EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Overview Conclusions External Analysis The conditions are changing in the fast food industry as consumer preferences keep changing and as competition becomes more intense and more fragmented. There will always be a demand for fast food, but the restaurants need to keep up with the recent changes to keep their competitive advantage. Internal Analysis In 1991, McDonalds did release a low-fat burger targeted towards adults called McLean Deluxe, which was a response to the customer’s desire for a healthier option. However, the McLean Deluxe flopped and McDonald’s removed it from the market. A few years later it released another adult style burger, which also failed. McDonald’s is trying to keep up with the new environmental trends, but making the wrong strategy decisions by going after the wrong target market of adults, instead of young adults. Quinlan did not realize this mistake after the failure of the McLean Deluxe, so he made the same mistake twice. With this turnaround strategy sales and profits have increased, which shows that these new core competencies that McDonald’s has developed is giving it a competitive advantage again. DIAGNOSIS During this time McDonald’s competition was able to implement strategies that did satisfy the changing needs of its customers, such as Subway campaign with the low fat sandwiches. Even though, the McLean Deluxe did try to do the same thing, the implementation of it was done wrong. New competition also emerged during this time, which makes this environment even more competitive and fragmented. With everything that was going on during that time for McDonald’s it is no surprise that it lost its competitive advantage. CONCLUSION Works cited Subway. "Subway Restaurant Timeline 1997." 2008. Subway. 10 March 2009 http://www.subway.com/subwayroot/AboutSubway/timeline.aspx.