McDonaldization- Shrinking the individual within us? [revisited!]

“During the Cold War, the most frequently asked question was 'How big is your missile?' but in globalization, the most frequently asked question is 'How fast is your modem?'”

- Thomas Friedman (The Lexus and the Olive Tree)

Globalisation is often a misunderstood and misapplied term. Friedman proposes that "globalization is not simply a trend or fad but is, rather, an international system. It is the system that has replaced the old Cold War system, and, like the Cold War System, globalization has its own rules and logic that today directly or indirectly influence the politics, environment, geopolitics and economics of virtually every country in the world." (The Lexus and the Olive Tree). Now that brings us to our question- What is the impact of globalization on global brands? Are global brands their babies? Let’s hike this out!

“I am loving it

C'est tout ce que j'aime

我就喜欢

मुझे यह पसंद है”

We are sure that unless you’ve been living under the rocks, most of you must have read at least one of the above mentioned slogans from McDonald’s- world’s largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurant. Even the founders Dick and Mac McDonald wouldn’t have imagined that their chain of ‘fast food’ restaurant would go on to become a whole new Mcdonaldized culture in itself. ‘Mcdonaldization’ was the term coined by the renowned sociologist George Ritzer who believed “that the fast-food restaurant had become a representative of the contemporary cultural paradigm.”Since we are going to talk on ‘culture’ in particular, we should know about McDonald’s principle before moving into the topic.

What makes up the organizational culture of McDonald’s?

‘A commitment to exceeding customer’s expectations, belief in success from the ‘three-legged stool’ (corporate, franchisee partners, and supplier partners), a passion and responsibility for enhancing and protecting the McDonald’s brand, a belief in collaborative management approach, and a commitment to franchising and seizing every opportunity to innovate and lead the industry. These values and principles make up the organizational culture of McDonald’s.’(*2)

Service with a smile, bright lights, fast food, predictability and cleanliness are all things that are associated with McDonald’s. It can be anticipated that when a hamburger is ordered it will be delivered by a friendly associate and it will have the typical McDonald’s taste irrespective of the place you are in! McDonald’s is symbolised by the golden arches. No matter which part of the world you are in, if you see the golden arches you are bound believe that it is McDonald’s. Such is their brand logo, brand value and brand name. Standardization of the food and mass production can be vividly seen across different parts of the world. McDonald’s is leading to places becoming more and more similar. A Big Mac is a Big Mac wherever you are! It is a process of homogenisation.McDonald’s can be termed as ‘modern’ brand which has an authentic cultural identity. There is efficiency and speed that is emphasized in this ‘fast food’ approach and at the same time there is homogenous style of advertising and the slogans used mean the same in all the languages. However, in this growing world could it succeed by standardizing and mass producing or is it doing something else as well? First, we would want you to take a look at these two videos:

Video 1: Source: Youtube- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKR1ScQUpcA

Video 2: Source: Youtube- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWaoWzmCnL0

In the first video, McDonald’s is trying to persuade people to come and visit them. They are selling their brand to the people while in the second video they are using the expressions of one of their customers to illustrate how they feel when they are treated with luscious food offered- be it having a burger with mayonnaise and a crisp leaf of lettuce or the aromatic Japanese Teriyaki Chicken, McDonald’s makes sure that at every step they satisfy our gastronomical needs and make eating a delightful experience under the golden arches. It is visible that many changes have taken place over a period of time. However, the logo of McDonald’s has still remained the same- the golden arches. There have stuck with their logo right from the time it was founded. Despite the language differences, it is very well understood that the advertisement is of McDonald’s, thereby, illustrating that language barriers can be tamed using visual perceptions! At the same time, it is visible that when someone eats the fries or drinks the milkshake at McDonald’s one also consumes the brand and the identity associated with it. This Simulacra has been developed over the past decade, thereby, revealing that McDonald’s not only have the modern but also tinges of the post modern approach whereby the cultural diversity is underlined. Images are borrowed from the other cultures to adorn the identity of one’s preference. Now take a minute to digest that all this is achieved simply by the means of FOOD!

