Market expansion A case study on McDonalds

Introduction

International business refers to the trade of goods and services as well as technology, capital, knowledge and human being across the national borders at a global transaction scale (Chatzipanagiotou, Christodoulides and Veloutsou, 2019). The cross border transactions of goods and services between two or more countries can be conducted smoothly under international trade agreement, where the companies try to follow the ethical practice for exporting their goods and services internationally and gain high market share (Chatzipanagiotou, Christodoulides and Veloutsou, 2019). In the recent era of globalisation, the organisations try to target the international nations to expand the business operations so that the brand visibility can be improved and the company can attract more audiences for the quality products and services. For businesses aiming in place to navigate this complex landscape, seeking guidance through business dissertation help can provide the most authentic insights for success. In order to sustain in the market efficiently and gain high competitive advantage, it is important for the entrepreneurs to choose effective international country for international trade. The study aims at analysing the market condition and conduct situational analysis to choose the best international market for the company McDonalds. Through this research, it is possible to in depth external analysis of the market through applying PESTLE analysis which is effective to understand the business environment in the specific industry where McDonalds is operating through the fast food industry across the globe. In addition to this, the study will provide a scope to explore the cultural differences affecting international businesses where the factors such as ethnic population make-up, languages, openness to change, values, attitudes to work, social structure, religion and attitudes to business are playing important role for the entrepreneurs to reshape the business activities efficiently. Hence, cultural factors has its serious impacts on the international business and through this study, it is possible to analyse the international markets India and London, in order to recommend the best place for McDonalds to expand their business and conduct international trade for achieving the corporate objectives of the firm in long run.

2. Overview of the business

McDonalds is an American fast food company, founded in the year of 1940 and the restaurant is successful to operate across the international markets. They rechristened their business as a hamburger stand, later there are diverse products in the company which attract the customers across the international marketplace. The major products that the company provides are such as hamburgers, cheeseburgers, French fried, other chicken products, breakfast items soft drinks, milkshakes and wraps as well as different desert items. McDonalds is a world’s largest restaurant chain by its revenue, and it is successful to serve over 69 million customers daily across 100 countries. In the recent years, the demand for the fast food items is increasing where the customers prefer to enjoy ready to eat dishes and chicken based products for their lunch, dinner and snacks. Hence, the demand of the quality products of the company McDonalds is also increasing over the period of time, where the organisation is efficient to expand their services across 119 locations through more than 38,695 restaurants (McDonalds, 2021). Total numbers of employees of the company is approximately 210,000. Total revenue in the last was more than US $ 21.076 billion and the company has generated net income over US $ 6.025 billion. The operating income is also enhanced over the period of time. In 2018, McDonald's is the world's second-largest private employer with 1.7 million employees and in the year 2020, it has the ninth highest global brand valuation (McDonalds, 2021). Hereby, the expertise of the employees and management practice are effective to achieve the brand value and the company is also efficient to satisfy the customers by providing them the best quality products and efficient services. The customers can meet their needs and preferences by choosing quality food items where the company is successful to create values for the global clients. The company focuses on enhancing creativity and innovation, managing the staff, respect and integrity, equality and diversity management at the workplace and social value maximisation which are also considered as the major success factors of the company. It would be beneficial for the company to choose international markets and conduct situational analysis, in order to choose the best market place where McDonalds can expand their business sustainably and gain high competitive advantage (McDonalds, 2021).

3. Investigating the external factors that influence international businesses

In order to understand the external; business environment, it is important to identify the external factors that have crucial impacts on the business activities and in this regard PESTE analysis is effective to conduct in-depth market audit. The company McDonalds is operating across the international food and restaurant chain, where the corporate mission of the firm is to gain the best competitive advantage over other competitive firm operating in the market. PESTLE analysis stands for political stability, economic growth and social development, as well as technological advancement, ethical considerations and environmental practice, which are necessary to be analysed with in-depth critical discussion in order to understand the business environment for the company McDonalds in near future.

3.1 PESTLE analysis

Political

Government policy is considered as an important factor to analyse the market condition. In the recent era of globalisation, the international countries start collaborating with each other and the government is strictly handling the rules and regulations of international trade. The political stability of the countries further influence the organisations to expand their business activities across the global there is systematic structure of international trade with GATT and WTO agreement, where the organisations need to follow the rules for exporting and importing the goods and services. The political stability along with government policy develops suitable structure for international trade. Trade restrictions along with free trade agreement and tax police are there to support the business activities (Frederick and Parappagoudar, 2021). There is suitable imposition of corporate tax and sales tax on the basis of which, the companies in restaurant chain are operating efficiently, McDonalds is also operating across the global restaurant chain and the political stability along with suitable tax structure are effective for the company to expand the business.

