Abstract
A review of the financials of McDonald's and Burger King.

From the Paper
"Under its assets, McDonald's has cash receivables, outstanding inventory and prepaid expenses which are considered assets because they entitle the organization to a benefit in the future, be it prepaid insurance or prepaid advertising. Cash receivables inventory and prepaid expenses are considered current assets because they are most easily convertible into cash. If a customer fails to pay off his account receivable, McDonald's may have to debit their Bad Debt expense account and correspondingly bring down the credit in Accounts receivable..."

Tags:mcdonalds, and, burger, king, financials

Abstract
The paper examines how Burger King developed an extensive marketing tie-in with the movie "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" in May 2008.

From the Paper
"Fast food restaurants in America market "kids meals" to busy parents in need of food to keep their children full and happy. Burger King, MacDonald's, Wendy's, and others commonly offer a toy as well as a two or three food items in a kid's meal. Advertising the toy on television offers a way for those same restaurants to market the kids meal directly to the children. It is not uncommon for a child to see a toy advertised on television and then to beg a parent or other adult to take them to the restaurant to get the meal and, by extension, the toy. Burger King stepped into new marketing territory in May 2008 when it..."

Tags:burger, king, marketing

Abstract
This is a brief comparison of the operations and financial performance of Burger King and McDonald's. It points out the strength of McDonald's performance.

From the Paper
"The most obvious difference is size. McDonald's has gross revenue of about ... billion and net income of ... billion, while Burger King has only ... billion in revenue and ... million in profit. McDonald's operates or franchises almost ... restaurants while Burger King has about a third of that. Revenue per unit is far higher at McDonalds and restaurant margins for company owned units are higher than BK. All computations of profit margins are stronger..."

Tags:Margins, Revenue Growth return equity, return capital, debt equity ratio.

Abstract
The paper discusses how the restaurant industry is currently comprised of three general segments: fast food, sit-down and the quick-casual format which is the most recent innovation. Burger King (BK) is the world's second largest fast food chain with over 11,000 unique locations in over 65 countries across the globe with more than 7,500 being located in North America. BK was founded in 1954 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida and currently operates over 1,200 company owned locations with the remainder being franchisee owned.

Tags:strategic, marketing, burgerking

From the Paper
"Business Strategies/Product Process Positioning
McDonald's


McDonald's really started as a family restaurant just after World War II. Like all entrepreneurs, the McDonald Brothers were looking for ways to improve their profit margins and reduce operating expenses. What they came up with was a fast food concept where everything was prepared in advance using standard portions and a no-frills approach to the dining area. In short, they had developed a fast food production line. Figure 1 details the food flow, sandwich preparation, and overall hamburger and cheeseburger production process in a McDonald's restaurant.


McDonald's illustrates the separation of high-contact and low-contact services through the use of a back-room/front-room type of layout. A small buffer of food is kept between the front..."

Abstract
The field of advertising is probably indispensable in modern society. It helps inform the public of the basic goods and services that are available in the marketplace and serves as a central engine for the economy. Advertising is defined as any form of paid communication which has as its purpose the motivating of a potential customer to purchase a product or service, or it may be designed to influence public opinion, to win political support, to sell an idea or a cause, or to act or think in the manner desired by the client.

From the Paper
"The field of advertising is probably indispensable in modern society. It helps inform the public of the basic goods and services that are available in the marketplace and serves as a central engine for the economy. Advertising is defined as any form of paid communication which has as its purpose the motivating of a potential customer to purchase a product or service, or it may be designed to influence public opinion, to win political support, to sell an idea or a cause, or to act or think in the manner desired by the client. The media used to accomplish these may include radio, television, newspapers, magazines, direct mail, billboards, posters, catalogs, and brochures. Advertisers and those who work in the advertising agency are in the business of selling (Pattis 1). Accomplishing this task requires the ability to communicate, which itself often takes..."

From the Paper
" It is common practice in the fast food business to develop tie-ins with movies, television shows, and related products with an appeal to young people and families and to do so by offering toys, games, and other products connecting the fast food store to the popular film, program, or character. However, there is also a danger in doing this because such tie-ins are often made long before the release of a movie and so may fail if the movie is not popular. In other cases, some different issue may arise to throw the campaign in a bad light. In the case of the recent problem facing Burger King with its tie-in to the Pokemon characters, the problem was in the packaging. The tiny images of the Pokemon characters were delivered in plastic eggs which, if played with by very young children, could cover the child's mouth and nose and bring about suffocation. This is a nightmare..."

Abstract
The paper focuses on two decisions of McDonald's in its competition with Burger King; the change to the burger-making process known as the "Made for You" approach and the introduction of a new menu item that was a copy of Burger King's product. The paper then discusses how the "Made for You" approach was successful while the new burger was a total failure. The paper points out that learning from Burger King's supply chain did not impinge upon McDonald's brand integrity, while shamelessly copying Burger King's product did. The paper therefore learns that a company should stay true to one's brand name and values but can imitate innovations that result in improving the business.