Food- the oldest carrier of culture:

Food is an important element in defining culture. So does making changes in the food that we eat, the way it is prepared, served and consumed diminish the traditional beliefs of the people? According to Rev. William Gould, an English Naturalist, before the introduction of McDonald’s overseas “fast food was almost unknown. McDonald’s was the first company to try to export America’s love of fast food and changes in eating habits of other nations.” As per the official website of McDonald’s, they have 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. Now, is this spread of standardization of the franchise affecting culture, attitudes and the environment? These transformations that have taken place could be perceived as beneficial or corrupting to that culture depending on our view point.

When globalizing the golden arches, did management try and adapt to the local culture or were they dependent on the locals adapting to its established organizational culture? Which way did the flow of information go? These are some more questions poised by the hitch hikers to tickle your grey cells!

Balancing standardization and customization- A case study

One of the major challenges to any brand that decides to go global is to be able to balance standardization and customization. The brand has to get this degree bang on target if it wants to make an impact in the unknown territories. Most of the brands make the mistake of ‘assuming’ that since the brand name is famous the customers would be eager to accept it because of its ‘authenticity, heritage and associations.’ However, this isn’t the case anymore. With increasing number of companies trying to adopt the ‘modern’ approach by marketing the images and identities from all over the globe, each brand has to ensure that it sticks to its originality but at the same time caters to the needs of the locals. McDonald’s learnt the hard way in Asian countries like India and Japan.

Commensally, eating together at one table is central to the Japanese. The Japanese consider food as a means to bring people together, thereby, creating a sense of community. Rice, that is the main part of their meal, is served on the table in a common container. This is a collective culture which is in stark contrast with the individualistic American culture. It is the essence of a food that bonds families and creates social relationships. McDonald’s hamburgers, conversely, are meant to be eaten individually and cannot be shared. Not only does the food in McDonald’s restaurants fail to encompass the characteristic of commensality, but the physical arrangement of the restaurants in Japan further de-emphasize this feature. Now, the original franchise in Japan had counters in which customers were expected to eat their meals. As McDonald’s expanded in Japan, restaurants gradually included tables in the layout to carter to the local needs.

Furthermore, perception of the brand is different in different countries since the cultural frame of reference is not the same throughout the world. McDonald’s was perceived as snacks. Any food that consists of bread is not deemed 'filling,' and hamburgers were like a snack that was to be consumed between meals. McDonald’s diversion from commensality and its supply of non-traditional Japanese food coupled with the consumer’s perception of the food as a snack has created an environment suitable for young people to come and hang out.

In Japan, the national culture has a greater impact on the organizational culture. They prefer rice burgers- a slice of meat between bun-shaped rice patties- instead of conceding to the traditional tastes of American hamburgers. Even though it has become progressively more acceptable by the Japanese to eat at McDonald’s, it has not become a place where lunches or dinner by the masses is consumed.

This just goes on to explain what was written in the article published in Venture Republic on the ‘Cross-cultural branding and leadership’ that stated:

““Successful brands have been able to adopt their branding strategies in line with the dominant cultural philosophy and weave their brands into the cultural fiber”(*3)

The modernist approach to globalization is that globalization enhances culture rather than adulterating it. As Taylor Cowen goes on to explain in the discussion based on ‘Globalisation and culture,’ “globalization tends to increase the difference but it liberates the differences from the geography.”(*4) He explains this by giving using music as an example. The pygmy society in Congo has a splendidly unique style of music which is very different from the American pop music. It’s beautiful. It is wondrous but they just have ONE kind of music compared to the ‘richer’ societies with more markets, thereby, giving us more diversity, more variety in music. After all isn’t variety the spice of life? Now, this is a pro-globalisation view!

Globalisation or Glocalisation?

In most communities, in fact, the McDonald’s has conformed to the local culture and not the other way around. McDonald’s corporation notes that most of its overseas franchises are locally owned, and thus make efforts to buy from local communities. They alter their regional menus to conform to local taste.