There are corporate tax and income tax in India rules which are followed by the company for effective collaboration with the agreement and run their business activities ethically and also GST system also develops fair tax regulations for the customers. Foreign trade policies and encouraging foreign direct investment in the international market also encourage the entrepreneurs to expand their business in the international market in order to gain the best competitive advantage by running their operations efficiently (Zhao and Dou, 2019). Price regulation refers to the policy of setting prices by a government agency, legal statute or regulatory authority, where the government intervention is also there to maintain market capitalism. The entrepreneurs are bound to follow the price regulations to identify the maximum and minimum price range for their products which would be affordable for the customers and influence customers purchasing decision making practice. The price setting strategic mainly depends on costs, return on investment, mark-ups where the government regulation of India along with the organisational activities influence the entrepreneurs to set effective price that represent the products and services of the organisations. hence, political stability and government involvement develop effective structure to run the business operations smoothly.

Economic

Economic growth is there across the international markets, where the government and the multinational corporations are collaborative with each other to maximise Gross Domestic products or GDP. The purchasing power parity of the individuals is also increasing over the period of time which further influences the clients to raise their demand towards luxury items and also essential products in daily lives. Table exchange rate and inflation rate have its positive impacts on the business of the multinational corporations (Stoyanova, 2019). However, in the recent pandemic satiation due to COVID 19, there is slowdown in economic growth and stagnant growth further hamper the international business operations and also there is negative impacts on the small and medium size business firms in India. Due to stagnant economic growth along with slowdown of the international trade, the organisations cannot generate profitability. The market condition is also good due to low demand for the process, where the purchasing power parity of the customer is being affected due to high unemployment rate, in the recent years; the unemployment rate is increasing which deteriorate disposable income of the individuals.

All the international countries are affected due to such pandemic era, for which there is high unemployment rate, low demand for the products and low disposable income (Jian et al., 2021). However it is expected that, the market condition is going to be recovered over the period of time, with openness of trade and on-going international trade. The employment generation is being improved during this year which further raises the customers demand in long run. Hence, the market condition of the country India is being improved over the period of time, which creates more employment and enhances the international trade activities in long run (Jian et al., 2021). The economic growth and effective GDP of the countries further influence the organisations to expand their business activities across international markets and generate profitability. Along with the exchange rate, the interest rate is also increased which further attracts foreign investors to invest in the country for maximising revenue. It would be beneficial for the organisations like McDonalds to run their business across the India efficiently by successful business expansion, where the business can influence economic growth, employment generation, increasing GDP and national income through investment.

Social

Social development is there across the world, with high literacy rate and enrolment functions of the students, where the government focus on educational system of the country and invest in education for skill enhancement and knowledge development. With the population growth, the education system becomes developed and apart from that, the government along with the private firms focus on social developmental project through effective investment (Jian et al., 2021). Though there is cultural barrier across the countries due to language gap and diverse culture in the society, the organisations and the government tackle the issue by developing cultural diversity. The attitude towards economic activities and social developmental project become changed with technical advancement (Wu, 2020).

The people in India become more knowledgeable and they prefer to utilise latest technology for conducting daily activities. The people are updated with daily news and information by online news and social media activities and this further provides a scope to the people to socially engaged and develop strong team to perform in near future. Hence, social activities are improved over the period of time along with knowledge development and improved lifestyle. The living standard of the individuals is also improved over the period of time with good literacy and high purchasing power parity. The Indian people are also concerned about their health and access all the public services for maximising their wellbeing. The individuals become heath conscious which further influence the organisations to provide the best quality products to the customers. Healthy lifestyle along with positive attitude, social engagement and active participation in the personal and professional life further maximise the standard of living of the individuals.

Technological

Technological innovation is another major factor that influences the organisational entrepreneurs to renovate the overall organisational services. Level of innovation and technical infrastructure of the organisations become the major success factors that influence the business leaders to run their business operations efficiently and meet the corporate objectives of the firm. The restaurant and fast food industry is growing rapidly with the technical innovation, where online delivery system becomes the best strategy in the recent era of digitalisation (Rajawat et al., 2020). All the fast food companies across the international markets focus on expanding their business operations through the e-commerce activities where online application and smartphone system are utilised to make the customer’s order successful and deliver the best quality food products to them safely within effective time. Hence, the smartphone technology along with the mobile application is the major success factors of the business. McDonalds also should focus on the fast food delivery system by developing the mobile application, as in the recent years the customers are tech savvy and they prefer to purchase food online and get the best quality food products at home within time (An, 2020). Level of innovation and automation service are hereby affecting the business of India and UK, where the customers and the organisational representative are engaged with each other through online communication and activities, where the organisational representative ensure customer safety and security while making their orders and payments.

