McDonalds CorporationMcDonald's is the undisputed king of hamburgers. This has been the trend in the fast food industry from their creation in the 1960s to their massive growth in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and now into the new millennium. Over the past forty years, McDonald's has taken full advantage of its strengths, but due to the maturity of the fast food industry, it will be necessary to focus more on the opportunities, weaknesses and threats. Strengths. McDonald's first selling point was their product. strategy. For the past three decades it has simply been a burger and fries restaurant. Customers' growing wants and needs, along with increasing competition, have forced them to modify and improve their menu to better fit the environment. Factors such as growing competition and increasingly health-conscious consumers have forced them to make these changes. Today, McDonald's offers a wide variety of products consisting of 26 items. Breakfast items include biscuit sandwiches, Egg McMuffins, hotcakes and sausages, Sausage McMuffins and Eggs, and scrambled eggs. Sandwiches include Big Mac, Cheeseburger, Crispy Chicken Deluxe, Filet-O-Fish, Grilled Chicken Deluxe, Grilled Chicken Salad Deluxe, Hamburger, Quarter Pounder and Quarter Pounder with Cheese. Desserts include baked apple pie, chocolate chip cookie, hot fudge sundae, ice cream cone, McFlurry and milkshake. Other items on the menu include apple bran muffins, Chicken McNuggets, French fries, Garden Salad, Happy Meals, sodas and other beverages. Promotion has also been a strong point for McDonald's. They have always focused the promotion on good food, friendly people and fun. They also spent a significant amount of money on promotional programs such as Monopoly, Happy Meals, and Big Macs. In addition to these promotions, McDonald's signed a ten-year contract with Disney that combines food promotions with Disney films. They also continue the successful Beanie Baby promotion, considered the company's most successful promotion ever. On October 25th they introduced the American Trio collection of Beanie Babies which celebrates the American political process. In addition to the promotion, McDonald's also managed to place restaurants in every available location. The annual increase in points of sale has re...... half of the paper ......ket. These restaurants have the ability to expand throughout the United States and provide a large amount of sales nationwide. This will become increasingly important as sales at current McDonald's restaurants flatten. These restaurant chains may also have the ability to expand internationally depending on their success in the United States. One opportunity that McDonald's has not taken advantage of is their environmental concerns. McDonald's was recently recognized by the United States Environmental Protection Agency for its conservation and recycling efforts. The EPA cited McDonald's as an industry leader for its ongoing review and evaluation of packaging materials. This is something that could be used in a promotional effort to improve one's image in the minds of consumers. It could be positioned directly against competitors to demonstrate that McDonald's cares about the environment. McDonald's has done well to establish a plan for future growth and expansion. As long as they continue to build awareness for other brands, expand internationally, and better manage product introductions into existing McDonald's restaurants, they will continue to be number one.