Outline:
Context
Decision-Making
Effectiveness of the Decision-Making Process
Reflect on your own Decision-Making Process

From the Paper
"McDonald's is one of the most famous brand names in the world. Children can recognize Ronald McDonald as easily as Santa Claus, at least according to the 2004 anti-McDonald's documentary "Supersize Me." Regardless of whether a consumer approves of its product, its health claims, or influence on the buying (or nagging) power of children, the name of Ronald McDonald is instant recognizable in virtually every country where the restaurant is located, thanks to corporate advertising and promotional power. The name of McDonald's is synonymous with standardization, and if a customer walks into one of its more than 30,000 restaurants in over 119 countries, serving around 50 million people every day, it is assumed that the quality of that burger speaks for the quality of all McDonald's burgers, for better or worse ("McDonald's," Business Case Studies, The Times 100). Thus quality control of all of its restaurants is particularly important for the fast food chain."

Tags:Burger, King, brands, values, competition, integrity

Abstract
This paper is a research dissertation on the effects of promotional strategies, including discount vouchers, development, launch and sales of speciality meals (Breakfast Combos, Happy Meals), supported through marketing, public relations, and promotional activities throughout the U.K. The author specifically looks at the effectiveness of these combined strategies on increasing the loyalty and trust that customers have in fast food restaurants profiled in this dissertation. The paper includes a literature review and appendices with charts and tables.

Outline:
Abstract
Introduction
Literature Review
Pricing as a Differentiator
Product Differentiation and Uniqueness
QSRs: The Eye of a Turbulent Food Retailing Storm
Explaining QSR Restaurant's Challenges to Viability
QSR Strategic Challenges
Effectiveness of Entertainment in QSR Locations in the UK
The Role of Price as a Promotional Element in QSRs
Current Pricing Trends in the QSR Segments including McDonald's and Burger King in the UK
How QSRs are Using Price-sensitivity measurement (PSM) in Promotional Strategies
Role of Psychological Pricing in QSRs throughout the UK
Impact of Prices on Brand Equity in QSRs operating in the UK
QSR Societal Trends in the UK
UK QSR Consumption Trends
Research Objectives and Hypotheses
Methodology
Secondary Data Collection Methodology
Primary Data Collection Methodology
Results and Interpretation
Most Memorable Public Relations Strategies by QSR
Impact of Vouchers on Perceived Value of Food
Quantification and Predicting of Trust
Conclusion and Recommendations
References
Appendices
Appendix 1: Variable Name and Label Assignments in SPSS 13 Used For the Analysis
Appendix 2: Frequency Distributions by Variable in the Survey
Appendix 3: Factor Analysis Correlation Matrices to Quantify Trust for McDonald's and Burger King
Appendix 4: Questionnaire

From the Paper
"The intention of this research project is to evaluate the effectiveness of discount vouchers, development and marketing of special meals (Happy meals, Breakfast Combos meals and comparable offerings to these) , use of special meal promotions and vouchers, the use of both in-transit and Web-based promotional strategies, participation and contribution to community events, and public relations efforts overall that lead to the development of trust by consumers in McDonald's and Burger King Franchisees operating in the United Kingdom. All of these marketing, public relations and promotional activities lead specifically to the development of a quantification of trust measure for each of these quick service restaurants (QSRs). This term (QSR) will be used throughout this analysis to refer to the specific classification of restaurant that McDonalds' and Burger King are members of. A literature review of the successful strategies of Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs) is provided as the foundation for this project, followed by an analysis of survey data gained from in-mall intercepts of Burger King and McDonald's customers as they were leaving a QSR location. The outcome of the research shows that it is possible, through a synchronized approach to managing the many aspects of the marketing mix, specifically the effectiveness of promotional offers and the use of vouchers to increase the overall attractiveness to repeat customers of purchasing meals from either of the QSRs analyzed in this report. Statistical analysis of the 30 respondent's survey data is also provided using SPSS Version 13 for Windows, and the resulting frequency distributions and cross-tabulations, in addition to further statistical analysis, are provided in this report."

Tags:enthusiasm, strategy, competitive, challenge

Abstract
This paper explains that hacking is unauthorized use or attempt to circumvent or bypass the security mechanisms of an information system or network for the thrill of learning and "looking around" or for the malicious intent of gathering information for gain, data corruption, or access to a system. The author points out that a hacker replaced the home page of the Burger King UK site with a parody of arch rival McDonald's site, stating "Eat our food, we want your money," and suggesting to visitors that they should go to McDonalds instead. The paper relates that it is hard to quantify the financial losses of clean-up and investigation from hacking, but the real costs are soft costs, such lost business opportunities. Graphs and illustrations.

Table of Contents
Introduction
What Is Hacking?
Hacker Motivation
The Costs of Hacking on Business
Burger King
Cert.org
The FBI and SirCam
NetNames and Osama Bin Laden
Adobe and Dmitry Sklyarov
Companies' Hacking-Related Insurance Costs
The Effects of Cyber Criminal Activity
Conclusion

From the Paper
"White-Hat hackers is often used to describe those who attempt to break into systems or networks in order to help the owners of the system by making them aware of security flaws, or to perform some other altruistic activity. Many such people are employed by computer security companies. This type of hacker takes pleasure in learning and working with computer systems, and as a result gains a deeper understanding of the subject."

Tags:white, black, unauthorized, examples, security