大学体验英语视听说教程 UNIT 1McDonald’s Business

丁伟电气102
1：McDonald’s Business Model: The Three-legged Stool
Script
McDonald’s Corporation (MCD) is one of the leading fast-food restaurant chains in the world, touching the lives of people every day. As the world’s largest chain of restaurants, it primarily sells hamburgers, chicken, french fries, milkshakes, soft drinks, etc.
The business began in 1940, with a restaurant opened by brothers Dick and Mac McDonald. Initially, they just owned a hotdog stand. But after establishing the restaurant they served around 25 items, which were mostly barbecued. It became a popular and profitable teen hangout. Their introduction of the “Speed Service System” in 1948 established the principles of the modern fast-food restaurant. The present corporation dates its founding to the opening of a franchised restaurant by Ray Kroc on April 15, 1955.
In effect, Kroc opened his first and the overall ninth restaurant in Chicago, Illinois, and gave birth to McDonald’s Corporation. In 1958, the restaurant chain sold its 100 millionth hamburger. In 1960, Kroc renamed his company as “McDonald’s Corporation”. In 1961, Kroc convinced the McDonald brothers to sell the business rights to him in the company. Thus he purchased the brothers’ equity for a s um of $2.7million and led to its worldwide expansion.
As McDonald’s expands successfully into many international markets, the company became a symbol of globalization and the spread of the American way of life. Its prominence also made it a frequent subject of public debates about obesity, corporate ethics and consumer responsibility.
2:Script
Since setting up the first McDonald’s in China, the Western restaurant chain has been expanding steadily and successfully. So far, other than the home market – the United States – China is the No. 1 growth market for McDonald’s, with over 1000 restaurants and over 60,000 employees. China also represents one third of all capital expenditures in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa region, where the fast-food giant is in 37 markets. According to Skinner, vice-chairman and CEO of this world’s largest fast-food company, “We’ve been steadily growing with China for the past 20 years and are very excited for what the future holds,” he says.
In 1990, McDonald’s chose Shenz hen, a pioneer Special Economic Zone in Guangdong province bordering Hong Kong, to open its first 500-seat store in the developing market. McDonald’s quickly won over the local consumers, due to its many attractions like its Ronald McDonald clown, Golden A rches or the yellow “M” logo, Big Mac, the smiling attendants
and the quick service. The success of the Shenzhen outlet prompted McDonald’s to expand its chain nationwide. And McDonald’s has not stopped from aggressively increasing the number of its outlets in China. The mainland’s fast-food market is growing at a rate of 16 percent per year.
“We are going to continue our growth at a faster rate in China. China is a huge market with great opportunities for businesses around the world, and it's no different for McDonald’s,” Skinner adds.。