Case Study on McDonald’ Success through

Cross-Cultural Adaptation

Submitted To:

Ms. Mahfuza Khatun

Assistant Professor

International Business

Submitted By:

Name Student ID

Md. Rafiur Rahman 600

Mohsi Nihad Mosabbir Ornab 613

Rajesh Paul 617

Md. Shuaib Shahriar Rusho 620

Lamia Nuzhat Shashi 1923

MBA Program, Batch-02

August 25, 2015

Department of Finance & Banking

Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Case Study on McDonald’ Success through Cross-Cultural Adaptation

Question 01: Is it true to say that McDonald’s has imposed the home country

culture on the consumers abroad?

Answer:

After discussing the case study it may be assumed that the answer is no. It is

because in every country McDonald’s policy-makers have gone through the

cross-cultural compliance. It is one of the most important factors which make

them successful internationally.

Basically, it is natural that a customer, may be from any part of the world, does

not appreciate that his/her own culture should be undermined by a foreign

company. This is the reason that a company is successful abroad only when it

helps preserve the culture, taste and belief of the host country.

McDonald’s policy-makers realized this fact well and they went essentially for

cross-cultural adaptation.

For an example, in India, the majority of the people believe in Hinduism and

not willing to consume products related to beef. Taking this fact in

consideration, McDonald’s serve mutton burger instead of beef burger.

Question 02: How are India and China different from the viewpoint of

McDonald’s?

Answer:

The viewpoint is very simple in case of India. McDonald’s identifies the local

culture and make their menu in a way so that it doesn’t make a conflict to the

food behavior in that region.

In general, the majority of the Indians are Hindus and as per the religious view,

they are prohibited to consume beef. So, McDonald’s (when they entered in

India) changed its strategy and going to serve mutton burger instead of beef

burger.

The people are vegetarian in the state of Gujarat. So, McDonald’s introduced

veggie burger and other Indian traditional items, such as samosa, vada, dosa,

etc.

On the contrary, in Delhi, it sells meat burgers, popularly known as Maharajas

McKebabs to conform the taste buds of the people of capital city of India.

In case of China, McDonald’s identifies the living standard of the people and

tries to serve the luxury food items which is very popular food behavior in that

region.

In China, McDonald’s has more than 100 outlets, a large network of restaurants.

Here, this company highlights the beef burger which is popularly known as

Quarter Pounder. And more importantly, it is supposed as a luxury in there.

After a long discussion on the difference between the viewpoint in India and

China, we found a conclusion. That is, in India, McDonald’s focuses on local

culture, taste and belief and serves different food items in different state of

India. In China, this company emphasizes on the living standard of the people

and goes for (hypothetical) luxury food items along with as usual menu.