Multinational Corporation Profile Report

Many organizations operate differently in different countries for various business
reasons. Some of the reasons include conforming to the host country’s culture, being more
marketable, and structuring its products to specifically meet the customer preferences in the host
country. This paper is an analysis of such a multinational, McDonald’s. The report analyzes the
operations in different countries and how the corporation has adapted its product in different
markets, human resource management, marketing, and advertising, supply chain management,
and the organizational structure.
The company that has been selected for this analysis is McDonald’s. McDonald’s is a fast
food and drinks restaurant formed in 1940 by the McDonald brothers (McDonald’s Corporate).
The organization expanded over the year to a multinational organization that deals in various
products in food and drink, such as burgers, soda, fries, chicken, salads, milkshakes, and ice-
creams. McDonald’s went public in April of 1965 and has executed 12 stock splits since then
(SEC). At the time of writing this report, McDonald’s stock price as listed on the New York
Stock Exchange was US$ 250.78. McDonald’s recorded revenues to the tune of 23.2 billion at
the end of the 2021 financial year (SEC). The organization also reports that it operates in 118
countries and has opened over 34,000 branches. As of 2021, McDonald’s had approximately
1,000,000 employees in all its stores and 200,000 in American stores alone (SEC).
McDonald’s product differentiation
McDonald’s product offerings can all be categorized into fast foods. However,
McDonald’s structures its products to adapt to different cultures to remain competitive. One of
McDonald’s most famed products is the Big Mac Burger that it offers in all its locations. In
Japan, McDonald’s has added to its offering the Chicken Tatsuta (McDonald’s Japan). The
Chicken Tatsuta is McDonald’s trademarked chicken flavor that differs from other chicken styles

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in preparation (McDonald’s Japan). The chicken Tatsuta is marinated in soy sauce and red wine
and then dredged into potato starch. McDonald’s also adapts its products to conform to the
different seasons. For example, the McDonald’s Tsukimi burger is offered in Japan during the
autumn months (McDonald’s Japan). McDonald’s banked on the moon viewing period and
stated on their website that the moon is bright and beautiful in the autumn month. Moon viewing
is referred to as Tsukimi in the Japanese language. The packaging of the products, such as the
milk shake cups, also bear images of a bright moon during the autumn period for all the Tsukimi
orders (McDonald’s Japan). This is an example of cultural adaptation.
McDonald’s in China
McDonald’s realized the Chinese’s love for seafood and adapted its products to conform.
In China, McDonald’s offers a fish burger. This fish burger is offered at a discount in late
January to mark the beginning of the Chinese New Year. The Chinese believe that fish
symbolize an abundance of wealth, and the organization conforms to the cultural norm in China
as well to be competitive. The fish is also prepared through Chinese methods and spices, such as
the black pepper sauce and the slivered onions.
McDonald’s in the USA
McDonald’s realized the Americans’ love for beef and developed three lines of burgers
that it provides for its American and global market. The Americans consume more burgers than
anyone else hence the need for specialization. The three lines of beef burgers are divided
between Wagyu beef burgers for the premium market, Angus beef, and wagyu beef
(McDonald’s).
McDonald’s in Morrocco.
In Morocco, McDonald’s offers products that match up to the Islamic and Moroccan
culture. Morocco is a predominantly Arab country. McDonald’s offers the McArabia burger
there in other Arabic countries. During the fasting season of Ramadan, McDonald’s offers its
menu of fasting food that includes Arabian spices, traditional soups, dates, and milk.
McDonald’s in India

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McDonald’s in India provides McDonald’s and Maharaja Mac. This is the equivalent of
the Big Mac and is made from chicken. The burger has everything else except beef which is not
commonly consumed in India due to cultural beliefs. The chicken Maharaja is made using Indian
ingredients and hot spices, habanero sauce, and veggies such as onions, tomatoes, and lettuce.
McDonald’s in India has also created a Big Mac for vegetarians, the Veg Maharaja Mac. This is
a vegetarian diet that does not contain any meat but has plenty of vegetables and meats.
McDonald’s in Germany
In Germany, McDonald’s sells its burgers with the Nurnberger sausages and beef
(McDonald’s Deutschland). Nurnberger sausages trace their history in Nurnberg, Germany. They
are specially prepared with German spices and salt, pepper, marjoram, and ginger, in addition.
McDonald’s realized the beer-drinking culture in Germany and has included beer as one of the
beverages available on offer in addition to soft drinks such as milkshakes, coffees, and apple
spritzer (McDonald’s Deutschland).
McDonald’s in Switzerland has created the McRaclette, which is only offered there. This
burger contains beef and raclette cheese, sauce, onions, and gherkin sauce. In other countries
such as Indonesia, McDonald’s replaced the pork in its products with fish to accommodate a
large percentage of the Islamic population. McDonald’s also serves the rice in Japanese and
Indonesian stores since rice is a preferred meal in those countries.
McDonald’s operates in many countries; this section demonstrates that the organization
can achieve both standardization and adaptation for its products in the countries in which it
operates (Cecil, 24). It also demonstrates that the organization considers local culture an essential
determinant of how it operates.