The corporation is trying to reach out to a healthier crowd of customers by releasing salads with fruits and vegetables. To reach international customers, the company has also added specialty foods for different countries. The McArabia (chicken patties on unleavened bread with garlic sauce and onion) in the Middle East, the McPepper (a double-patty burger seasoned with black pepper sauce) in France, the Bulgogi Korean pork barbecue sandwich in Korea, a teriyaki pork burger with lemon-flavored mayonnaise in Japan and the Chicken Maharaja in India are all specialty menu items for different cultures.

This is again consistent with the article published in Venture Republic on the ‘Cross-cultural branding and leadership’:

“As brands enter different culture, it becomes imperative for them to carefully tread the standardization-customisation wherein they not only manage to retain the inherent brand identity which is the very reason for their acceptance across markets, but also adopt the brand elements (images, advertising, channels, and others) to appeal to the local tastes and preferences of the customers”

There are many positive aspects of globalization to McDonald’s. With the advancement of technology and communication the world itself seems to be moving at a faster pace. The advent of fast food into foreign cultures allows the opportunity to keep up with this fast pace. Culture is ever changing and McDonald's marks another step in the evolution of culture with the changes in has brought about. The menu has given people a new choice over the traditional foods eaten in the past. This depicts the power of globalization and information and it is affected by the rapid innovation in IT (the modern behavior).

The McDonaldized institution has given rise to a number of indigenous fast food chains. There is also the case of Asianization where Asian cuisine such as Fried rice is rapidly spreading all over the world. Thomas Friedman remarked, “No two countries that both had a McDonald's had fought a war against each other, since each got its McDonald's.”(*5) This was his ‘Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention.’ There's a jaunty innocence in the way he takes a note of what may be lost, as well as gained, in the brave new world since “globalization enriches the consumer in us, but it can also shrink the citizen and the space for individual cultural and political expression.” How true is this?

Globalisation = loss of identity?

There has been a loss of traditional values with the introduction of non traditional food into the culture of foreign countries. Food is symbolic to particular regions, religions and morés. In India, to the Hindu people, the cow is considered to be sacred as part of its religion. According to the AsianInfo.org (2007), “Diversity can be found in India’s food as well as its culture, geography and climate. Although a number of religions exist in India, the two cultures that have influenced Indian cooking and food habits are the Hindu and the Muslim tradition.” With the introduction of non traditional foods into this society, as with many others, there are adverse effects on the traditions it tries to uphold.

McDonald’s is viewed as American and the movement away from traditional foods towards fast food is considered to be “Americanization” of the diet. This concept has more far reaching effects than is seen on the surface. The “Americanization” of the food also means that of the culture and a way of thinking which in not acceptable to many nations. Apart from the fact that McDonald’s takes the youth away from their traditional food, it should also be noted that the ‘fast food’ is not healthy!

It is not just that the content of the diet has been criticized but it is also the way in which food is consumed. As the name implies it is “fast food”; it is quite apparent that there is a movement away from a family oriented dining to individual dining. American culture focuses on eating as a necessity and towards fast food other cultures view dining as a social experience with religion playing an important role in its practice. They value group orientation and conformity to facilitate harmony among families whereas American culture has a preference towards individualism and independence from each other. It is here that the clash of cultures comes into picture. As Benjamin Barber of the Jihad Vs. McWorld fame points out, “if the social values, the religious values, the familial values of the food are what you are about, then fast food is a disaster whether it’s fast burgers, fast fries, or fast tandoori.”(*6) So, the question arises- does the globalization of McDonald’s adversely or positively affect the culture of different nations?

Hong Kong McDonald’s:

Since we are in Hong Kong, we must question ourselves as to what effect this taste for burgers, pizzas and French fries had on Hong Kong society, cuisine and business? There is a very famous saying in the North of China that ‘people in the South will eat anything with four legs - except a table!’ (Durnford Laura, McDonaldisation of Hong Kong (*9)). However, in Hong Kong food is a serious business. Many homes are too small for entertaining guests and eating out is a popular social affair. With the wealth of choice and flavours the “first McDonald’s restaurant was opened in January 1975 and the number of outlets has reached almost 160 and more than 9,000 locals are now employed by the American giant.”