Through the technological innovation, the companies are conducting more research and development to make the brand innovative and it further provides them an opportunity to expand their operation creatively across the globe and retain more customers for the company’s products and services. Technological change and automation process as well as robotics chat box management are effective where the customers can get continuous assistance from the organisational representatives (An, 2020). There is also GPS system for successful tracking as well as the organisations utilise Enterprise resource Planning or ERP system for managing supply chain on the country India, in order to maintain fast food supply chain and distribution network, the GPS and ERP system are playing a crucial role in the recent years to support the organisational operations successfully. Open the other hand, the Information and Communication Technology are also playing an important role in enhancing market communication and improve internal collaboration in the workplace (Rajawat et al., 2020). This further influences the organisational entrepreneurs to run their business efficiently by engaging all the stakeholders of the business. In the recent era of globalisation, the companies in the fast food industry focus on adopting innovative techniques for managing environmental sustainability, such as solar panel and electric cars as well as renewable energy resource utilisation, which further enhances brand values and provide green environmental footprint. Hence, the technical advancement has its positive impacts on the companies like McDonalds to run their operations innovatively acropss the India market and also in the UK.

Legal

Legal structure is important to be maintained well in order to run the operations ethically, and it is the responsibility of the leader and the business entrepreneurs to follow the ethical rules and legislations for achieving future success. In this regard, copy right and intellectual property rights are mandatory for the business firms to maintain authenticity and run their business ethically. Employment laws are there where the companies provide employment contract to the staff in order to maintain job security and employees safety at the workplace (Chandra, 2019). The minimum wage act along with fair payment practices in India is there to provide effective salary and wages to the employees. The managers are concerned about managing the employees, as the employees are the major stakeholders of the business, and they try to follow the employment contract and provide incentives to encourage staff creativity and retain them for long run. There is health and safety act at workplace which ensures employees safety and security at the workplace (Dilip et al., 2021). All the companies in the food and restaurant industry of India must ensure that the staff members are working under effective supervision and safety measures. Anti-discrimination practices and fairness and equality act develop effective structure in the organisation to follow the ethical practices and manage the stakeholders efficient in long run. Hence, the ethical considerations are beneficial for the organisations to manage the internal organisational culture and follow the rules to run the business operations legally. On the other hand, consumer protection law is also there and it is important in the food and restaurant industry worldwide, where all the restaurants must create values for the customers by providing the best quality food products, healthy items and fresh products to the customer, so that they can consume it safely without any health issues.

Environmental

Environmental protection act is playing a crucial role to strategies the whole business, and it provides a scope to the organisations to follow the environmental principals for managing the operations ethically. Providing green environmental footprint is mandatory for all the restaurants and food delivery house worldwide so that social values must be ensured (Dilip et al., 2021). McDonalds as a famous restaurant chain in India and it needs to focus on environmental principals in order to sustain in the market and gain high competitive advantage. With the technical innovation and environmental protection, there are innovative solutions to the business, where the companies start utilising renewable energy resources and also utilise paper packaging system, rather than using plastic. They are also efficient to tackle with climate change. The introduction of electric cars in India further influences the entrepreneurs to utilise the cars for distribution and managing green supply chain. It further provides positive brand image in the market, where using electric cars is considered as innovative movement of the companies towards reducing greenhouse emission and contribution positively in mitigating air pollution. The organisations also utilise soar panel in order to utilise renewable resources along with this, rain water are also utilise for production purpose (Chandra, 2019). Such initiatives are effective for the organisations to create positive brand image in India and run the operations strategically. In addition to this, the organisations are concerned about corporate social responsibility, where they try to manage waste, protect the interest of the public, providing best quality products and investing in social developmental projects. Such activities reshape the organisational activities and further influence the companies in restaurant industry to in their business sustainably.

