Overview McDonald's has over 30,000 restaurants in 119 countries and territories. Over the years, McDonald's remains competitive and trusted in the market. Like any other company, McDonald's must leverage its strengths and work to minimize its weaknesses to continue to be at the top of its industry. Strengths: Strong brand recognition and advertising: Few people could mistake McDonald's golden arches. A survey conducted by a marketing company concluded that out of 7,000 people worldwide, 88% could identify the iconic logo, while only 54% of people could identify the Christian cross (Schlosser). In another survey, 96% of school children could identify McDonald's mascot, Ronald McDonald (Schlosser). This can largely be attributed to the annual advertising budget of over $788 million (Forbes). McDonald's ads are everywhere, from billboards to television commercials. The company has celebrity spokespersons and sponsors major sports leagues, including the NFL (Janoff), NBA (Young), and NASCAR (Boarman). They also sponsor global sporting events including the Olympics and FIFA World Cup (sponsorships). Huge Franchise: McDonald's has approximately 35,000 local restaurants and serves more than 100 countries every day (Chalabi). McDonald's serves 62 million customers every day, which is more than the population of Great Britain (Khan). This leads them to sell more than 75 burgers per second of every day (Feridun). From 2010 to 2013, McDonald's opened approximately one new restaurant every day in China (Yan). Strong community relationships: McDonald's gives back to the communities it serves. Some programs include: McDonald's American High School Basketball Games; Camp Mickey D's, which introduces high school students to the demands of the workplace,......halfway......with a good marketing strategy, the company could win back those customers. Difficulty in increasing the company's already massive growth. McDonald's has more than 30,000 restaurants in 119 countries and territories, leaving very little room for growth (“AboutMcDonalds.com”). To solve this weakness, McDonald's needs to focus more on existing locations and ways to improve them instead of trying to open more locations. Conclusion To improve its business portfolio analysis, McDonald's must leverage its strengths and address its weaknesses in order to remain one of the top performers in the industry. Reasons they remain in the cash cow stage include strong branding, customer loyalty and good community relations. McDonald's is not without its flaws, as we see in variable levels of quality, lack of healthy options, and high turnover..