Cyberproblem

Multinational Financial Management: McDonald's—Golden Arches Around the World

With more than 28,000 restaurants in over 100 countries, McDonald's is the largest and best-known global foodservice retailer. Built upon the Dick and Mac McDonald's concept of a quick-service restaurant and pioneered by Ray Kroc, McDonald's has evolved from a simple restaurant to a cultural icon and global empire. McDonald's has effectively fostered innovation and established itself as the premier entity in the fast food industry. This cyberproblem looks at McDonald's presence abroad, and the strategies it employs to maintain stability in an always-evolving foreign market.

Note: Companies frequently rearrange their websites. The directions below were current in October, 2003. You may have to browse the website for the content if McDonald's updates the website.

1. Access McDonald's investor relations web page at http://www.mcdonalds.com/corporate/investor/index.html. Click on the link "Investor Information" on the left, and then click on "Interactive Financial Highlights". Under the "Interactive Financial Highlights" click on McDonalds' Corp Downloadable Financial Information": and save the Excel file, downloadablefinancials.xls. Then, retrieve the file in Excel and click on the tab at the bottom of the spreadsheet labeled "Restaurants by Country." (There are a number of tabs below the spreadsheet, so you will have to use the right and left arrow keys near the bottom of your screen until the tab appears.) In the current year, what is the percentage of stores located outside of the United States? Over the past 5 years, what was the percentage increase in the number of stores in the United States? What was the percentage increase in Europe? What was the percentage increase in the Asia/Pacific region?
   
   
2. Click on the tab labeled, "Notes-Segment & Geo. Info." For the most recent year, what percentages of the company's sales, operating income, and capital expenditures are for its stores outside of the United States? Over the past 2 years, which region has had the largest increase in sales? Which region has had the largest increase in capital expenditures?
   
   
3. Click on the tab labeled, "MD&A-Curr Exp; Contractual CF". Look at the Foreign Currency Exposures section. For which foreign currencies does McDonald's have the most exposure?
   
   
4. Finally, click on the tab labeled, "MD&A-Avg. Annual Sales". Among the existing stores, are sales per restaurant higher inside or outside the United States? Among newly opened stores, are sales per restaurant higher inside or outside the United States?