INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

International Business

International Business

Introduction

McDonalds is one of the most robust brand names renowned all over the world. Any part of the globe one trots and one will find some McDonalds outlet in some nook and cranny. Ray Kroc is the person behind the success and growth of McDonalds. As an exemplary American brand, what McDonalds stands for today are American values.

McDonald became a name to reckon with because it also came up with a terrific idea and expanded all over the world with the help of franchising that was again another first from McDonalds. It blazed the trail rather than being the follower. Many other fast food organizations followed McDonalds and its approach. The strategies and services became benchmark at McDonalds that others adopted. Kroc emphasized on the casual family atmosphere where people can enjoy their meals in a clean environment coupled with fast and courteous service. With these social factors and strategies in mind McDonalds success became phenomenal. Macdonald not just became a phenomenon in the United States but its franchise operations spread all over (Adler, 1997). At times McDonalds even cancelled the licenses of its franchisees if they were unable to follow strict guidelines regarding operations (Verluyten, 2000).

Discussion

Even in year to come, McDonalds presence is there in a number of countries all over the world. However, the scenario has much more changed. With the passage of time, McDonalds has standardized and streamlined its operations resulting in many advantages. Their service and operations standards are their assets on the basis of which McDonalds has grown, but the demographic factor, which was the main motivating force behind McDonald's success, and Ray Kroc's strategy formulation is noticeable by its absence. Many other fast food chains have cropped up over the years offering salads and sandwiches for the increasingly health conscious fast food market. Some of the chains, for example, Subway with their sandwiches and Wendy's white meats, salads and tastier and juicier broiled food captured market's attention. The taste of the market has changed with the time, and McDonald's taste remained stuck with the same concept of fast food. So taste is definitely one of the factors that McDonalds failed to monitor in the global business operations (Magnus, 1997).

If the McDonalds want to keep its brand name alive in the global world, then it has to realign its strategy according to changes in the market segment at ...