Evaulating Truth Validity

Cross Cultural Perspectives

Matthew Summers

ETH/316

17 August 2015

Dr. Beattie

Cross Cultural Perspectives

In this essay the cultural difficulties that the McDonald’s Corporation is faced with will be discussed. The cultural issues that affect this world wide company is a constant in all of the countries that has a McDonald’s restaurant. These cultural issues are varied depending on where in the globe a McDonald’s is located. The “Americanization” of the host country will be discussed in this paper also. The ethical perspectives of the company are what has guided them to success.

Cultural Issues

The McDonald’s corporation has a presence throughout the world. “Today, McDonald’s has over 1.5 million franchises in the United States and about half of the total franchises are outside the U.S. in over 120 countries (Ritzer 2000, p4)”. The fact that the company has a presence in over 120 countries is amazing. Any company with this kind of footprint cannot escape the cultural differences that comes with operating a business in a foreign land.

Americanization of the local culture is the argument most often used against McDonald’s operating in a given country. McDonald’s is portrayed as a giant with a reputation of trampling over cultural differences. The fear is that this American fast food franchise will change tradition and local customs in eating. These possible changes will affect the lifestyles of those citizens. This will lead to the culture changing over time to become more like American and less like the host country. One example would be the replacement of Japanese teahouses by American fast food franchises. These arguments are simply not true. “In fact, McDonald's is careful to balance standardization with respect to local traditions: McDonald's devotees can get McArabia's in the Middle East (grilled chicken in Arabic bread); Shogun Burgers in Hong Kong (Teriyaki pork); McShawarmas in Israel (Kosher meat); Bubur Ayam McDs...