A CRITICAL EVALUATION OF HOW NATIONAL CULTURES AFFECT

PRODUCT LINE WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO MCDONALDS

Chapter. 1

Introduction

1.1. Introduction:

The study makes the evaluation of how the national cultures are affecting the product line
with more special reference to McDonalds. There are many companies that have their
operations in the international level and they have their constant growth. [ CITATION Pan10 \l
16393 ]The world countries are opening up more now for the global trade and the destinations
for the companies are increasing. There is very high competition and this makes the
companies that are operating in abroad to face much tougher task than ever before. While the
company goes in the international way there will be more challenges which the company
must handle in the new and unfamiliar surroundings.[ CITATION She10 \l 16393 ]

1.2. Background to the study:

There are certain advices which the company should have in their mind and this will increase
the co – operation in the international market. This is also very vital that even without
entering the foreign country they will inform the personal with the manners and their customs
in their new culture. [ CITATION Jes10 \l 16393 ]Since, if the first impression is made in the
negative manner then this will be very hard to shake and the foreign cultures had the different
ways of doing business. Example: in the case of the planning and keeping up with the
delivery times. THE culture can be positive and they can also influence the negative aspects
of company to struggle in the new foreign environment. [ CITATION Dav111 \l 16393 ]

The cultural differences though they are very difficult for the observation and also the
measurement they are very vital. The failure for the appreciation and account these
differences in the culture will result in the more embarrassing blunders which will strain the
relationships and will drag the business down. [ CITATION Pan10 \l 16393 ] The effects in the
culture will persist and this will sometimes result in the life – death situations. Example:
There was a Korean Air plane crash that happened between 1970 and 2000. The analysis
showed that the co –captains behaved indifferently to their captain and this is since they
never made any suggestions to their captain since challenging one’s superior is considered as
culturally inadequate behaviour. [ CITATION Jes10 \l 16393 ]

The culture consists of many different layers where the different aspect of the culture is more
visible just like the tip of the iceberg. The culture will indicate many aspects like the
behaviour, their language, food and music. It is very careful to analyse the business and
present the business cards so that this will present the professional identity of that person,
their title and also their social status. This can be understood by considering the vitality and
the respect that is provided for the seniority and also their status in the culture. [ CITATION
She10 \l 16393 ] This is important since they not only require the knowledge but also the
deeper – level of the assumptions which will have more value for certain behaviours and why
they are considered to be the best. [ CITATION Dav111 \l 16393 ]

The simplest way in which this could be summarized is to understand the persistence in the
linguistic differences and see what the common populations speak. There is also a growth in
the appreciation where they see how interpretive the differences are and how they have their
presence in the culture. In addition to that the most observable characters are the differences
in the culture are the levels in the behaviour, their religion and language categories for
grouping of the countries. [ CITATION She10 \l 16393 ]There are also clusters which rely mainly
on the geography, their language, religion and other primary factors which are vital for doing
the business. Example: The world famous McDonalds had their failure in their initial launch
in India since they launched it with Beef stuff. The Cow is considered sacred in India and
people avoided that stuff. Now there is variety of vegetable stuffing offered in McDonald
which made them to run the business successfully in the later stages. [ CITATION Jes10 \l
16393 ]The most of the research that is done in the aspect of the products packages and also
with their advertisement will remain more unpublished with their competitive concerns.

1.3. Research background:

There are certain notions that are set by the researchers in the background while according to
[ CITATION Dav111 \l 16393 ] It is the culture and the price which is affecting the product lines
and also their sales in that particular nation. According to [ CITATION She10 \l 16393 ]The
colours will have the different meaning in different cultures and thus the marketer must use
the colour properly before going for the marketing. The culture will have their affect in
cultural, physical and psychological aspect. Example: the colour symbolises the meaning of
death or mourning in East Asia but they represent the happiness and purity in the Australia,
New Zealand and USA. The colour Blue which is the corporate colour in USA is considered
as cold and evil in East Asia, but they represent warmth in Netherlands and purity in India.
[ CITATION Dav111 \l 16393 ]

According to [ CITATION Jes10 \l 16393 ] The wrong choice of the colours and the package will
also lead to the failure. There is more socio – cultural and the psychological associations with
the meaning of the colour in the cross – cultural marketing and this will outlines their
intrinsic and the extrinsic cue for the product, their package, environment and the brand
which will act as the symbol of their personality and also the self – image. There is also an
argument that this perspective of colour research and their application is more imperative for
the development of the marketing strategies.

1.4. Organisational background:

McDonalds is the company which has their presence around the globe. They strive to be more
than a restaurant and they give the first job for many of the person, they are the community
partner, their model of the restaurants will be there around the world and the company will
seek many new ways for fulfilling their brand promise with their quality, their service, value
and their cleanliness. They have around 34, 000 restaurants which will serve nearly 69
million people every day.

