Does McDonald’s Exhibit Social Responsible Behavior?

McDonald’s exhibits social responsibility in many ways. They have given back to the community by ways of Ronald McDonald Houses, providing meals to disaster victims and to their ‘help’, individual operators support education and special events with fundraising,

sponsorship and contributions. McDonald’s has helped
protect the environment by protecting the natural resources and preserving the rain forest land. They also make a ‘people promise’ for their employees. McDonald’s works for improving animal welfare, antibiotics for animals, beef safety, toy safety, another fundamental obligations.

How does the company serve society through its actions?

McDonald’s serves society by building Ronald McDonald houses which provide housing for families for hospitalized children. There are over 200 houses that provide homes-away-from-homes. The corporation also provides support to victims and their aid in disaster situations, an example is providing meals. McDonald’s supports local schools through programs that serve as tutors and mentors. They also assist in fundraising and sponsorship of special events.

McDonald’s serves everyone’s (people who care) best interest by conserving water and developing and coordinating water safety. They are able to do this by a few different approaches; one is by collecting rain water, filtering it and using it for irrigation, another way is by adjusting water schedules and adapting plants for different climates, a third way is by installing in there restaurants low use water control, such as low-flush toilets, auto sensor faucets for sinks and timers for the hoses in outdoor applications. Thus using less water the cheaper the food gets and the cheaper the water bill is.

McDonald’s is also working on developing alternatives to hydro fluorocarbons, which they have been using for refrigerants. The hydro fluorocarbons are believed to contribute to the global warming issue, of which it eats at the ozone. They are working with the federal government to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions. This is called the Greenhouse Challenge Cooperative Agreement.

McDonald’s have been recycling their used cooking oil, by converting most of the oil into bio-diesel fuel. Not only does the recycling contribute to responsibility but the bio-diesel fuel burns cleaner than the conventional diesel fuel. McDonald’s in 1990 initiated a recycling program in which they have been recycling certain products and purchasing more than $4 billion in recycled packing materials. McDonald’s recycles paper cups in Korea, cooking oil in Europe, and in Switzerland cardboard, polyethylene packing film, newspapers, and used light bulbs into insulation materials. It seems that McDonald’s has taken a large step in the right direction on social responsibility.

Is the company serving itself, customers, or investors through its actions?

Although social responsibility is expensive to initiate in the long run it should pay for it’s self, not monetary but ethically. It costs more to buy recycled paper, because more goes into processing it instead of just cutting and slicing wood. It costs more to recycle things, such as the cooking oil into bio-diesel fuel. McDonald’s is trying to change the world regardless of the cost, and due to this they are becoming a better business. They are taking profit from the world and reinvesting back into the world.

In your opinion, who pays for the company’s social responsible actions?

In my opinion, the company’s profits pay for the social responsibility actions, however the consumer is the real spender for their actions. I personally believe the more socially responsible they become the more expensive their service is, because no company enjoys taking a profit cut.