From the overview of PESTLE analysis, it has been explored that, the organisations are running their business activities under smooth market place and conduct international trade legally by maintaining all the ethical rules and trade agreements. The political stability along with social development further influences the organisations to expand their business activities across the international markets. Economic growth of the country, high GDP and national income in India are also suitable for the business to run their operations strategically. Technical advancement is there with adoption of latest technology, software system and integrated computerised system which enhances organisational performance by automated process generation. On the other hand, the companies in India are bound to follow government regulations and maintain ethical business rules to establish the firm legally and run their international operations smoothly. The legal and ethical considerations among with market growth hereby influence the organisation McDonalds to expand their business by choosing international market place so that they can increase their restaurant chain and generate profitability in long run (Chandra, 2019). Though the company is successful in international expansion, it is important for the firm to increase the food supply chain and distribution network across the international nations to gain high competitive advantage as compared to other competitive firm operating in the restaurant industry. In this context, environmental protection is mandatory to be followed in order to secure future sustainable development, where McDonalds must focus on their operations and provide green environmental footprint in long run. McDonalds needs to invest in renewable energy as well as improve waste management process in order to create good brand value and run their operations sustainably. Hence, it would be great idea for the business to utilise suitable business environment and expand their business internationally to meet the corporate mission of the company.

3.2 Business support systems enabling a selected business to trade internationally

International business is a critical task an in this regard support systems are necessary to be confirmed, so that the leader and managers can operate internationally. The major factors such as influence of the internet and the international payment method are crucial in conducting international trade. internet is playing a crucial role in managing the business where it ensure high speed f internet ease of communication and changes in business process after the influence of internet, the business process is being changed over the period of time (Hamilton and Webster, 2018). Recently, online business activities are increasing rapidly rather than conducting offline business. Hence, there is great influence of internet in the business, where the entrepreneurs try to utilise internet for business promotion, increasing SEO and attracting the customers across the international market place. McDonalds is beneficial as it is successful to utilise internet and promote their business through social media advertisement and SEO. The speed of internet will enable McDonalds to trade internationally, where the representatives of the company can communicate with other business internationally and increase the number of franchising in different market place. Time and money are saved through such activities where internet is a quicker and cheaper way to promote the brand and make the organisation successful by successful expansion of the business (Hamilton and Webster, 2018). It also becomes faster and efficient to contact a business partner, where it provides a scope to McDonalds to enhance market communication and arrange business partners for running the operations smoothly. In order to trade internationally and maintaining food supply chain efficiently, internet is playing a crucial role, where the representatives of McDonalds can arrange the international suppliers and distributions by engaging them and communicating with them through utilising internet.

The changes to businesses processes will enable McDonalds to trade internationally and adopt e-commerce services for further expansion. In the recent years, the customers are satisfied with the online purchasing activities, where they try to interact with the organisation through online communication modes and they place their orders safely through the company website and mobile application. Hence, internet is important for conducting international business where the company can develop good communication with all the stakeholders by utilising internet and latest technology named Information and Communication Technology or ICT. Communication through internet hereby will allow a faster response time at McDonalds. For example, the management team of the company can arrange meeting, conferences at the company and also make future plans collaboratively by engaging with each other via internet. Skype is an easy way of communicating and zoom meeting is also utilised for developing strong team through continuous communication and internal collaboration. Hereby, the organisation McDonalds has the opportunity to utilise internet and conduct the business operations internationally (Ferraro, 2021). The social media plays a crucial where Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are utilised for sharing latest news and information among the social communities. McDonalds can handle the social media posts for influencing the purchasing decision making practice of the customers and also arrange other business partners for future franchising. On the other hand, adopting ICT along with sending email, utilising mobile application for customer’s food delivery system and implementing e-commerce tactics are also beneficial for McDonalds to run their business and expand it internationally.

In addition to the above support system, another major support is international payment method, which includes cash in advance, international credit card and international bank transfer. For the individuals, it becomes easier to make international payments securely through inline transfer as well as availing the efficient banking services (LeonaviÄ ienÄ, 2021). The banking institutions are collaborating with international banks and this makes the transactions easier for the people to transfer fund on international accounts. Cash in advance will enable McDonalds to trade internationally, and it is an effective payment method in which an order is not processed until full payment is received in advance. The business partners of McDonalds can make payments in advance to run their operations further security across the international markets. International bank transfer can also be conducted efficiently through fund transfer by considering the exchange rate. The business partners of McDonalds are able to handle the exchange rate fluctuations and transfer fund as per its valuation. It will be effective to manage monetary transactions across Europe and USA with moderate exchange rate. On the other hand, there is international credit card, which is also accessible for conducting business globally. In this regard, the business partner can use credit card internationally for making their payments and the amount will be played back in instalments when the credit card bill comes (Beugelsdijk, Ambos and Nell, 2020). Credit cards will provide additional payment protection for businesses trading overseas as they often include additional insurances. Hereby, the international payment system along with the security in fund transfer through banking services will influence the international businesses to run their operations across the globe safely.

