... Case #1 McDonald’s “Seniors” Restaurant Topics covered – * Evaluate Lisa Aham’s current strategy regarding senior citizens. * Does this strategy improve this McDonald’s image? * What should she do about the senior citizen market – that is, should she encourage, ignore, or discourage her seniors? * What should she do about the bingo idea? Explain. Evaluate Lisa Aham’s current strategy regarding senior citizens. Key themes of the current strategy are * Monthly breakfast special for seniors leading to increased number of older customers, turning them into regular patrons. * Employees are super friendly to seniors and have developed close relationships with them. * While McDonald’s is a fast food restaurant, growing customer base is ‘non fast food’ clientele. SWOT Analysis Strengths * Increase in customer base because of the special breakfast offer for seniors. * Customer Loyalty - senior customers have become regular patrons. * Great customer relationships - friendly employees. * In sync with McDonald's corporate philosophy to be friendly and to give back to the communities it serves. * Most senior customers come during the morning slow hours and leave before the noon crowd comes in. * Senior customers are friendly and clean up after themselves before they leave. Weaknesses * Senior customers spend similar to an average customer but use facilities for much longer. * While McDonald's is positioned as...
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...McDonalds' Senior's Restaurant McMahon’s current strategy for senior citizens has been excellent. Realizing that a lot of people in her area belong to his homogenous group, she made the decision to offer a discounted meal to them on a monthly basis. Her marketing mix covers the 4 P’s in that the Product, which is essentially already developed, is their breakfast offering. Included with the good is outstanding customer service and friendliness with her customers. The branding and familiarity of her product has already been established as well as the Place. The product is available at the familiar and convenient Place every morning. The Promotion of her product is pretty much done on a national level through advertising and publicity. Her promotion also involved personal selling and customer service to those patrons in her local area as they visit the restaurant. McDonald’s is already known for their low meal prices, and then McMahon improves on it at her branch by offering a monthly discount. I feel that the overall image of McDonald’s in her local area is improved by her strategy because a lot of the local population is seniors and this particular strategy involves them, so their opinions of the place should be high. McMahon and her employees have made her restaurant an inviting and friendly place to be. The remaining citizens in the area may respect the restaurant for treating the senior of the community in the way that they do, so their opinions may be high as...
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...Operations, besides marketing and finance, are one basic function that every organisation performs (Heizer and Render, 2011, p.36). Thus, operations management plays a very important role in an organisation’s success or failure. Many enterprises all over the world including McDonalds are often mentioned with their case study in operations management. In spite of the fact that McDonalds provides a bank of successful studies in business, there exist several deficiencies in this giant fast-food company’s operations management strategy. This paper will discuss some deficiencies in the decisions of operations management i.e. product design and managing quality as detailed in McDonalds’ Hot Coffee Case. Products design: Among thousands of competitors on the increasingly saturate fast-food market, it is product strategy that mainly contributes to the competitive ability of a company like McDonalds. The core of product strategy is product development system. Therefore, it is reasonable to say: “The product development system may well determine not only product success but also the firm’s failure” (Heizer and Render, 2011, p.190). Going through product development stages figured as follows will help evaluate product options of McDonalds in developing the hot coffee product. Figure 1: Product development stages According to Figure 1 (adapted from Heizer and Render, 2011, Figure 5.3), initially ideas from many sources had been gathered and the ability of the company to carry...
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...McDonalds coffee and the Liebeck lawsuit •Osmond-Riba home •Elisabeth Riba home •Elisabeth Riba's Journal Writing > I've read recently that the McDonald's coffee lawsuit is back in the news again, being used as an example of frivolous lawsuits, irresponsible juries, excessive verdicts, a generally out-of-control legal system, and thus a justification for tort reform. However, after doing some research, I discovered that the case was hardly as unreasonable as people often make it out to be. I originally wrote this for Usenet several years ago; the links at the bottom of the essay may have expired. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- McDonalds coffee and the Liebeck lawsuit Lis Riba, 2000 Here are some facts about what really happened: At the trial, it was revealed: •McDonalds required their coffee kept at 185 degrees Fahrenheit, plus or minus 5 degrees, significantly higher than other establishments. [Coffee is usually served at 135 to 140 degrees] •An expert testified that 180 degree liquids will cause full thickness burns in 2 to 7 seconds. •McDonalds knew before this accident that burn hazards exist with any foods served above 140 degrees. •McDonalds knew that its coffee would burn drinkers at the temperature they served it. •McDonalds research showed that customers consumed coffee immediately while driving. •McDonalds knew of over 700 people burned by its...
