Practice & Management

AI Case Studies

McDonald's Chicago Region - Back to the Basics
James D. Ludema , Lisa J. Dinga

McDonalds / Benedictine University
Chicago, IL United States
2001

Annotation: In 2001, Chicago was one of McDonald's highest performing regions. Under the leadership of Regional Manager, Phil Gray, the Chicago Region achieved an unprecedented four consecutive years of cash flow increases. The region received much attention from corporate staff as a key business to benchmark. While other regions continued to struggle to achieve plan, the Chicago Region achieved its plan all four years.

FOCUS OF THE INQUIRY:
Not satisfied with status quo, Phil Gray wanted to discover and define the Region's strategic competitive advantage. How could these restaurants take a "quantum leap" forward in attracting more customers and extending market leadership? Phil made the comment, "Everyone knows the 80/20 principle. We get 80% of our results from 20% of our activity. Well let's stop running around like chickens with our heads cut off. Let's clarify what can set us apart in the marketplace - our strategic competitive advantage."

Resource Files:
McDonalds Mini Case Study (doc )
Invitation to Steering Committee (doc )
Senior Team Agenda (doc )
AI Summit Participant Workbook (doc )
Pre-Interview Guide (doc )
Slides for the AI Summit (ppt )
Slides from the Planning Session (ppt )
Notes and Agenda from the Planning Session (doc )
Interview Protocol from the Planning session (doc )

(submitted by Lisa Dinga)

- Sponsored by the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University -