In addition to this there are other support systems which further mitigate the management team to adopt creative strategies to run the international business activities. The ethical structure and rules in business also reshape the business activities efficiently, where the organisations like McDonalds must follow the ethical legislative structure to run their operations. The international trade agreement along with the government rules are maintained well to make the business successful. The patent and copyright further secure the organisational activities overseas. Additionally, McDonalds also follow the WTO guidelines and international trade agreement for franchising and international food delivery system (Buckley and Casson, 2019). Moreover, the organisation is efficient to follow the employment rules to create value for the staff, as the employee is the major stakeholders of the company to provide the best quality food and services to the customers. Hence, employment contract along with structured salary further retain more experienced staff in the company and this is considered as a huge support system, for McDonalds to run their business internationally. Strong supply chain and distribution network overseas are other support system to the business, where McDonald is able to hold strong suppliers and distributors in the business for running their operations globally (Backus, Kehoe and Kydtand, 2021). Hereby, the ethical structure, government regulations, along with employment contract is effective support system to influence the business to trade globally. Additionally, the financial stability of the brand, good rand values and sustainable solutions are also considered as the major support system for McDonalds to run their operations globally and make the brand successful by establishing more outlets in the international countries and increasing the number of franchising.

4. Exploring the cultural differences affecting international businesses

Ethnic population make-up

There are diverse culture and ethnicity among the people in India, and it is difficult for the company to understand the taste and preferences of the people in the recent years (Collinson et al., 2020). There is diverse range of vegetarian products and if the demand is low in India, the overall revenue becomes deteriorated. on the other hand, one of their signature products include beef in it which is also sometime raise issues in maintaining cultural identity. In the UK, the company can operate smoothly with its diverse menu and healthy items, as most of the people are health conscious in the country.

Languages

Language is another major factor, where the company McDonalds may face issues in operating in India with the local language. In the UK, English is widely used and it is not problematic for the organisational representatives to cooperate and communicate with the people in the UK (Genie et al., 2020). Though McDonalds have overcome this problem by translating their adverts in the local language in India, it is not a cost effective way to run the business smoothly.

Religion

McDonalds will experience a low profit income as most of the population in India will not be purchasing food from McDonalds due to the fact that they are celebrating this religious holiday and they most likely made food at home (Patel et al., 2021). On the other hand, the company can expand their business in the UK with successful customer’s retention for their quality products. Most of the customers in the UK prefer online food delivery system and purchase healthy products for their lunch and dinner.

5. Situational analysis of UK and India

UK

The major strengths in the country are such as huge population, demand for the quality products and services, economic growth and social development. It will be helpful for the company McDonalds to expand their business activities across the UK and attract the customers in the market. Large population and business opportunities further attract the companies in investing in the country (Minford and Xu, 2018). The literacy rate is 100% and the people are technological upgraded. On the other hand, structured business activities and government support further influence the organisations to promote their services and establish the business strategically. On the other hand, the major weaknesses are exchange rate fluctuations, changes in politics, worldwide tension due to COVID 19 situation and low international trade activities which have adverse impacts on the business activities of McDonalds (Bahmani-Oskooee and Nasir, 2020). On the other hand, there are some opportunities in the market of the UK which are e-commerce business growth, technical advancement and business creativity as well as revenue generations scope and population will be increasing due to birth rate as well as migrant labourers in the UK. The threats are related to increasing cost of production and operations, presence of other substitute products and intense competition as well as changing needs of the customers (Dhingra et al., 2018). Though there are such threats in UK market, it would be beneficial for the organisation to expand their services across the UK through retail store and franchising so that the customers can get the best quality food and beverages as per their preferences.

India

India is another populated country with high GDP growth rate and social development. There is increasing numbers of foreign business, where the entrepreneurs choose the market for foreign direct investment due to its high rate of interest and huge population. Low wage and economic growth are other reasons of attractive foreign direct investment in the country (Rana, and Sharma, 2019). McDonalds can expand their activities across the Indian markets as there is huge population with economic growth. In such situation, the company can target the audiences and retain them for long run. The major weaknesses are literacy rate is low and there is income inequality in terms of wealth distribution. Additionally, the lack of cultural diversity and lack of knowledge raise the issue of unskilled workforce in the organisation. However, the major opportunities include rise in employability and increasing population (Aditya et al., 2021). There would be strong customer’s base in Indian economy though there is high competition. The local food market in Indian economy is highly competitive and there are other outlets for food and beverages including Pizza hut, KFC, Dominos etc., which hold strong market share as compared to McDonalds. Hence, the major threats are changing needs of the customers, increasing cost of operations, lack of technical innovation and lack of education (Mantri et al., 2019). It would be not being effective for McDonald’s to enhance their performance in Indian economy for such threats. However, the market opportunities such as better growth in foreign direct investment, inflation adjusted market, moderate exchange rate; along with huge population further influence the companies to expand their business in India.