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...Risk Management 2301 Stella Liebeck VS McDonalds This case involves two parties; McDonalds and Stella Liebeck, a 79-year-old female, was sitting in the passenger seat of her grandson’s car having just purchased a cup of McDonald’s coffee. After her grandson stopped the car, she tried to hold the cup securely between her knees while removing the lid. However, the cup tipped over, spilling boiling hot coffee onto her legs. She received third-degree burns on over 16 percent of her body, this required eight days of hospital care, whirlpool treatment for debridement of her wounds, skin grafting, scarring, and disability for more than two years. Despite these horrifically extensive injuries, she asked McDonald’s to settle her hospital bills of $20,000. However, McDonald’s refused to settle, they offered her a mere fraction of the required $20,000. McDonalds offered $800. The jury awarded Liebeck $200,000 in compensatory damages, which was reduced to $160,000 because the jury found Liebeck to be twenty percent at fault and $2.7 million in punitive damages for McDonald’s callous conduct. (The judge was referring to the fact that; McDonald's revenue from coffee sales is in excess of $1.3 million a day.) The trial judge reduced the punitive damages to $480,000. Subsequently, the parties entered a post-verdict settlement. The case went on to be considered a frivolous lawsuit, which means the practice of starting or carrying on lawsuits that, due to their lack of legal merit,...
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...Individual Assignment 2: Case Study Wardell Johnson AMBA 610 Professor M. Frank Introduction It takes constant work to ensure that any given system maintains order. The universe has a natural tendency to lead to entropy “a process of degradation or running down or a trend to disorder” (Merrim-webster.com). What guides Humanity to function in a society in concert with their fellow man? It’s the ability to set up laws to govern the actions of the members of said society. According to researchers Kubasek, Brennan, & Browne (2011) great minds have always debated the purpose of laws. For instance, Plato expressed that law is a form of social control, and Aristotle posited that law is a rule conduct, an ideal of reason (Kubasek et al., 2011). No matter what ones philosophical views are in regards to legal systems whether good or bad, laws help societies maintain a sense of order, setting and maintaining a sense of normalcy, in efforts to prevent societal entropy. In America the foundation of our legal system is based on the U.S. Constitution created the nation’s founding fathers to ensure every citizen equal access to justice. Liebeck v. McDonalds and Pearson v. Chung are two highly publicize cases of Tort law. “The primary goal of tort law is to compensate the innocent persons who are injured or whose property as result of another conduct (Kubasel et al 2011, p.309). Both of these cases involve people who wanted to turn to the American legal system to obtain justice...
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...out-of-court settlement of McDonald's Corporation with Stella Liebeck over burn from hot coffee. Information on the lawsuit and the settlement.. Reports on the out-of-court settlement of McDonald's Corporation with Stella Liebeck over burn from hot coffee. Information on the lawsuit and the settlement.. Reports on the out-of-court settlement of McDonald's Corporation with Stella Liebeck over burn from hot coffee. Information on the lawsuit and the settlement.. Reports on the out-of-court settlement of McDonald's Corporation with Stella Liebeck over burn from hot coffee. Information on the lawsuit and the settlement.. Reports on the out-of-court settlement of McDonald's Corporation with Stella Liebeck over burn from hot coffee. Information on the lawsuit and the settlement.. Reports on the out-of-court settlement of McDonald's Corporation with Stella Liebeck over burn from hot coffee. Information on the lawsuit and the settlement.. Reports on the out-of-court settlement of McDonald's Corporation with Stella Liebeck over burn from hot coffee. Information on the lawsuit and the settlement.. Reports on the out-of-court settlement of McDonald's Corporation with Stella Liebeck over burn from hot coffee. Information on the lawsuit and the settlement.. Reports on the out-of-court settlement of McDonald's Corporation with Stella Liebeck over burn from hot coffee. Information on the lawsuit and the settlement.. Reports on the out-of-court settlement of McDonald's Corporation with Stella...
