His contribution to McDonald’s was the standardization of the food and outlets.

Due to Kroc's foresight in standardizing cooking and serving methods, all procedures were effective and simple for new and unskilled staff to master. This was critical to the business as teen workers arrived and left so that clients would continue to receive the food they anticipated in a timely manner. Any consumer who had to wait longer than five minutes for their order was required to receive a refund.

In order to expand his presence, Kroc created a friendly franchise agreement. Instead of collecting a significant launch fee, he adopted the strategy of charging a 1.9 percent commission on a franchisee's sales.

Kroc is frequently credited with introducing McDonald's to the condensed menu and efficient meal preparation. He did, however, affirm that everything was set up when he joined the business. His expertise was in making sure the franchisees were uniform. At the time, it was typical for franchisees to purchase vast tracts of land, but Kroc saw value in offering franchises for specific locations. He was able to maintain control over the uniformity of food preparation, cleanliness standards, customer service, shop furnishings, etc. thanks to small franchisees. He maintained establishments in suburban areas and prohibited pinball and cigarette machines. By doing this, he prevented them from turning into biker gang hangouts, as many other hamburger joints unavoidably did.