Nabeel Choudhury
Unit 5 – International Businesses
Assignment Three
Strategies and Resources
I enquired to create a research study that evaluates the success of the strategies and
resources used by one business. The business which I have selected is:
McDonald’s
Introduction:
McDonald’s
McDonald’s is one of the largest American fast food businesses that provides a service with
new headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, United States from Oak Brook, Illinois. McDonald’s
was founded by Richard and Maurice McDonald in 1940 and in 1954 Ray Kroc joined as a
franchise agent after witnessing the potential McDonald’s had with their 6 franchises. He
later proceeded to buy the chain from the McDonald brothers by taking 1.9 percent of the
gross sales whereas the McDonald brothers got 0.5 percent with maintaining a small
number of restaurants that caused conflict. Ray Kroc eventually bought them out for $2.7
million-cash in 1961 as he wanted full control however, he wasn’t aware that the deal did
not include the original McDonald’s in San Bernardino. He was able to get them out of
business by creating a franchise one block away and now Kroc was able to successively run
McDonald’s. Unfortunately, Ray Kroc died on January 14, 1984 at the age of 81 as the chain
had thrived that year with 7500 outlets in the United States and 31 other countries and
territories. It was then taken over by James A. Skinner who started off as a restaurant
manager trainee without graduating from college and worked his way up to become CEO of
McDonald’s. McDonald’s offers a very popular uniform menu that includes “Fries, the Big
Mac, chicken sandwiches, chicken nuggets, hamburgers, quarter pounder with cheese,
salads, wraps, desserts, soft drinks, and other beverages.” 1 Their coffee-house-style food
and beverage chain also offers “Iced latte, flat white, toffee latte, hot chocolate, latte,
cappuccino, black coffee, white coffee, espresso, tea, millionaire iced frappé, raspberry
ripple iced cooler, frozen strawberry lemonade, mango and pineapple iced fruit smoothie,
caramel iced frappé, mocha iced frappé, chocolatey doughnut, blueberry muffin, chocolate
muffin, triple chocolate cookie and a sugar doughnut. 2
Products and Processes – McDonald’s
1
https://articles.marketrealist.com/2014/07/must-know-company-overview-mcdonalds/
2
https://www.mcdonalds.com/gb/en-gb/menu/mccafe.html
, Nabeel Choudhury
Unit 5 – International Businesses
Assignment Three
McDonald’s is a global business as they operate in over 100 countries and territories such as
Brazil, Argentina, and Poland etc. 3 Some countries will require different menus in order to
meet customer needs and requirements. McDonald’s has adapted to the Chinese market by
using meat from chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts in its chicken burgers to meet the
local preference. Their grilled chicken burger is a meal offered during Chinese New Year,
which is served alongside curly fries and a Chinese horoscope with the 12 animal signs. 4
McDonald’s has also adapted to the German market by combining ‘Nürnberger’ sausages
with beef in its burgers. A common fact is that Germans love their beer with food, so
McDonald's restaurants in Germany will also serve beer.
If McDonald’s wanted to conduct their operations within Iran, it will heavily affect the way
they operate on a day-to-day basis as Iran’s decisions are based on Islam. Consequently,
McDonald’s will need to adapt to Islam by ensuring their food is Halal as Iran is a 100% Halal
destination unlike America where only some businesses offer Halal food. 5 This could have a
negative impact on McDonald’s as they may need to change their recipe which would not
only cost money but will take time to find new suppliers in Iran. McDonald’s currently
conduct their operations within Saudi Arabia and they use 100% pure Halal meat as the
slaughtering process is carried out by a licensed Muslim butcher. They import the 100%
pure Halal beef from the ‘Australian Food Corporation’ in Australia and the Halal chicken
meat is supplied by the Brazilian ‘JBS Foods’ and the Malaysian ‘McFood’ Company. 6
McDonald’s can use these suppliers if they decide to conduct their operations within Iran as
they have a strong and close relationship with their suppliers. However, there could be a
possibility where the new recipe doesn’t taste better than the universal menu which could
put them in a large dilemma or they could simply have new suppliers slaughter animals
according to Islamic law (dhabiha), as instructed in the Quran.
McDonald's can adapt its menu and business plan to each culture to show its respect
towards different cultures. It will also adhere to the country's policy when they develop
additional items for their menu. As McDonald’s expands into a foreign country, there will be
language barriers that the business will need to conquer before entering the market.
Without knocking down these barriers, it will make it difficult for people to communicate
with one another. These barriers can be brought down either by translating a particular
message or learning the language. Researching the language is also very important as the
business does not want to come off as rude to frustrate an employee from their job role.
This could cause the worker to leave their job and cause the business to be in a lot of
trouble to replace the worker.
