We were asked to research the history of the fast food chain McDonald’s, and to explain which parts of the SCAMPER model are evident in its development onto its current success. This assignment was supposed to take a day, but it took significantly longer because when I do research, I go all out – which isn’t always a good thing because I spend more time on these things than necessary! Their history starts in 1940 and I ended up with a 13 page research paper… But at least I know everything there is to know about McD’s now!
To start off, let me just explain what the SCAMPER method is:
SCAMPER is a method used to develop new products or services.
S – SUBSTITUTE – What elements of this product/service can be substituted?
C – COMBINE – How can this product/service be combined with other products/services?
A – ADAPT – What idea from elsewhere can be altered or adapted?
M – MODIFY/MAGNIFY – Can any component be greatly enlarged or greatly reduced?
P – PURPOSE – What completely different purpose can the product/service have?
E – ELIMINATE – What elements of the product/service can be eliminated?
R – REVERSE/REARANGE – How can the the product/service be rearranged / can the process be reversed?
There is evidence of this method throughout McDonald’s history. Instead of doing this chronologically, I’m going to go through this step by step with a few examples.
SUBSTITUTE
The first example of substitution I noticed, was the small change from potato chips to french fries made in 1949. This may seem like a small change, but McDonald’s wouldn’t be the McDonalds we know today without those beloved french fries!
In 1961, they substituted the then “Speedee” logo with the iconic Golden Arches logo – which was inspired by McDonald’s architecture at the time – I’ll come back to that.
COMBINE
McDonald’s focus went from just burgers, to a whole new range of products and services. Simple things like introducing the “Triple Thick Milkshakes”, “Big Mac”, and the “Hot Apple Pie”, are all good examples of this. The Happy meal, introduced in 1979 is probably my favorite – special meals directed towards children.
ADAPT
“Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature’s inexorable imperative.” – H.G. Wells
In 1965, the “Filet-O-Fish” was added to the National menu. This was “created by Lou Groen, to help build volume in the predominately Roman Catholic community in which his store was located”.
In 1975, the first drive-thruis opened in Arizona. Soldiers from nearby were forbidden to get out of their cars in army fatigues – and they thus solved the problem.
MODIFY/MAGNIFY
After some alterations made in 1948, they reduced the, then, large menu.
The McDonald’s brothers aspired to become a nationwide franchise, and in 1965 they reached 700 restaurants throughout the US. They then went international in 1967, opening restaurants in Canada and Puerto Rico. Today, they are in 119 countries around the world.
PURPOSE
Now, I hope I understood this correctly…
In 1968, McDonald’s began its support of the Olympic movement by airlifting hamburgers to homesick US athletes competing in France.
In 1974, the first Ronald McDonald House opens. A football player had the need for such a facility at the children’s Hospital in Philadelphia, where his child was being treated for leukemia. His dilemma led to the first Ronald McDonald House.
In 1977, the first All American High School Basketball Team is selected.
ELIMINATE
After the alterations in 1948, the restaurant went from a typical drive-in, with a car hop service, to a self-service drive-in. For those of you who don’t know (because I know I didn’t), “car-hopping” is a service where waitresses will take your order from your car, and bring the food to your car.
In 1961, Ray Kroc buys out the McDonald brothers (he also buys rights to the McDonald’s name ) for $2.7 million.
REVERSE/REARANGE
Again, I hope I understood this correctly. I only found one example of this.
In 1956, Harry Sonneborn establishes a model whereby McDonald’s Corporation leases land to licensees, which combined with the 1.9% service fee (0.5% of which went to the McDonald brothers) made the company financially sustainable.
Links used:
http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/food/product_nutrition.snackssides.6050.small-french-fries.html
http://logos.wikia.com/wiki/McDonald’s
https://www.mcdonaldsnytristate.com
http://www.indexmundi.com/blog/index.php/2013/02/25/the-presence-of-mcdonalds-across-the-world/
Ashley's Reflected Journal 