6. Analyse how cultural differences affect international businesses in UK and India

cultural differences have its crucial impacts on the business activities, and the company McDonalds is efficient to create effective organisation with corporate governance to manage their operations the major factors that affect the international business are such as negotiation, management style, workforce practices organisational cutter and marketing strategies.

Contract negotiations

For contract negotiation, there needs effective communication and cooperation among the business partners and the employees. In the UK, there is effective communication and collaboration among the employees, where group decisions are being made effectively in the workplace. All the employees in the workplace can participate in the decision making practice and share their opinion in order to accept the contact through negotiation. Hence, the interest of all the employees are being considered while making negotiations and choosing the business contract. Structure workplace activities, clear job roles and responsibilities as well as effective meetings and conferences are arranged in the workplace of the UK which further provides a scope to the company McDonalds to run their business smoothly by engaging all the workers. More ideas and suggestions are able to be expressed within that meeting, where the employees are feeling valued in sharing their creative ideas in front of others. Formal communication, business meetings and in-depth critical discussion further provide an opportunity to the business to run the operations smoothly by making innovative decision. The documents are handled well in the workplace as well as the integrated computerised system is managed for digital database management system so that the employees can access the database and share important information to make the deals (Vitolla et al., 2021). Hence, business partnership with the UK entrepreneurs will be helpful for McDonalds to expand their business and make the organisation profitable in long run. The workers in the UK are culturally diverse as they are from different demographic background, there are also language gap and internal conflicts, but the workers are able to utilise organisational resources and attend the general meeting efficiently to share opinion so that each staff can get equal opportunity to make effective deals for the business. This decision making practice further enhance negotiation process with team working practice, creative ideas building and strong communication among the team members. There is huge numbers of migrant workers that may raise cultural diversity; however the organisational practice in the UK is suitable to make the employees efficient to work with others under suitable working atmosphere.

On the other hand, there is lack of efficacy in the business negotiation to make the construct successful due to internal conflicts, resistance to change and language gap. There is lack of general meeting and large conferences in the companies in India, which may raise misunderstanding and lack of trust among the employees (Vanam, 2019). It is difficult for the company McDonald to work under such situation and choose the best contract after negotiation. In the negotiation process, there is lack of involvement of the employees, poor communication and lack of scope for participation in the contract. Hence, the workers feel devalued and they do not have the scope to participant in making organisational decision after critical discussion. There are mainly small meetings and written contract on the basis of which the workers are working to meet their individual roles and responsibilities in the workplace. Having small meetings, lack of shared vision, poor communication regarding the strategic changes and business contracts as well as lack of involvement of the employees in contact negotiation process may lead to disruption of the whole operations (Polak, 2019). Hence, it would be beneficial for the organisation McDonalds to choose the country UK for further brand expansion and running the operations smoothly under suitable management process. It would also be advantageous for the organisation to choose the country UK as it has diverse workforce with effective skill and knowledge which further help the firm to manage cultural diversity and develop a strong team in near future, so that all the workers can work under effective supervisions and control and contribute positively in achieving the company’s goal.

Composition of the workforce

Composition of the workforce will have a big impact in the way McDonalds work here working style; cultural expectations affect the business activities. The composition of work includes holiday’s minimum wage, working hours and employee welfare. In the UK, there are several acts and employment rules which reshape the organisational practice to treat the workers fairly. In this regard Minimum Wage Act along with the structured salary is maintained well. On the other hand, employee welfare is maximised under health and Safety at Workplace 1974 and Human rights act 1998, so that the workers feel valued in working with others in the company (Michailova, and Holden, 2019). Hence, with the agreement intervention in the UK, the regulations are strictly handled and implemented in the organisations. McDonalds can facilitates the benefits for the workers and create values for them for successful retention of the employees. As compare to the UK, in the India, there is low employee morale and poor employment welfare. The holidays are not stated in most of the small and medium sized firms and wage payments and working hours are not stated effectively in the employment contract. Mostly target based jobs and excessive work pressure further de-motivate the workers in India. Low wage and excessive work pressure in India further leads to dissatisfaction among the workers and labour retrenchment (BHATNAGAR, CHOUDHARY and BHARDWAJ, 2019). Employee payment is crucial role and the company McDonald must focus on designing structured salary and incentives for the staff to be retained in long run. Hence, as per the composition of the workforce, the company must focus on expanding their business in the UK rather than India, as in the UK, there is structured employment contract along with good salary and wage rate. The health and safety at the workplace is much higher in the UK as compared to India, where the supervision quality and control mechanism are efficient in the UK and it further provides a scope to the organisational representatives to manage their employees successfully and strengthen their employee base in long run.