3
https://www.thoughtco.com/number-of-mcdonalds-restaurants-worldwide-1435174
4
https://www.daytranslations.com/blog/2019/01/how-mcdonalds-adapts-around-the-world-13239/
5
https://irandoostan.com/iran-perfectly-safe-halal-destination/
6
https://www.mcdonalds.com/content/dam/ArabiaGWS/english/promotion/riyadh/All_in_one-Eng.pdf
Unit 5 – International Businesses
Assignment Three
Strategies and Resources
I enquired to create a research study that evaluates the success of the strategies and
resources used by one business. The business which I have selected is:
McDonald’s
Introduction:
McDonald’s
McDonald’s is one of the largest American fast food businesses that provides a service with
new headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, United States from Oak Brook, Illinois. McDonald’s
was founded by Richard and Maurice McDonald in 1940 and in 1954 Ray Kroc joined as a
franchise agent after witnessing the potential McDonald’s had with their 6 franchises. He
later proceeded to buy the chain from the McDonald brothers by taking 1.9 percent of the
gross sales whereas the McDonald brothers got 0.5 percent with maintaining a small
number of restaurants that caused conflict. Ray Kroc eventually bought them out for $2.7
million-cash in 1961 as he wanted full control however, he wasn’t aware that the deal did
not include the original McDonald’s in San Bernardino. He was able to get them out of
business by creating a franchise one block away and now Kroc was able to successively run
McDonald’s. Unfortunately, Ray Kroc died on January 14, 1984 at the age of 81 as the chain
had thrived that year with 7500 outlets in the United States and 31 other countries and
territories. It was then taken over by James A. Skinner who started off as a restaurant
manager trainee without graduating from college and worked his way up to become CEO of
McDonald’s. McDonald’s offers a very popular uniform menu that includes “Fries, the Big
Mac, chicken sandwiches, chicken nuggets, hamburgers, quarter pounder with cheese,
salads, wraps, desserts, soft drinks, and other beverages.” 1 Their coffee-house-style food
and beverage chain also offers “Iced latte, flat white, toffee latte, hot chocolate, latte,
cappuccino, black coffee, white coffee, espresso, tea, millionaire iced frappé, raspberry
ripple iced cooler, frozen strawberry lemonade, mango and pineapple iced fruit smoothie,
caramel iced frappé, mocha iced frappé, chocolatey doughnut, blueberry muffin, chocolate
muffin, triple chocolate cookie and a sugar doughnut. 2
Products and Processes – McDonald’s
1
https://articles.marketrealist.com/2014/07/must-know-company-overview-mcdonalds/
2
https://www.mcdonalds.com/gb/en-gb/menu/mccafe.html
, Nabeel Choudhury
Unit 5 – International Businesses
Assignment Three
McDonald’s is a global business as they operate in over 100 countries and territories such as
Brazil, Argentina, and Poland etc. 3 Some countries will require different menus in order to
meet customer needs and requirements. McDonald’s has adapted to the Chinese market by
using meat from chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts in its chicken burgers to meet the
local preference. Their grilled chicken burger is a meal offered during Chinese New Year,
which is served alongside curly fries and a Chinese horoscope with the 12 animal signs. 4
McDonald’s has also adapted to the German market by combining ‘Nürnberger’ sausages
with beef in its burgers. A common fact is that Germans love their beer with food, so
McDonald's restaurants in Germany will also serve beer.
If McDonald’s wanted to conduct their operations within Iran, it will heavily affect the way
they operate on a day-to-day basis as Iran’s decisions are based on Islam. Consequently,
McDonald’s will need to adapt to Islam by ensuring their food is Halal as Iran is a 100% Halal
destination unlike America where only some businesses offer Halal food. 5 This could have a
negative impact on McDonald’s as they may need to change their recipe which would not
only cost money but will take time to find new suppliers in Iran. McDonald’s currently
conduct their operations within Saudi Arabia and they use 100% pure Halal meat as the
slaughtering process is carried out by a licensed Muslim butcher. They import the 100%
pure Halal beef from the ‘Australian Food Corporation’ in Australia and the Halal chicken
meat is supplied by the Brazilian ‘JBS Foods’ and the Malaysian ‘McFood’ Company. 6
McDonald’s can use these suppliers if they decide to conduct their operations within Iran as
they have a strong and close relationship with their suppliers. However, there could be a
possibility where the new recipe doesn’t taste better than the universal menu which could
put them in a large dilemma or they could simply have new suppliers slaughter animals
according to Islamic law (dhabiha), as instructed in the Quran.
McDonald's can adapt its menu and business plan to each culture to show its respect
towards different cultures. It will also adhere to the country's policy when they develop
additional items for their menu. As McDonald’s expands into a foreign country, there will be
language barriers that the business will need to conquer before entering the market.
Without knocking down these barriers, it will make it difficult for people to communicate
with one another. These barriers can be brought down either by translating a particular
message or learning the language. Researching the language is also very important as the
business does not want to come off as rude to frustrate an employee from their job role.
This could cause the worker to leave their job and cause the business to be in a lot of
trouble to replace the worker.
3
https://www.thoughtco.com/number-of-mcdonalds-restaurants-worldwide-1435174
4
https://www.daytranslations.com/blog/2019/01/how-mcdonalds-adapts-around-the-world-13239/
5
https://irandoostan.com/iran-perfectly-safe-halal-destination/
6
https://www.mcdonalds.com/content/dam/ArabiaGWS/english/promotion/riyadh/All_in_one-Eng.pdf
