麥當勞是世界上連鎖餐廳的領頭羊之一，人們的日常生活少不了它。有著漫長歷史的漢堡品牌始于1940年，當時是一對兄弟，Dick and Mac McDonald 在圣貝納迪諾，加利福尼亞州開了第一家麥當勞餐廳。最初，他們只有一個賣熱狗的小攤，但在餐廳開業(yè)后，提供的品種大約有25種，主要是燒烤類。它成了一個受青少年歡迎的聚集點。1948年，兄弟關閉了麥當勞餐廳，與此同時新開張了只賣漢堡、奶昔和薯條的餐廳。
 
根據(jù)麥當勞的銷售歷史記錄，主要盈利來自漢堡包，以15美分的價格出售。隨后餐廳逐漸變得有名氣，在1953年麥當勞兄弟開始特許經(jīng)營餐廳。第一個經(jīng)營特權(quán)是由尼爾·福克斯拿下的，第二家麥當勞餐廳在弗雷諾，加利福尼亞州開業(yè)。它是第一個引入黃金拱門設計的餐廳。第三和第四家餐廳分別在薩吉諾，密歇根州和唐尼，加州開業(yè)。
 
McDonald's is one of the leading restaurant chains in the world, touching the lives of people everyday. The long journey of the burger brand started in 1940, when two brothers, Dick and Mac McDonald opened the first McDonald's restaurant in San Bernardino, California. Initially, they owned a hotdog stand, but after establishing the restaurant they served around 25 items, which were mostly barbequed. It became a popular and profitable teen hangout. In 1948, the brothers closed and reopened the restaurant to sell only hamburgers, milkshakes and French fries.
 
As per the information of the McDonald's history, the major revenue came from hamburgers, which were sold at a nominal price of 15 cents. The restaurant gradually became famous and the McDonald brothers begin franchising their restaurant in the year 1953. The first franchise was taken by Neil Fox and under it; the second Mc Donald's restaurant was opened in Fresno, California. It was the first to introduce the Golden Arch design. The third and fourth restaurants were opened in Saginaw, Michigan and Downey, California, respectively.
 
The latter is the oldest Mc Donald's restaurant still in operation. In 1954, an entrepreneur and milkshake-mixer salesman, Ray Kroc, acquired the franchise of McDonald's restaurant for outside California and Arizona. In effect, Kroc opened his first and the overall ninth restaurant in Illinois, Chicago, and gave birth to Mc Donald's Corporation. In 1958, the restaurant chain sold its 100 millionth hamburger. In 1960, Kroc renamed his company as 'McDonald's Corporation'. In 1961, Kroc convinced the McDonald brothers to sell the business rights to him for a sum $2.7milion.
 
Later that year, the Hamburger University was opened, which gave away McDonald's restaurant Bachelor of Hamburgology degrees to students. In 1963, the mascot Ronald McDonald was born as a part of a marketing strategy in US. In 1967, the first restaurant outside US was opened in Richmond, British Columbia. In 1974, the 3000th restaurant opened in Woolwich, United Kingdom, which is the first of the country. Happy Meal was introduced in US in 1979. In 1984, the company became the main sponsor of the Summer Olympics. The year was also marked by the death of Ray Kroc.#p#分頁標題#e#
 
In 1988, the first restaurant opened in a communist country in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, followed by the first Soviet restaurant in Moscow (1990). In 1992, the largest McDonald's was opened in Beijing, China, having over 700 seats and was later demolished. In 1993, the first sea-going restaurant was established, aboard the Finnish Cruise-ferry Silja Europa, sailing between Helsinki and Stockholm. In 1994, McDonald's bagged the Catalyst Award for its program for 'fostering leadership development in women'. In 1996, the first Indian restaurant was opened.
 
In 2003, the company launched the 'I'm lovin' it' campaign. In 2005, McDonald's started its McDelivery service in Singapore. In 2006, the chain announced that it will publish nutritional information on its packaging of all its products, for the benefit of the customers. Considering the huge success and brand McDonald's has become, the food chain is spread across the world in almost all the major cities of the globe. Being economic and user friendly, the success rate of the company cannot be doubted.
 
McDonalds Canada opened in 1967; thirteen years after McDonalds had taken the United States by storm. This was the first restaurant to be opened outside of the United States.
 
It was in 1965 that McDonalds went public and offered shares on Wall Street. Since then it has been important for McDonalds to continually monitor its performance, to make sure it is competitive and profitable while also being aware of its immediate community responsibilities. This can be achieved by using the Porters 5 Forces model so the company is able to determine where its business needs to change or improve in order to stay competitive in the fast food industry.
 
Analyse McDonalds using a well known model to assess the competitive position that it occupies within its industry.Porter's competitive forces model includes five forces that need to be analysed. These forces include the intensity of rivalry from traditional competitors, threat of new market entrants, threat of substitute products and services, bargaining power of customers and bargaining power of suppliers (Laudon & Laudon, 2007).