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...There is a lot of hype about the McDonalds' scalding coffee case. No one is in favor of frivolous cases of outlandish results; however, it is important to understand some points that were not reported in most of the stories about the case. McDonalds coffee was not only hot, it was scalding -- capable of almost instantaneous destruction of skin, flesh and muscle. Here's the whole story. Stella Liebeck of Albuquerque, New Mexico, was in the passenger seat of her grandson's car when she was severely burned by McDonalds' coffee in February 1992. Liebeck, 79 at the time, ordered coffee that was served in a styrofoam cup at the drivethrough window of a local McDonalds. After receiving the order, the grandson pulled his car forward and stopped momentarily so that Liebeck could add cream and sugar to her coffee. (Critics of civil justice, who have pounced on this case, often charge that Liebeck was driving the car or that the vehicle was in motion when she spilled the coffee; neither is true.) Liebeck placed the cup between her knees and attempted to remove the plastic lid from the cup. As she removed the lid, the entire contents of the cup spilled into her lap. The sweatpants Liebeck was wearing absorbed the coffee and held it next to her skin. A vascular surgeon determined that Liebeck suffered full thickness burns (or third-degree burns) over 6 percent of her body, including her inner thighs, perineum, buttocks, and genital and groin areas. She was hospitalized for eight days...
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...Unfortunately, despite every precaution, we live in a society where anyone, any business can be sued for anything. Solely because a lawsuit has been filed, however, does not mean the case has merit. This paper discusses two legal cases related to frivolous lawsuits. The first lawsuit was filed against the McDonald’s Corporation by Stella Liebeck in 1994. The second lawsuit was filed against Custom Cleaners by Roy L. Pearson, an administrative judge, in 2007. Both cases are notable and played a major role in guiding small and large companies in their responsibilities to their customers, reducing the risk of litigation, and protecting their assets to avoid unnecessary liability. Both cases will be analyzed by comparing and contrasting the facts, law, and merit. In addition, this paper will examine ethical issues and address the topic of frivolous lawsuits as they apply to the two cases. Finally, this paper will argue ways in which each company could have used better risk management techniques to avoid the lawsuits. The Facts McDonald’s No matter the precaution one tries to take when handling hot substances, there is always a chance of an accident, as was the case in Liebeck v. McDonald’s...
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...Jerome Fulton, Jr. BUL 4310 Liebeck v McDonald’s Restaurants July 7th, 2014 Introduction Corporate giants are known for their strong legal defense teams, their shrewd business practices, and their strong presence in politics. In the United States, its adversarial court system allows corporate giants to have the upper hand when faced with litigation. In an adversarial court system, the stronger the defense (lawyers) is, the stronger the case. One extreme case in the American court system that deflects corporate giants’ upper hand in the United States’ adversarial system, is a 1994 “frivolous lawsuit,” Liebeck v. McDonald’s Restaurant. McDonald’s is known for its fast-food and joy that it brings to children with its Happy Meals. However, in the Liebeck v. McDonald’s Restaurant case, McDonald’s was known as an inconsiderate corporate giant whose nonchalance cost McDonald’s nearly $3 million. Liebeck v. McDonald’s Restaurant is a case that was a media train in the 1990s and misconceptions about the case filled the airways. Case Overview Why should your favorite quick service restaurant be responsible for serving your favorite breakfast beverage, coffee, just how you like it? Liebeck v. McDonald’s Restaurant involved a then 79 year-old, Stella Liebeck, who purchased a cup of coffee from a McDonald’s located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1992 (“McDonald’s,” 2002). “Liebeck tried to hold the cup of coffee between her knees while removing the lid; however, the cup tipped...
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...Product Liability Management Victor Adejayan Dr. Dianne Barrs Strayer University LEG 500 September, 2012 Product liability is the responsibility of a manufacturer for injury or loss caused by its product (Dictionary.com). Product liability serves to protect the public but it is may turn out to be very expensive to organizations. Management has the duty of making sure that organizations’ resources, especially funds and reputation, do not suffer unnecessary attrition and damages through the implementation of effective, affordable product liability programs. It is important to have people in management that possess the skills such needed to solve liability issues in the legal arena, most importantly before they occur.The challenge of the manager is fulfilling his/hers responsibilities by generating profit in business while protecting the interests of otherstakeholders, such as, employees and customers. Though the savvy manager cannot stop people from having the intention and grievances to sue the organization, they can reduce the motive of prospective plaintiffs and in event of a lawsuit happens; effective product liability management mitigates the negative effects on the organization. Management has the duty of making sure the product liability policies and programs of the organization is clear, concise and precise so that the interpretation thereof cannot be turned to work against the organization. Most lawsuits that are directed at organizations arise...