Management style

Management style is another cultural difference which has crucial impacts on the operations and activities of McDonalds. Management style is the way managers go about accomplishing the objectives by making effective decision, involving the workers, following effective leadership style and exercising authority in the workplace (Velez-Calle et al., 2020). The management style in the UK is mainly known as western management practice which not very strict and there is freedom or the workers to perform better with cooperation and communication. This further has positive impacts on the organisation McDonalds, where the management practices encourage individual’s creativity to perform better and motivate them to work as a team for accomplishing the corporate objectives. McDonalds mainly focuses on providing the best quality food and beverages to the customers at affordable price, where they focus on managing experienced staff who can guide the customers to choose the products as per their personal choice and preferences. There is a lot of freedom in the staff in the UK, where they are able to share their opinions about new products being launched in the company. Hence, the management practice in the UK is suitable for McDonald to enhance creativity and run the business efficiently by people involvement (Sun et al., 2019). The workers in the UK are empowered well in the organisational decision making practice, and the managers try to involve them in strategic change management in order to share their perception and enhance creativity to run the business activities successfully. Continuous communication and cooperation are there in the workplace of the UK where the managers encourages individual creativity in order to launch new products and manage the operations as a strong team.

Hence, good communication, strong team work and respect for others further help the employees of McDonalds to work proficiently and explore create solutions for achieving business success. Freedom of the staff and flexibility at the workplace further improves managerial practice where the managers maintain harmony and support the workers to perform better by utilising organisational resources an own capabilities (Vouillemin, 2020). On the other hand, In India, the management style is very strict with lack of freedom and creativity in the workplace. It has negative impacts on the organisational operations of McDonalds. There is lack of engagement of the workers in the organisational decision making practice, which may raise internal conflicts and resistance to change. The productivity and proficiency of the workers are hampered over the period of time under such strict managerial style, where the individuals fail to communicate with the senior executives and gets the chance to involve in the organisational decision making practice (Onyusheva, 2018). Hence, it is difficult for the organisation McDonald to run their business activities proficiently in India under such management practice, where there is lack of employee engagement in the company. There is lack of products innovation and creativity in the workplace which leads to stagnant working practice. Lack of employee motivation and poor management further leads to labour retrenchment and deterioration of the overall productivity of the firm. In such context, it would be beneficial for the organisation McDonalds to expand their business operations in the UK under suitable management style, freedom to work and flexibility in the workplace.

Organisational culture

Organisational culture is playing a crucial role in managing the workplace activities, and developing good corporate governance. In order to manage the international operations, the companies must focus on developing effective organisational culture, with ethical considerations and transparency. In the UK, there is good corporate culture developed in the organisations, where the employees have the employment contract with holidays and structure workplace activities. This further ensures job security and employees safety in the workplace. McDonalds is efficient to develop good organisational culture with respect and integrity in the workplace. The company is successful in creating values for the staff in the workplace, by providing them equal opportunities to work and get remunerations and performance related pay (Buckley, Enderwick, and Cross, 2018). The payment and incentives depend on the individual’s performance as well as there are health and safety policies that create values for the staff where the workers work safely under effective supervision and control. In the UK, the organisational management team follow effective culture with managing transparency and accountability. There are respect for others, trust among the team members, boding and formal relationship with each other. In India, organisational culture is not defined efficiently due to poor management style, lack of corporate government, whereas in the UK, it would be beneficial for McDonalds to expand their business activities by developing effective corporate culture in the workplace. This further helps the firm to create good corporate governance and run their operations efficiently with integrity and employee value creation.