Even the HK McDonald’s changed itself to cater to the needs of the masses. It gradually made the transition from a trendy exotic outpost of American culture to an ordinary purveyor of ordinary food for ordinary people. Daniel Ng, the man who first brought McDonald’s into Hong Kong, certainly loses no sleep over all the changes that have ensued. "I'm Chinese and I love Chinese food. Chinese culture is precious to me, but sometimes when you mix two cultures you create something even more exciting!" (Durnford Laura, McDonaldisation of Hong Kong) This is the cultural borrowing that is visible.

Another observation that was made by Dr. Frank Kuo Yu, our MGT 3430 instructor was that the McDonald’s in Hong Kong had a wide variety of combo packing, something very different from the one found in US. This again symbolised the ‘collective culture’ in Hong Kong wherein the family unit is offered different combos of value meals and the food is itemised so as to suit the consumption pattern as opposed to the one in US wherein the ‘individualistic culture’ is highlighted.

How can McDonald’s move towards perfection?

The content of the McDonald’s diet has been labeled anything but perfect. The movie Super Size Me! puts that issue in the spotlight! As the critics claim that by eating like Americans people all over the world are beginning to look more like Americans, at least in one respect- obesity. As people eat more meals outside the home, they consume more calories, less fiber and more fat. Despite McDonald’s claiming that they are trying to go the ‘healthy way’ it can be seen that they are paying just a lip service and majority of the food still consists of more fat and less fiber.

Moreover, Mcdonald’s should also pay heed to the environmental problems and try to chip in their bit by contributing towards it. They should jump in the "green marketing bandwagon." This would enable them to cut some costs and use "green" as a marketing strategy?

-Even when the people eat inside the golden arches, they still wrap everything that is ordered.

-There are no incentives for a customer to bring one’s own cup.

-There is no recycling bin to separate the paper waste from the food waste.

Now try to expand this to the global size. Think. Voila you have a massive impact on earth, don’t you? Small changes could have a huge impact on the environment and McDonald’s costs! They can improve their "green image" while doing something ethically and morally right.

However, these are mere suggestions for McDonald’s and perfection is a relative term. There is a long way to go before McDonald’s can be called perfect. After all:

“When one aims for perfection, one discovers it's a moving target!”

What do you think? Opinions... Opinions!

*Are global brands babies of globalisation?*

Sweet potato: In my opinion, global brands are not the globalization’s babies. It’s just the opposite. The concept of globalization is derived from the global brands. Take McDonald’s as an example. Mass production, facilities (playground for children are available in some branches) and system (Speedee Service System) would be the globalization part of McDonald’s. As time elapses, McDonald’s no longer purely goes for globalization but tends to go for localization to a certain extent, just like the rice burgers in Japan.

Karan: I feel 'Globalization' is a result of the brands going to new territories looking to expand their business. Its not the other way round.

*Globalisation = loss of identities?*

Robert: I don’t think so. In my opinion, most extrinsic factors, such as globalization, are not decisive factor of our culture and identity development. They are determined by our attitude and behavior. Accept them; learn them; exceed them.

Karan: But I don't feel that globalization leads to loss of identity. I feel that it only adds to the diversity. Like in India, fast food may have become a preferred food for many, but at the same time, the value of Indian food or the home cooked food hasn't lost its value one bit. McDonald's has given one additional yummy option to people.

*Does the globalization of McDonald’s adversely or positively affect the culture of different nations?*

Cherry: Globalisation has a positive influence on the cultures. Mc Donald’s tried to sell combo serving rice a few years ago in Hong Kong. This is another example I can think of for globalizing and localizing which make different cultural mixed.

