McDonald's Public Relations Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

McDonald's Public Relations - Case Study Example This organization need is what has evolved to Corporate Social Responsibility (Bardhan and Weaver, 2011). Corporate Social Responsibility is the attempt by an organization to address some of the emerging issues concerning their role in society. However, there have been debates on some organizations appear to circumvent this responsibility, regardless of corporate social responsibility requirement in social or legal terms (McKee and Lamb, 2009). This paper seeks to provide a comprehensive analysis of McDonald’s corporate social responsibility, as well as the organization’s ability to identify public relation opportunities and problems, and their reinvention from bad publicity. The growing public demand and awareness for socially responsibility businesses has prompted business organizations to consider corporate social responsibility. One of the international companies with a corporate social responsibility is McDonalds. McDonalds is the largest food chain in the world, s pecializing in hamburger. McDonalds considers corporate social responsibility as achieving results, maintaining open communication with customers and other stakeholders, and taking actions. As part of its framework for corporate social responsibility, McDonald’s works in association with its suppliers to ensure that its supply chain promotes socially responsible practices (Eyre & Littleton, 2012). According to its website, the organization has code of conduct purposely for its suppliers, which clearly stipulates how the suppliers should treat its customers (Aidoo, 2005). McDonald’s has had success in supporting suppliers phasing out gestation crates in the supply chain. The organization claims that about 50% of all contracted hog farms of Cargill use the new-generation system that do not incorporate gestation stalls. In 2007 for instance, the food chain giant embarked on sustainability projects with efforts of improving the working conditions for its farm workers in th e tomato industry in Florida. The result was an enhanced environmental practice in the agricultural supply chain of the organization and made the farm sustainable. Despite the fact that MacDonald’s buys about 1.5% of the tomatoes in Florida annually, the organization and the suppliers laid down the industry-leading growing standards, improving the working conditions in the farms and making the farm business sustainable (Sriramesh and Vercic, 2009). One of the indicators of MacDonald’s approach and its contribution to the communities is the Flagship Farms Initiative (FAI) in Europe. This particular program involves seven progressive farms that employ innovative farming practices in Europe, carrying out research on the ethical farming practices that incorporate into commercial farming systems. Another prime example is visible in the Sustainable Fisheries program, incorporating the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership. The program essentially lays down sustainable standards that stipulate McDonald’s worldwide purchases for wild-caught fish into making Fillet-o-Fish, thus making the relevant fishery business a sustainable business (Royle, 2005). McDonald’s also engages in donating some of its profit portion to corporate philanthropy as part of its corporate social responsibility. The organization donates to the communities through the Ronald McDonald House Charities, a foundation that aims to create, support, and find programs that improve