The impact of culture on international business has led to the emphasis on the concept of glocalization. The following reasons highlight the importance of adopting a strategy adapted to a particular culture in international business. These reasons are:
– The international marketing scheme is affected by globalization and cultural differences.
The distinctive cultural character has affected the strategies adopted in international management. A given strategy in one particular culture is unlikely to produce the same result in another setting or cultural background.
– Understanding the difference between macro and microenvironment has been of great help in international intervention strategies.
– The distinctive cultural character has a great impact on the consumption of goods and services. A clear understanding of this helps international organizations to properly analyze the market and suggest ways to adequately meet consumer needs and demand.
A case study of McDonald’s global strategy reveals the concept of “think globally and act locally” (glocalisation).
McDonald’s was able to attract its French customers by introducing some local menus that cater to the French palate. When McDonald’s first arrived in France, it faced many oppositions. The difference in food culture between the French and the Americans was vast. The French preferred the home-style type of food rather than fast food. Second, the French were sentimental in accepting the American way of life. McDonald’s mistake was positioning itself as an American fast food company, introducing American menus and lifestyle to the French. As a result, the French were unwilling to accept his brand. On this basis, McDonald’s needed a new strategy. Later, McDonald’s discovered the importance of children in influencing family decisions and thus positioned itself as a family restaurant rather than an American brand restaurant. This strategy was powerful because it was the only brand at the time that recognized the family.
The moment McDonald’s began to position itself as a place for the modern French family, it began to experience an increase in its growth. This was the turning point for McDonald’s in France.
However, McDonald’s success was not completely smooth and easy. In 1999, an angry farmer named José Bove started a protest against the junk food insurgency. He took his tractor along with some other farmers and demolished the McDonald’s branch in their local area. This protest by José caught the attention of the French president, who openly condemned the role of the United States in the global food industries.
José’s opposition led McDonald’s to adopt a transparency policy campaign with farmers to explain what it is doing to improve relations between them.
Second, McDonald’s began to pay attention to local details. He discovered that the French are not in the habit of chopping. He had to adopt recipes that the French liked on his menu. He added pastries and French cakes to his menu, and this was a huge boost to his sales. Also, he had to make sure that the French franchise only made French fries from a particular species of French potato. These strategies adopted by McDonald’s made the French accept its global brand because it had a local taste and feel.
Furthermore, the global fast food McDonald’s survived and grew in India by developing innovative menus to satisfy the Indian palate. When McDonald’s first came to India, it had strong opposition from nationalists. Despite this opposition, it had a growth plan to double its turnover every three years in the next decade.
McDonald’s India Managing Director Vikram Bakshi said that to survive in India, he had to change his strategy. Seventy percent of its product had to be developed to suit the Indian market. In India, McDonald’s was very careful not to offer pork or beef due to the country’s sensitivity to these items.
McDonald’s faced a huge challenge on how to reach India’s large vegetarian population and still maintain its national brand. Therefore, in 1999, he came up with a new burger brand called “McAloo Tikki Burger”. This burger has never been heard of anywhere in the world. Today, the McAloo tikki hamburger is the best-selling product and one of the first products to be exported to the Middle East.
McDonald’s achieved its success in India and around the world because it used both global and local strategies in marketing its products. He had different designs for different countries depending on their culture, as in the case of India.
McDonald’s also takes into consideration the laws of the country in which they are located. For example, in Spain beer is sold at McDonald’s outlets, while in Great Britain it cannot because you will need a separate license to sell alcohol.
This McDonald’s case shows that to be successful globally, intercultural differences must be taken into account in the strategy adopted by international organizations.
In conclusion, cultures influence the strategy adopted by international organizations. These cultures vary, so the strategy adopted in country A must be different from the strategy adopted in country B.
Furthermore, global brands have been able to evolve cultures to some extent and, in turn, cultures have affected the nature of global brands.
According to this, people hold a certain element of their culture in high esteem and are unwilling to let it go. However, they are willing to accept foreign influences only if they can portray a certain aspect of their culture, giving them a local touch.
As a result, for international organizations to be successful globally, it is important to pay attention to local needs, while maintaining a global brand.
Therefore, when implementing a market entry strategy in foreign markets, it is important to adopt the concept of “think globally and act locally”.