3430lhk: It’s quite true that McDonald’s adversely affected the culture of different nations. For example, in Hong Kong, Hong Kong people are always busy with work and study. That’s why we chose to have McDonald’s when we don’t have much time or in a rush. It really changed our eating habit. In the past, Chinese people like to have rice for their meals but you couldn’t find any rice dishes in McDonald’s. In McDonald’s, it’s all about burgers and fries which are all junk food and not healthy for our health. It hindered the development of the local cultures. McDonald’s pays a very little effort on keeping the local culture. In Hong Kong, they provided salad as Hong Kong people emphasize more on healthy diet. This act is because they want to keep their business and the market share. I think it is the only point that McDonald’s had paid the effort on the local culture.

Chiu: I believe globalization of McDonald has positive influence to other places. For instance, one essay tells the story of an unintended and unanticipated consequence of McDonald’s invasion of Hong Kong—the rest rooms in the city became cleaner. Before the first McDonald’s opened up in the mid-1970s, restaurant restrooms in Hong Kong were notoriously dirty. Over time, the cleanliness standards of McDonald’s were replicated by other restaurants eager to out-compete the increasingly popular restaurant. In Korea, McDonald’s established the practice of lining up in an orderly fashion to order food—the traditional custom, it seems, was to mob the counter.

3430_Voyage: The Ronald McDonald house provides a shelter for illness children and their family members to live in. It makes the time easier for the illness children to fight with serious diseases and lends hand to those families which had financial problem. In this point,we can see that it is not entirely evil, but kinda angel.

Karan: Fast food might encourage individualistic dining, but then at times it becomes important to grab a quick bite rather than going hungry. I feel, here too, the values imbibed in the people since their childhood, cannot be done away with by eating fast food. Both things occupy two different places in the culture, like you have mentioned in your post - "sometimes when you mix two cultures you create something even more exciting.”

We would specially like to thank 3430_Kover for giving such wonderful links which broadens and deepens our whole topic of discussion. The links that he provided were:

1) http://photowebs.blogspot.com/2008/02/different-countries-different-mcdonalds.html

2) http://www.translate.com/Language_Tech_Center/Articles/Globalization_Manager_Day.aspx

3) http://www.translationdirectory.com/articles/article1391.php

A few more questions for us and you! We did not write on them because that would make our blog way too long! Here are the questions and thoughts-

3430_S ^^: It would be interesting if you guys could talk about the pricing strategy of McDonald's in this globalisation

2411luc: What are your comments towards this failed product, or towards cross-cultural innovation?

Howard Pang: I think this blog should mention about how and why McDonald change the marketing strategy in Hong Kong.

Once again, we would love to thank all the people who took the efforts of visiting and reading this long blog. It just lets us to know that we are on the right/wrong track and that helps us feel so much better. Trust us! We are glad that you take out the time out of your busy schedule to read the blog. They are long. We agree. But we try to write differently which we hope helps you to connect us with our blog. We deliberately try to put in more provocative questions so that we can get to know your thoughts on those topics. Unfortunately, there have been quite a few people who think that our blog is a bit difficult to understand due to the language used. Please do let us know if this is the case. We can try to keep it simpler if you wish! Your wish is our command! Keep visiting, reading and commenting.

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Readings and websites we hiked when we blogged:

*1: Sriwarakuel, Warayuth . Cultural traditions and contemporary challenges in Southeast Asia: Hindu and Buddhist. 2005.

*2: McDonald's USA. <http://www.mcdonalds.com/>. 2009 .

*3: Roll, Martin. "Cross-cultural branding and leadership." Venture Republic .

*4: Cowen, Taylor. "Globalisation and culture."

*5: Friedman, Thomas L. The Lexus and the olive tree . Anchor Books, 2000.

*6: Barber, Benjamin R. Jihad versus McWorld . Ballantine Books, 2001.

*7: Friedman, Thomas L. The world is flat. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007.

*8: McDonald's Hong Kong. 02-10-2009 http://www.mcdonalds.com/hk

*9: Durnford, Laura . The McDonaldization of Hong Kong. 2002 .