Analyzing McDonald's Cultural Integration in the Chinese Marketplace

This case study analyzes McDonald's successful adaptation to the Chinese market. The report begins with a definition of culture and its significance, then delves into how McDonald's modified its operations to align with Chinese customs and preferences. The main body of the report highlights the key strategies McDonald's employed, including menu modifications (like introducing Thai meat and New Year's meals), adapting to Chinese eating habits (creating family-friendly locations), respecting Chinese customs (decorating outlets for the Spring Festival), and providing language translations. These changes allowed McDonald's to establish a strong presence in China, considering the country's diverse population. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of cultural understanding for multinational corporations entering new markets. The report references academic sources to support its analysis, providing a comprehensive overview of McDonald's cultural integration in China.

CASE STUDY ON
CULTURE
(MCDONALDS AND
ADAPTING IN
CHINA)

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
How Mc Donald adopted Chinese culture..................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
Culture can be defined as the combination of norms and social behaviour which is found
in human societies. In addition, this term is concerned with activities of art, beliefs, lifestyle or
manner in which societal individual reacts etc. Culture at workplace or within the nation is
related with the habitual nature of people or the way in which they behave. McDonald's adoption
of Chinese culture is taken into consideration under this report. This report will discuss the way
that how McDonald adapt itself in Chinese culture.
MAIN BODY
How Mc Donald adopted Chinese culture.
Culture is an important aspect of society because it assists in recognising social life of
living individuals within a particular part of society. It also comprises of values, beliefs,
language, taste, preferences etc. This is useful for framing social relationships which maintains
and challenges social order.
Company which is taken under this report is McDonald that is a multinational fast food
chain across the world and operates its business in various nations like India, UK, Australia,
America etc. It was founded in 1940 by Richard and Maurice McDonald as a hamburger stand
but now company have its own 37000 outlets in approx. 119 nations.
McDonald was entered into Chinese market in the year of 1990 where they have adjusted
themselves as per the Chinese culture (Cheng and. et. al., 2017). When they have started their
business in China they have firstly adopted flexibility in their operations so as to sustainability in
market this adoption was very important because with the help of it they have identified
customer base, preferences of customers and several other habits. Population of China is very
high and due to which people from different culture and background lives in nation therefore, it
was not easy for McDonald to establish their strong position in China Market. For this, they have
made several modifications and flexibilities which are covered in several points mentioned
underneath:
 Product offerings : Management of McDonald have reviewed and make modifications
in their whole menu as per the China market. As company uses breast meat in their all
chicken burgers but in China they were made modifications and add Thai Meat in burgers
so that customer of China fully satisfied. They have also launched new year meals like

Grilled chicken burgers, curly fries etc. at new year so that large number of customers
can attracted towards their offerings. Company have also launched Mc Express so as to
selling soft drinks and ice cream in China market.
 Chinese eating habit : Individuals of China go in the restaurants not only for satisfying
their hunger but also they consider this is an occasion so that they can communicate with
their relatives, meet friends, or spend time with their family members. They prefer to go
out in restaurant with friends or relatives rather than inviting them at home. For satisfying
this kind of needs, McDonald have located their outlets in those areas where market is
established or children can play outdoor games. Main reason behind this determination of
locations were to retain their customers at outlets for a longer period of time.
 Chinese custom : Spring festival is one of the important festival of China and celebrated
as first day of new year in China. At the time of this festival, McDonald's outlet are
renovated and decorated with lights or elements like “China Red” so that individuals of
China get attracted towards premises of their outlets. During the festival time, they also
decorate their outlets with Chinese paintings and signs of animals (New Year's menu gets
royal touch at McDonald's, 2017).
 Language and Translations: As China is a big nation and various multinational
organisation operates their functions in it then they have also added translated versions of
their services so as to getting attention of customers towards their offerings. In context of
McDonald's expansion towards China, they have made their menu as per the Chinese
language so that customers of China can easily understand the name of products. For
example, translation of ham burger with pork and egg is written as 猪猪猪猪, deserts like pie
with pineapple is written as 猪猪猪, etc.
CONCLUSION
It has been summarised from the above report that identification of cultural aspect of
different nation is very important for multinational organisations in order to expand their
business and gaining success in new market areas. Values, beliefs, taste and preferences of
customer in each nation is different so it is important for multinational organisations to
manufacture products as per the needs and wants of the societal individuals.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Cheng and. et. al., 2017. Ecotourism social media initiatives in China. Journal of Sustainable
Tourism. 25(3). pp.416-432.
Jeon and. et. al., 2016. Cultural Convergence in Emerging Markets: The Case of McD onald's in
C hina and I ndia. Journal of Small Business Management. 54(2). pp.732-749.
Kennedy and. et. al., 2015. The healthy immigrant effect: patterns and evidence from four
countries. Journal of International Migration and Integration. 16(2). pp.317-332.
Miller and. et. al., 2016. How the world changed social media (Vol. 1). UCL press.
Online
New Year's menu gets royal touch at McDonald's. 2017.[Online]. Available through: <
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/food/2017-01/13/content_27948242.html>.