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| Image Courtesy of brandeating.com |
Almost every American child can recognize the iconic golden arches that belong to McDonald's. This American fast food chain has over 12,000 restaurants in the United States but also serves customers in nearly 120 countries. I was reading an article in
Newsweek Magazine that said that McDonalds announced that it would be opening two all vegetarian restaurants in India. This makes total sense at a marketing standpoint because a majority of the population in India are either Hindu or Muslim. In the Hindu religion, the cow is considered sacred and they do not eat meat and Muslims follow 'Halal' and cannot eat pork. There are only 271 restaurants currently located in India that serve some vegetarian options but cannot fully accommodate the limitations of the culture. Instead of common items such as the 'Big Mac' or 'McDouble' that would appear on a menu in the United States, these McDonalds will be serving the 'McAloo Tikki burger' and 'McSpicy Paneer' instead. I think that these restaurants will be more successful because the items available will better cater to the population. When I went to Israel a few years ago, my family and I went to a McDonalds that served kosher burgers. Since there are many Jews in Israel that keep kosher, the McDonalds served kosher burgers to fit the dietary restrictions of their clientele. Similarly, the McDonalds in Israel have changed their menu to better serve the people that will buy their product. Through the examples of India and Israel, I begin to wonder what kind of image an American company has coming into a different country. Would the population of that country prefer to have the 'American' options on their menu rather than ones that fit to their culture? To me, I would clearly think that if an American company is coming in, it should serve 'American' food. But as I mentioned earlier, through a business viewpoint, the company would not make a great profit if it did not adapt its menu to the culture. On the other hand, I feel as though sometimes, profit is not all that matters but that keeping a certain standard throughout all restaurants is the most important. This view, however, is rather idealistic and could never benefit the economy. What do you think?
Lauren, this blog post was very interesting, and I think you make a good point that it's hard to choose between profit and consistency. I think you made some good arguments in favor of consistency among franchises because as you said an American company should serve "American food". However, I think it is much more important to adapt to the culture rather than stay standard. I believe this partially from my Intro to Business class, but I think a company will be more successful and profitable in a foreign country if it adapts to the needs of the specific location. Every place is not the same in the world, which is why it's important to fill the demands of the country. As you said, McDonalds is a well known name, and a company associated with foods such as the "Big Mac". So it will be hard to have people realize that McDonalds also has kosher and vegetarian franchises. However, I believe this small transitional period is necessary for expansion of the company, and will be a great new step for the business.
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