Case Study on McDonald Success through

Cross-Cultural Adaptation

Submitted To:
Ms. Mahfuza Khatun
Assistant Professor
International Business

Submitted By:
Name
Md. Rafiur Rahman
Mohsi Nihad Mosabbir Ornab
Rajesh Paul
Md. Shuaib Shahriar Rusho
Lamia Nuzhat Shashi

Student ID
600
613
617
620
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 McDonalds 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 McDonalds 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.
McDonalds 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, McDonalds serve mutton burger instead of beef burger.

Question 02: How are India and China different from the viewpoint of
McDonalds?
Answer:
The viewpoint is very simple in case of India. McDonalds identifies the local
culture and make their menu in a way so that it doesnt 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, McDonalds (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, McDonalds 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, McDonalds 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, McDonalds 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, McDonalds 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.