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...4 2. Analysis 7 2.1. Stakeholder analysis 7 2.1.1. Consumers 8 2.1.2. Owners, executives, employee 8 2.1.3. Other groups of stakeholders 9 2.2. CSR Analysis 9 3. Evaluations 10 3.1. Who is to blame? 10 3.2. Root cause analysis 11 3.3. Recommendations 11 4. Implication of the case for future product related complaints 12 Conclusion 15 References 16 Appendix (Case: “The coffee spill heard round the world”) 17 Abstract The Stella Awards were inspired by the Stella Liebeck case in 1992. Stella purchases McDonald’s coffee from a drive through and later received US $ 640,000 for burning herself with this coffee. The lawsuit between Stella Liebeck and McDonald’s – a huge cooperation, was one of the most controversial court cases of its time. In this paper we defined the major ethical issues, analyzed who are the stakeholders and how the stakeholders influenced this case. Furthermore, we also mentioned other complain and lawsuits which McDonald’s had to face with before 2007, which means before and after Stella’s case. Finally, we have some references and comments form McDonalds in particularly. As well as general comments about how organizations and how they make final decisions in the future when they have business ethic problem, and how they protect themselves yet keep their customers happy. 1. Introduction and issue identification of the case Let’s imagine that you are going out to buy a cup of coffee from Mc Donald’s drive - through for breakfast. When...
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...McDonald’s Coffee Lawsuit This isn’t really a “current event” but an incident recently in my life brought this can back to mind. Last week I was attending a work paid for seminar on best practice for contracts. During this two day course we discussed contract law, regulator law and civil law, the latter brought Liebeck v. McDonald's Restaurants to mind. During the lecture the instructor brought up a case argued, Farmers Construction v. Washington State and pointed out how the ruling seemed crazy at face value. A member of the audience made a comment, “liberal Judges”. This statement started my rant that went like this. First of all a Judges political views neither are relevant in this case nor are our opinions. People at large seem to think they can, without knowing the facts decide if a lawsuit is frivolous or unfounded never mind the fact that they don’t even know what the Judge was asked by the petitioner to rule on. Take the case of Liebeck v. McDonald's Restaurants. A few years ago it was all over social media sites as a joke, “how crazy is this country when someone can sue over being burned by HOT coffee”? What they did not know was that the coffee was so hot, between 190 and 205 degrees, so hot that it was proven that the cup was weakened. And that this 81 year old lady was so severely burnt within 3 to 6 seconds of exposure that she had to undergo several skin grafts and 2 years of rehabilitation. So without facts you shouldn’t pass judgment on cases you have no...
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...and social justice issues, produced and distributed a leaflet entitled ‘What’s Wrong With McDonald’s? – Everything They Don’t Want You To Know’ outside a McDonald’s store in the United Kingdom. It criticized almost all aspects of the corporation’s business accusing that McDonald’s: is complicit in Third World starvation; buys from greedy rulers and elites and practices economic imperialism; wastes vast quantities of grain and water; destroys rainforests with poisons and colonial invasions; sells unhealthy, addictive junk food; alters its food with artificial chemistry; exploits children with its advertising; is responsible for torture and murder of animals; poisons customers with contaminated meat; and exploits its workers and bans unions. At first, McDonald’s ignored the London Greenpeace campaign but when it grew and was taken up seriously by more and more groups around the world in 1989, they decided to take extreme measures against the group. McDonald’s hired seven private investigators to spy on the London Greenpeace to find out who was responsible for the production and distribution of the leaflet. And to be able to file a libel case they will need names of individuals. So the spies penetrated to the group to get names and addresses, took letters sent to the group, got fully involved to the group’s activities, stole documents and took photographs. In 1990, McDonald’s filed libel cases on five members of the group. The company wanted those five to retract...
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...Executive summary The McLibel Trial is the infamous British court case between McDonald's and a former postman & a gardener from London (Helen Steel and Dave Morris). It ran for two and a half years and became the longest ever English trial. The defendants were denied legal aid and their right to a jury, so the whole trial was heard by a single Judge, Mr. Justice Bell. He delivered his verdict in June 1997. The verdict was devastating for McDonald's. The judge ruled that they 'exploit children' with their advertising, produce 'misleading' advertising, are 'culpably responsible' for cruelty to animals, are 'antipathetic' to unionization and pay their workers low wages. But Helen and Dave failed to prove all the points and so the Judge ruled that they HAD libelled McDonald's and should pay 60,000 pounds damages. They refused and McDonald's knew better than to pursue it. In March 1999 the Court of Appeal made further rulings that it was fair comment to say that McDonald's employees worldwide "do badly in terms of pay and conditions", and true that "if one eats enough McDonald's food, one's diet may well become high in fat etc., with the very real risk of heart disease." As a result of the court case, the Anti-McDonald's campaign mushroomed, the press coverage increased exponentially, this website was born and a feature length documentary was broadcast round the world. The legal controversy continued. The McLibel 2 took the British Government to the European Court of Human...
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