Mcdonalds and Hindu Culture free essay sample

McDonald’s decided to approach the situation by not offering the offending primary ingredient and instead substituting with a new type of protein for their menu, mutton. They recognized the two categories of local customers, vegetarian and non-vegetarian and created separate lines by customer type. McDonald’s in the USA was using beef extract in the frying oil and were sued by three men in Seattle, two of which were Hindu for fraudulently concealing the existence of beef in McDonalds French fries. McDonald’s issued an apology to Hindus, vegetarians and others for failing to provide the kind of information they needed to make informed dietary decisions at their U. S. restaurants. However, news travels fast and the Hindu nationalists in India grew angry enough to vandalize one McDonald’s restaurant, causing $45,000 in damage; shouted slogans outside of another; picketed the company’s headquarters; and called on India’s prime minister to close McDonald’s 27 stores in the Country. McDonald’s Indian franchise holders quickly issued denials that they used oil that contained beef extract, and Hindu extremists responded by stating they would submit McDonald’s oil to laboratory tests to see if they could detect beef extract. Questions: 1. Was the mistake that McDonalds made with this new market advancement was to not consider global business practices vs local business practices and global response to local issues? 2. Were enough meat substitutes considered and incorporated to menu? 3. Was potential customer base evaluated well enough to establish non-offending meal options? 4. Was changing the meat type but maintaining â€Å"Mac† in menu branding sufficient? Could this cause speculation that food still contained beef? 5. Are foods prepared separately enough to segregate veggie vs non-veggie customers? 6. Can a company incorporate global preferences in a local market? 7. Truth in advertising laws can impact globally based on local issues? 8. How does a company mitigate media impacts globally for localized issues? Key Issues: 1. Cultural differences were impacting key ingredients; beef vs religious practice 2. Adoption of non-offending recipes; no beef used in food 3. Lawsuit for not maintaining separation of vegetarian vs non-vegetarian practices and not maintaining integrity of non-beef / non-meat food preparation globally Listing of Alternative Courses of Action / Factors: Objectives: Appeal to Muslim amp; Hindu Culture Overall Strategy: Eliminate cultural and religious offending items from menu locally, create new menu offerings and amend menu offerings globally. Economic Trends: Middle income families eating out Marketplace Trends: Local cuisine becomes international cuisine Competition: Larger menu options to appeal to international tastes Legal Restrictions: Local restaurants are bound by local laws Personal Capabilities: Local management conducts due diligence for localized decision on menu offerings Financial Capabilities: Local menus dependent on sourcing ingredients that keep menus relevant and competitive Sources of Supply: Dictated by economic capabilities Evaluation of Alternative Courses of Action: In this case of McDonalds and Hindu Culture there were some alternative courses of action that could have mitigated the risk surrounding the end result of being sued in the U. S. for business practices different than those in India. By modifying their overall strategy to focus globally as well as locally, other foreign fast food and retail stores can use this McDonalds example to be certain to appeal to cultural expectations while at the same time not offending local and global customer base. * McDonalds could have foreseen or better prepared itself for the negative publicity associated with the revelation that it u sed beef extract in its frying oil by considering how neglecting to be diligent in removing offending ingredients would impact economic amp; market trends globally. By being more diligent in meeting their overall strategy of eliminating the offending beef ingredient, they could have avoided the risk of lawsuit and negative publicity by considering how its total menu and ingredient list would impact its goal of appealing to Muslim amp; Hindu culture globally and not just in India. This course of action could have allowed them to source alternative flavor enhancer(s) that would have kept the French fries truly vegetarian and not containing the sacred cow offending India (or other offending ingredients for future expansion) for all restaurants. A firm should maintain its localizing efforts to be relevant and competitive in accordance with economic/ marketplace trends and competitive position. The firm should localize its products enough to meet business objectives and overall strategy while meeting needs associated with cultural differences while keeping as much of their distinguishing characteristics in place as possible. It is a fact that the com pany may become less like their counterparts in other countries and a company may ose a portion of its marketing advantage but they could also gain in the way of less risk and customer appreciation for the company acknowledging local customs and preferences. Recommendation of Best Course of Action For this case study, I would contend that McDonald’s best course of action would have been to find additional non-meat food substitutes (i. e. non beef additive to oil) and focus globally, not locally. Utilizing this strategy would appeal to Muslim and Hindu culture globally and conform to overall strategy. It would not impact economic and marketplace trends and could provide a new competitive edge. Taking this action would need to include taking local laws in consideration for restrictions on other ingredients and should also be taken care of by regional management. The local management would be able to incorporate the change more affordably by selecting popular taste trends through personal knowledge and sourcing supplies locally for cost savings. The new product offerings would be locally relevant and provide competitive offerings for potential new customers.