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Martinez 1
Isabel Martinez
Fundamentals of MGT
Professor Perretta
November 27, 2013
McDonald’s Globalization
Companies usually don’t perform as well as they do locally worldwide due to
cultural differences, but this is not the case of McDonald’s. This company was able to
surpass any standards by their globalization. They revolutionized the fast food
industry by adjusting every aspect of their company to fulfill foreign expectations
and habits. Their ability to incorporate their signature burger and fries to a global
scale through tradition and culture recognition has made them the most successful
fast-food chain. “McDonald's had been a successful global food corporation
at refining, co-coordinating, standardizing and developing such processes into a
total system” (Kulkarni). McDonald’s has an impressive reputation as a worldwide
industry, especially because of its adaptation to different countries. Although it had
to face some problems due to their globalization, the company has shown
unbelievable administration of integrative managerial issues.
One of McDonald’s major barriers for globalization was its establishment in
India in 1996. They had to form a join venture with two Indian businessmen called
Amit Jatia and Vikram Bakshi in order to fully understand Indian needs and desires
and be able to meet this market’s expectations. Most of the population in this
country is Hindu or vegetarian, which see the cow as sacred. How can a company
known as the world’s largest user of beef adapt to such a radical change? First of all,
Martinez 2
McDonald’s had to adopt the burger to meet the Indian taste. They replaced their
well-known Big Mac for the Maharaja Mac, which is made of lamb instead of beef.
They also adapted their menu to be for vegetarians creating the McAloo Tikki, which
is made with potatoes, peas and spices. And offered the option of adding chicken or
fish for the non-vegetarians. McDonalds’ fries in India are not beef flavored as in the
U.S. They keep total control of their vegetarian and non-vegetarian products
producing it in different areas of the restaurant due to religious laws, assuring
costumers that the food they are getting is pure vegetarian. They even make the
employees who do not work with the meat wear green aprons to make sure they are
keeping both cooking processes separated. McDonalds not only adapted their
current U.S products, but also innovated new options only for the Indian market. The
