Comparison of CSR Policies between McDonald’s and KFC
The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) becomes well known in the 21st Century. Many companies conduct CSR projects to form positive images. CSR is an ideological theory about weighing the responsibilities and contributions of a company to the society. In clear words, it means how companies manage their business to have an overall positive impact. If companies have good CSR policies, their publicity and customers’ trust will be enhanced. Whereas, less money will be gained by shareholders if companies have bad CSR policies. In this essay, I will compare and contrast the CSR policies between two companies in the fast-food industry, which are McDonald’s and KFC. I will discuss their CSR policies of types of business, animal welfare, charity work, and environmental protection.
The first aspect I would like to compare is the types of business. Both McDonald’s and KFC support ethical business which means that their behavior and actions are approved by the members of the companies. McDonald’s claims that it will conduct an ethical business in its values. KFC promises that it will do what is legal, moral and just. It will not collect an unreasonable amount of tax from the customers and it is willing to be punished if it has done something illegal. This policy gains customers’ trust successfully and both companies have done well on supporting the ethical business.
The second aspect I would like to discuss is animal welfare. Both companies have done a great job in animal welfare. McDonald’s claims that they are animal-friendly and they promise to serve sustainable beef which means a sustainable supply chain. It will not overkill the cows to maintain the balance of the ecosystem. Similarly, KFC supports the humane treatment of animals. Even though we eat chicken, we should respect their lives and help the chicken die with less pain. KFC has set a high standard for its suppliers to ensure that its suppliers treat the animals humanely. Many people recognize this policy and support it.
Also, two companies both put large effort on environment protection. The life span of the Earth is becoming shorter and shorter due to the pollution created by humans. Therefore, people should be more environmentally friendly. KFC has a CSR policy to reduce environmental footprint by using less electricity to help the environment. It implements a recycling program to reduce waste. It also supports using green products for cleaning. Likewise, McDonald’s also supports green products. It uses natural fertilizer to grow vegetables. The process of making natural fertilizers is quite complicated and the cost is high. Fresh frozen solid by-products of potato are used to compressed into gas to make the natural fertilizer. It is obvious that making natural fertilizer is difficult and it requires a lot of expensive machines to do that. Apart from using natural fertilizer, McDonald’s also supports the policy of saving energy and electricity. The fast-food shops of McDonald’s cover most of the areas around the world. To support the large amount of food supply for people around the world, the factory will be very large and will need a large amount of energy and electricity. Therefore, it built turbines in French fry plant which can support 60% of the electricity used by the facility per year. McDonald’s also supports the “Rechargeable Battery Recycling Programme” and introduces “No Straw Everyday” to reduce waste. McDonald’s gains publicity and trust from customers through this policy.
Despite the similarities, there are some differences in the CSR policies about charity work between McDonald’s and KFC. McDonald’s has set up Ronald McDonald House Charities to help people who are in need. For example, it organizes some charity walks and encourages people to donate blood. It also helps children who have long-term illnesses or viral illnesses to hold birthday parties. McDonald’s wants to bring hope and also smile back to the children from suffering. It also helps the homeless individuals by not driving them away from the shop at night. McDonald’s allows them to stay and gives them at least a shelter to rest. Whereas, KFC does a different type of charity work comparing to McDonald’s. KFC does not open 24 hours so it can not retain the homeless individuals. However, KFC has set up the KFC Foundation to help young people cope with society. It provides programs to teach youngsters about effective communication and give them chances to find a job. This CSR policy contributes much to society.
In conclusion, McDonald’s and KFC are two successful examples of the implementation of CSR policies. They both have strong CSR policies on business, animal welfare, charity work, and environmental protection. These help them create positive images in public and make them well-known. Still, there are some improvements I want to suggest. Fast food shops aim to provide customers quick meals. However, the food is not healthy at all and customers may have health problems because of eating fast food often. I think that fast-food companies need to take responsibility for citizens’ health too. Strong CSR policies need to be proposed to protect customers’ health. For Instance, limit the amount of sugar and sodium of the food. Use less oil or use organic oil in making fried food. I believe that this suggestion would gain more supports from the customers and create a more positive image for the companies. The publicity and the customers’ trust will be enhanced too.