Marketing strategies and advertising

The marketing strategy and advertising are also important aspect in terms of choosing the best market place for brand promotion. In this regard internet is playing a crucial role in managing the business operations, and it provides a scope to the organisation McDonald to promote their activities and food products in the market by adopting the best marketing tactics. In this regard, the marketing activities in the UK are advanced due to latest technical innovation and company’s system. The customers can get automatic message on discounts, latest product launch and other offers. the old and new customers database are managed well and providing necessary information through smartphone and email are considered as effective marketing tactics for promoting the brand in the UK (Vespestad, and Smørvik, 2020). The people in the UK are also knowledgeable and advanced with latest technology, and they prefer to have latest news and information through social media activities and online news. It would be beneficial for the company McDonald to expand their business in the UK in a cost effective way, where they can utilise internet and social media for further brand promotion and successful customer’s retention. As compared to the UK, in India, the sue f technology is very low, and the clients are concerned about daily updates and attest news that can be accessible through internet and social media sites. The television advertisement, magazines and newspapers are the major modes of accessing information, which is costly for the company to promote their services in the market. There is also intense competition in India, due to other competitive brand and strong restaurant chain (Venaik and Brewer, 2019).

In order to advertise in India, they should make sure they invest in advertisements such as posters and leaflets as this type of advertising does not include technology. Hence, it would be beneficial for the company McDonalds to expand their services in the UK under western managerial culture, where the company can focus on technology and social media to establish their business sustainably. Through social media posts and creating mobile application of McDonalds, the organisation can expand their e-commerce services and promote the available food and beverages in the market. Time to time updates to the customers further influences them to make effective purchase decision for the quality food and beverages (Guang, and Tian, 2018). Hence, the advertisement tactics in the UK is a cost-effective and less time consuming practice for McDonald to have successful promotion and expanding of the business in long run. Interactive advertisement by social media posts and gathering customer’s feedback are also possible in the UK, where the company can utilise e-commerce services for engaging the clients and develop strong relationship (Hendy, Montargot and Papadimitriou, 2021). Interactive marketing is hereby possible in the UK which improves customers trust and loyalty in the market. Though there is high competitive in the food and restaurant industry of the UK, it would be a great opportunity for the organisation McDonalds to choose proficient business partners for franchising and expand the business through store establishment and also adopting e-commerce services.

7. Recommending one country a selected business could target for international trade

McDonalds must target UK, or further business expansion. The political stability in the UK along with government intervention is suitable for the business to run their operations. The ethical practice with legal structure reshape the business of McDonalds to run their business under intellectual property rights and copyright, the company can provide effective employment contract and develop employee wear for strengthening their employee base. The firm must expand their business in the UK, due to diverse culture where there is huge numbers of people migrating from developed and developing nations. Diverse culture along with effective management practice further develops a strong team in the workplace. The individuals are having good emotional intelligence, understanding about the workplace activities and they have freedom to work as per their convenience. Such activities further maximises the overall productivity of the firm. On the other hand, the country is efficient to protect natural resources and ensure green environmental footprint which influence the company McDonald to maintain food quality and waste management in order to secure future sustainable development. There is lack of exchange rate fluctuation and moderate interest rate which also influence the foreign investors to invest in the UK and develop the firm’s activities efficiently. Technological advancement is there in the UK with 99% literacy rate, and it influence the companies to adopt latest techniques, develop mobile application and e-commerce services to manage the customers across different market pace around the UK. Hence, it would be the best strategy for McDonald to choose the country UK for brand expansion and promote the services in the market to strengthen their customer base and maximise organisational profitability in long run.

8. Conclusion

It can be concluded that, McDonalds is a famous company and financially stable to run their operations smoothly across the international markets. The company is successful to run their international operations by expanding it across 119 countries through 38,695 restaurants. as per the PESTLE analysis, the external business environment can be characterised as politically stable market, government intervention along with ethical structure that further reshape the organisational activities, economic growth with social development, technological advancement and environmental protection, where the firm can run their operations innovatively and secure future sustainable development. The major countries chosen here are UK and India. After critical analysis on the cultural competencies, it has been explored that, the management style, negotiation practice and composition of working are suitable in the UK as compared to India. UK is the effective strategic option, where the company McDonald can expand their operations through franchising, where negotiation with the business partners. Effective employee management, involvement of the workers for exploring creative decision are the major success factors for McDonalds to run their business globally. The situational analysis is also effective in this discussion, which reveals that, there are effective resources and human capabilities in the UK, where the entrepreneurs of McDonalds can retain experienced staff and support hem with shared vision and adequate resources to maximise their productivity in long run. Hereby, it would be great idea for McDonalds to expand their business activities across the UK markets in order to strengthen their customer’s base by providing them the best quality food and beverages as per their personal choices and preferences. Cultural diversity is being managed well in the UK by maintaining harmony, freedom of speech, creating values for the stakeholders and improving understanding which provides a scope to McDonalds to increase their franchising and direct export in the UK and gain high competitive advantage in near future.

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