MCDONALD'S ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

Mcdonald's Organizational Culture

Mcdonald's Organizational Culture

Introduction

McDonald's is not just a very large MNC; it could be argued that the company is a phenomenon in its own right. One recent article described the company in terms of globalizing culture and belief systems. George Ritzer has gone a stage further and sees societies across the world going through a process of “McDonaldization”.

The business started by the McDonald brothers in 1937 began franchising in 1955. Today the company has well over 13,000 outlets in 53 countries. The company has reported a profit increase every year since 1960. In 1990 the company reported turnover of $6.8 billion and profits of $800 million. By 1993 turnover had reached $24 billion. McDonald's International is now the fastest growing segment of the McDonald's Corporation.

In 1975 the company had already opened stores in Europe, Asia and the Americas but at that time only 8 per cent of sales came from outside the USA. Ten years later this figure had increased to 20 per cent. McDonald's International was now generating $2.1 billion in food sales outside the USA. By the mid-1990s it is expected that 50 per cent of McDonald's profits will come from outlets outside the USA. Statistics abound: many billions of burgers have been sold; the Moscow McDonald's for example sells on average 30,000 hamburgers everyday with an average turnover of $1.5 million per month.

Organizational Culture

McDonald's is not just a very large MNC; it could be argued that the company is a phenomenon in its own right. One recent article described the company in terms of globalizing culture and belief systems. George Ritzer has gone a stage further and sees societies across the world going through a process of “McDonaldization”.

The business started by the McDonald brothers in 1937 began franchising in 1955. Today the company has well over 13,000 outlets in 53 countries. The company has reported a profit increase every year since 1960. In 1990 the company reported turnover of $6.8 billion and profits of $800 million. By 1993 turnover had reached $24 billion. McDonald's International is now the fastest growing segment of the McDonald's Corporation.

One issue that has come out very clearly from the interviews is that those selected for management tend to be people who have the “right attitude”, and feel comfortable with the corporate culture, the McDonald's way of doing things. This is far more important than academic achievement. Indeed most of the ...