Marketing and advertising

McDonald’s in Japan
McDonald’s has structured its advertising to suit the different countries. For example,
McDonald’s Japan agreed with Pokémon Go (Olson). Japan is a renowned world market for
games, and Pokémon Go is especially popular in Japan, where the game began (Olson). The
partnership between Pokémon Go and McDonald’s in Japan was meant to increase sales by

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driving customers into McDonald’s branches, where the game first premiered in Japan (Calvo,
7). The successful implementation of this model led it to be copied across other branches in the
United States, Europe, and Asia. The advertising jargon also conforms to the Japanese tradition.
For example, it includes Japanese food languages such as Teriyaki, Tatsuta, and Potenage
Tokudai.
McDonald’s in Pakistan and Morocco.
McDonald’s advertising is also conditioned to conform to the different cultures, as seen
in the advertising in Pakistan and Morocco. A good example is a Halal certification evident in all
its products. The Islamic culture is known to conform to consuming meat products that are only
labeled as Halal in line with its culture and beliefs. McDonald’s also advertises products in line
with the season. For example, McDonald’s UAE advertised their McDonald’s big feast offer to
mark the end of the Ramadan period (McDonald’s UAE). McDonald’s also increased the
marketing of its Ramadan-themed offerings. For example, its sharing bundle was advertised
using the tagline “share the spirit of Ramadan” in all the predominantly Islam countries.
McDonald’s pricing and differentiation
Besides the differentiated marketing for products, McDonald’s pricing strategies are also
adapted to conform to the economy and ensure that it nets a high degree of sales. The prices are
set at a low but competitive price in line with the market penetration strategy. This ensures that
in the many countries where McDonald’s operates, it can compete with local fast-food chains.
McDonald’s can differentiate its marketing to suit the different competitive advantages such as
nutrition, convenience, and quality.

McDonald’s human resource management

McDonald’s uses a franchising model for expanding into other global territories.
Franchising allows a franchiser to sell the rights to use its name and business concept to a
franchisee in exchange for a commission that can be in the form of royalties. Therefore,
McDonald’s human resources management model follows the dominant models in each specific
country. One common factor in human resources is how McDonald’s employs locals in the host
country. This is a common strategy used in many organizations that have gone global. This

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strategy is aimed at achieving cultural conformity in the organization. This is an essential factor
in McDonald’s success because the success of the sale of food products depends heavily on
cultural norms and practices.
Besides that, all other human resource management practices are standardized across all
locations. One of the key characteristics of McDonald’s is that it always strives to achieve
standard products. For example, a Big Mac Burger bought in Britain or Germany will always
taste the same. For this reason, McDonald’s has training guidelines that require members of its
franchisees to train their employees on standardization across all its branches. McDonald’s trains
its employees on other core competencies such as leadership, apprentice and customer service,
language, and technical skills (McDonald’s Corporate). McDonald’s also supports employees
who are willing to invest in continuing education (McDonald’s Corporate). The organization
reports that by the close of 2021, it had trained over 1,000,000 employees who had been
dispatched to its stores globally (McDonald’s Corporate).
Employee development and reward
McDonald’s uses the same human resource practices in all its organizations. McDonald’s
always encourages its staff to be creative and innovative. Creativity and innovation are essential
in developing a competitive advantage in the modern food industry. The remuneration practices
are, however, differentiated in the different countries. For example, in the USA, McDonald’s
reported that it planned to increase its salaries to a base hourly rate of US$ 15. In China, the
average hourly wage for a McDonald’s employee in US$ is approximately $9. This shows a huge
difference with the American market with a difference of approximately $ 6. This can be
explained by the large population in China that supplies a large quantity of labor in the market.
The organization’s hiring practices are the same across all its locations. McDonald’s
looks for a certain type of employee who meets certain criteria. After training, McDonald’s
assesses all its employees to evaluate how they perform in core competencies to contribute to its
mission. McDonald’s requires all its franchisees to adopt a workplace design approved by
McDonald’s as a condition for the signing of the franchise. McDonald’s ensures that employees
are provided with appropriate working conditions to deliver for the organization, give and
receive feedback and work autonomously. The rewards system is also based on the performance

