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THE COHESION CASE 33

EXHIBIT 7 McDonald’s Corporation’s Values
We place the customer experience at the core of all we do
Our customers are the reason for our existence. We demonstrate our appreciation by providing
them with high quality food and superior service, in a clean, welcoming environment, at a
great value.
We are committed to our people
We provide opportunity, nurture talent, develop leaders and reward achievement. We believe
that a team of well-trained individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences, working
together in an environment that fosters respect and drives high levels of engagement, is
essential to our continued success.
We believe in the McDonald’s system
McDonald’s business model, depicted by the “three-legged stool” of owner/operators, suppliers,
and company employees, is our foundation, and the balance of interests among the three groups
is key.
We operate our business ethically
Sound ethics is good business. At McDonald’s, we hold ourselves and conduct our business to
high standards of fairness, honesty, and integrity. We are individually accountable and
collectively responsible.
We give back to our communities
We take seriously the responsibilities that come with being a leader. We help our customers build
better communities, support Ronald McDonald House Charities, and leverage our size, scope and
resources to help make the world a better place.
We grow our business profitably
McDonald’s is a publicly traded company. As such, we work to provide sustained profitable
growth for our shareholders. This requires a continuing focus on our customers and the health
of our system.

We strive continually to improve
We are a learning organization that aims to anticipate and respond to changing customer,
employee and system needs through constant evolution and innovation.

Source: http://www.crmcdonalds.com.

MCD has made significant changes to become a socially and environmentally friendly company.
It has been recognized for its efforts in inclusive excellence with respect to employing and creating
opportunities for minorities. MCD has been listed among the “top 40 companies” by Black Enterprise
Magazine for 2005 through 2007. It established its first Global Environmental Commitment in 1989.
Since then it has been actively seeking to reduce its carbon footprint by using recycled packaging.
Additionally, Ronald McDonald’s Foundations raise millions of dollars each year for children-cen-
tered causes in the community.
According to Skinner, MCD’s CEO, “Corporate responsibility means many things to many peo-
ple. At McDonald’s, being a responsible company means living our values to enable us to serve food
responsibly, and work toward a sustainable future.” (MCD either does not have a written mission
statement nor vision statement or these documents are not publicly available because I could not
locate either of these at the time this case was written.)

Competitors
The food service industry, also known as the restaurant industry, is large and lucrative with a market
capitalization of $104 billion and a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 80.2. Yet it is highly fragmented
with over 550,000 restaurants ranging from small local eateries to global giants like MCD and Yum!
Brands, Inc. MCD towers over its direct competitors in the industry with a market cap of $59.8 bil-
lion in May 2009. Yum! Brands, which has a market cap of only $16.3 billion, and Burger King
Holdings, Inc., whose market cap is $2.46 billion, are second and third, respectively. Even though