 10 minutes, but the entire lecture. You may think this sounds boring, or even a huge waste of time, but hear me out. I personally love McDonald's. Maybe even a little too much. My waistline might not show it, but I visit McDonald's more than I should. And it all started as a small child...
Every year for my birthday, my parents let me choose any place that I wanted to go for my "birthday dinner". I chose McDonald's. This continued throughout my college years. The past few years, a special present of a McDonald's gift card was given to me to "continue the tradition". Quite possibly the best and most thoughtful birthday presents I have ever received.
You see, the McDonald's fascination stems from the fact that my life-long goal is to someday own a McDonald's franchise. Since McDonald's typically requires a "minimum of $500,000 of non-borrowed personal resources to consider (someone) for a franchise", it may take quite a while for that dream to become a reality.
Either way, 99% of us have eaten at McDonald's at some point in our life. Our professor said that around 12% of the population has been employed by McDonald's at some period in their life. There is a McDonald's at every major exit on the highway. We've all played Monopoly and dreamed of matching up Boardwalk and Park Place for that coveted $1,000,000. McDonald's is obviously doing something right and our class discussion was about how they can continue to have success in a global environment that is always changing. McDonald's as we know it, could drastically change over the next 10-15 years, but the question is, should they?
* Images from McDonald's Web site and Google Images.