McDonald’s Success in India
Introduction
McDonald is a joint venture company specializing in food service retailing. Two Indians manage McDonald in India. Amit Jatia manages McDonald restaurants in the western and southern regions of the nation while Vikram Bakshi runs the ones in north and eastern side (Love, 1995). Throughout India, the company currently boasts over 160 branches. It has attained this success by investing heavily in the unique cold chain. This has revolutionized food handling. The beneficiaries are the customers who enjoy quality fresh food products at a minimum cost and farmers who sell the food to the firm.
Analysis
Though most of the retail sector in India is not doing well, McDonald has continually received more customers and is planning on expansion program (Harris, 2009). The company is planning on opening 40 more branches across India. The expansion process would bring the number of McDonald restaurants in India to approximately 200. Mr. Amit Jatia commented that the expansion process has been going on and in the previous year, the company had opened 25 branches. He said that the rapid growth was due to the increase in the number of customers. Customers buying food products from McDonald restaurants have been increasing at a rate of between 10% and 15%every month.
Indians, especially the emerging middle class aoffered by McDonald. They rely on the restaurants more each passing day. Their dependence on McDonald has caused the company to achieve double-digit sales growth (Kroc, 1992). The growth has been steady regardless of the fact that other parts of the world are going through tough economic crisis. For example, a company like West Pioneer Properties India has reported loss in the same duration. The company's profit before tax fell by over 50%. West Pioneer Properties India has in effect delayed its plans to expand a mall that it owned. It has redirected its efforts and is instead building low cost buildings.
A number of factors have caused the boost in sales in McDonald restaurants. The main factor is the popularity of Chicken McNuggets. These are deep fried pieces of chicken prepared in a special way. They are the secret to the rising sales level of in the company (Facella, 2008). The McNuggets sell so well that the company at times runs out of them. Such are the times that the company is forced to go slow in advertisement.
Differences in Culture
McDonalds management in India has a high level of respect to the culture of the natives. Since many Indians are vegetarians, the company has a menu specifically designed to cater for them. Respect for the local culture make the company to desist from selling Pork and Beef products. In order for the company to sustain itself without selling these important items, it has re-engineered itself so that it has special sections for both vegetarians and non-vegetarians. The separation of the sections is maintained while procuring, when cooking and when serving the food. McDonalds in India also uses only pure vegetable oil in cooking.
Summary
McDonald is a joint venture company specializing in food service retailing. In India, the company currently has over 160 branches. It is planning to open 40 more restaurants. This will make the total number to be 200. McDonald rapid growth is attributed to the increase in the number of customers consuming its products. The company is customer driven and respects the culture of local people (McDonald, 1993). McDonald applies this strategy to achieve sustainable profitability and growth.
Analysis of Article
I agree that the article is well written. It presents all facts that are necessary to understand important elements of McDonald. It is worth reading to get the important facts that have made the company successful.