1.5. Rationale behind the topic:

It is very vital to understand the culture of the country before the sales are done. This will
affect even the very survival of the company. We have come far more ahead in the process of
globalisation and internationalisation of markets. The problems of the culture in the initial
stages were found to be more difficult but now there is a huge improvement compared with
the past. Thus this study is done to know how far have we improved or still the company will
is facing many challenges and obstacles that will become very much crucial in their everyday
work is assessed. Thus this study is undertaken.

The culture is one of the main obstacles which will affect their entire co – operation. The
culture will also have an influence in the business in different manners. There will be
language problems, difficulty in the pricing, the collision in the culture but they are not
uncommon more so in the beginning. The company must also handle more pressure and these
difficulties in the way it can satisfy the other part. The mistakes are very difficult for the
correction and this will show as the disrespect for the foreign culture and this will destruct the
entire co – operation.

1.6. Purpose for undertaking the research:

The main purpose is to understand the difference in the culture and how they are affecting
the business and how they are vital for the success in the business. The research shows
religions as a market of the cultural differences and they will focus more in the condition
where the national communities will share the more common religion. The language has the
deeper impact over the persons as they carry with them the patters in which they see, know,
talk and act is also vital to study for good communication. This is undertaken to understand
the pattern which will mark the easy trails with the thought, action and the perception.

1.7. Statement of the problem:

The misunderstanding in the culture will affect the sales and even the very survival of the
company. The need for understanding the culture arises from this. The initial failure of
McDonalds in India and later they established after knowing their culture is an example
which shows how vital the understanding of the culture is in a nation. The importance and
relevance of this difference in culture for the survival of the nation is studied here.

1.8. Research questions:

 What are the cultural differences that give the pressure in the international business?
 What is the most vital cultural issue that need to be considered by the company while
going abroad?
 How do the products that are manufactured vary across the countries based on their
culture?
1.9. Research Objectives:
1.9.1. Aim:

To make an evaluation of how national cultures affect the product line with special reference
to McDonalds.

1.9.2. Objectives:
 To understand how the cultural differences pressure the international business
 To understand the most vital cultural issue to be considered by the company while
going abroad
  To analyse how the products that are manufactured vary across the countries based on
their culture.
 To suggest suitable recommendations for further study.
1.10. Significance of the study:

This shows the significance of the culture and how they act in the cross – border interactions.
The national culture will shape the behaviour of the persons and this will have a huge impact
in the administrative matters of the company and also while taking policies especially related
to governmental matters. This shows how the culture will make the differences in the culture
and affect the operation of the firms around the globe. [ CITATION Dav111 \l 16393 ] The surface
level and their convergence in the cultural habits, symbols and the artefacts will spread the
consumer culture across the globe. There are cultures which will have more emphasis on their
universal commitments which will put their weight on the loyalty which is more particular
people and also in the relationships. There is also more misunderstanding is large with the
more wealthy and deeply connected countries like the United States and also in South Korea.
[ CITATION Jes10 \l 16393 ]

1.11. Structure of the dissertation:

In Chapter 1, It discusses about the background behind the research, the aims and the
objectives, the rationale behind the topic, the research questions and the overall structure of
the dissertation.

In chapter 2, This deals with the review of the literature and this is done so by reviewing the
works of many authors which are mainly collected with the help of the secondary sources.
This is very much helpful in the research as they give the broad idea about how to go about
the research and how they can be evaluated. This shows the findings in the past so that they
can be compared with the present research that is done.

In Chapter 3, They describe about the research methods that could be used in the research so
that the objectives of the research are attained. This is done in this chapter by detailing on the
available methods and choosing the right kinds of the methods. The reason for choosing the
particular method is also mentioned as they are vital for the assessment of the objectives and
the research questions raised in the beginning of the research.

In chapter 4, The data analysis is made with the help of the primary data that is collected.
Though there are many methods for the collection of the primary data the questionnaire is
used here since they will keep up with the time and the cost. The questionnaire is used for
the collection of the data from the respondents and later they are assessed and tabulated for
the easy evaluation. This will help in comparison of the results with the secondary data that is
reviewed.

In chapter 5, This will gives the overall conclusions of the research that is done and how
they are able to obtain the research objectives is also listed. The recommendations for the
research and for the further study are also given here.

Reference:

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 Ghemawat, P. (2010). National Cultural Differences and Multinational Business.
Journal of Human Resources , 12 - 34.
 Lai, J. C. (2010). Māori Culture in the Modern World: Its Creation,Appropriation and
Trade. i-call working paper , 45 - 67.
 Ryan, S. D. (2010). Organizational Practices That Foster Knowledge
Sharing:Validation across Distinct National Cultures. Informing Science: the
International Journal of an Emerging Transdiscipline , 34 - 56.