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of both the employees and the organization. McDonald’s develops employees through training
and development and provides leadership to motivate employees to deliver quality service and
competitive advantage.
McDonald’s supply chain management
The previous sections have demonstrated that McDonald’s uses the strategies of
adaptation and standardization to meet the demands of various cultures and serve its customers.
McDonald’s standardization objective, which is responsible for achieving the same taste for all
its Big Mac burgers, gives the need to evaluate its supply chain management strategy.
McDonald’s uses vertical integration to achieve success with its supply chain management.
McDonald’s outsources all its supply chain needs. The beef used in its burgers is sourced from
its contracted beef producers. Creating the mixtures of the beefs and the spices is done in
factories contracted by the organization. McDonald’s has established relationships with potato-
growing farmers who ensure that the process of growing potatoes is standardized. The potato
fries have the same great taste and almost uniform size in all their locations. This process is
replicated across all other inputs used in the product, such as tomatoes, lettuce, chicken, and fish.
Their beverages are also single-sourced in furtherance of the standardization objective. Their soft
beverages, for example, are sourced from Coca Cola company. McDonald’s ensures that its
processed products are kept in prime conditions to ensure freshness in transit and ensure that
quality is maintained. McDonald’s has set up strategically located distribution centers that ensure
that they reach McDonald’s stores and cities in all the locations globally. McDonald’s revenues
indicate that most of its products are always in high demand, and as such, the organization moves
volumes of supplies. The constant demand for its products and the large volume ensure that
McDonald’s can create lasting and profitable relationships with its suppliers.
McDonald’s organizational structure
McDonald’s organizational structure is divisional by design. It has been prepared to
ensure that it fulfills the organization’s operational needs in the global operations space. The
divisional organization structure supports flexibility and autonomous operations. Corporate
management consists of CEO who directs the organization’s decision-making. Below the CEO,
there are geographical levels of management that ensure that the organization fulfills its

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operational needs across the globe. The geographical mapping is divided into Asia and Pacific,
Africa and the Middle East, Europe, the United States, and other countries. The other divisions
are divided on a functional level, including sales, finance, procurement, supply chain, and human
resources.
The functional divisions are replicated across all locations, which ensures that the
activities are replicated across all locations. This ensures that every country can operate
autonomously but with a single source of decisions at the corporate level. The operations are
differentiated in line with the different cultures within each country. For example, as discussed in
the products section, the operations in predominantly Islamic countries ensure that the meat
products are Halal. They plan marketing and operating activities to coincide with the seasons.
For example, McDonald’s India has to plan for holidays such as Diwali Holi Festival. The
autonomous organization structure ensures that such events happen seamlessly in India without
affecting operations in Morocco, which does not have to plan for such events. Similarly,
autonomous operations ensure that McDonald’s plans for Islamic holidays in its Islamic
countries without affecting other countries that are not predominantly Islamic.

Conclusion

This report has demonstrated that the organization has achieved both differentiation and
adaptation in different countries. The products are widely differentiated to match the different
cultures and markets. The marketing activities are also differentiated. Some of the products, such
as the Big Mac burgers, are standardized to achieve a uniform taste regardless of where its sold.
This is partly due to the standardized supply chain that ensures that the organization sources its
products from contracted suppliers. The organization’s human resources management is also
standardized through training and development. This design is standardized throughout its global
locations to ensure that the organizations employees are encouraged to be creative and
innovative. The salary structure is differentiated according to the economy. The paper highlights
the difference in remuneration between USA and China as an example. The organizational
structure is differentiated across functional and geographical levels to ensure operational
flexibility and autonomy.

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Works Cited

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7: 332. doi: 10.4172/2375-4389.1000332
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Marketing_Strategy_with_Pokemon_GO
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