In 2002, McDonald’s sold its last Bolivian Big Mac. This was a part of a global restructuring plan that would not only close locations in Bolivia, locations in seven other countries would close as well. But was this the whole story? Was this sudden exit out of the entire country of Bolivia simply part of McDonald’s global downsizing or did Bolivian culture interfere with the success of the Golden Arches? According to the 2011 documentary, “Por qué quebro McDonalds en Bolivia”, this failure was largely due to cultural differences, political backlash., and economic disparities (McDonalds returns to Bolivia after 13 years, 2015). In the culture of Bolivia, society values the “art of the meal”. Bolivians prefer to spend the little money they have …show more content…
The government of Bolivia is very anti-Western and the elected president, President Evo Morales, also has deep anti-American views. President Morales holds a strong stance against giant U.S food chains and he even included a plea in the United Nations that stood against U.S food chains claiming it is “a threat to humanity” (France-Presse, 2013). The Bolivian government is so anti-western that the clock installed on the constitutional hall in La Paz is anti-clockwise, to oppose western values. President Morales’ views on America and western products prevented McDonald’s from becoming successful. Lastly, there were economic reasons why McDonald’s failed in Bolivia. While McDonald’s is popularly deemed an inexpensive fast food restaurant, Bolivians would not agree. Due to the extreme poverty in Bolivia, compared to local options, McDonald’s prices were expensive and were not competitive. Due to McDonald’s lack of price adjustments, the majority of Bolivians could not afford McDonald’s. Bolivians spent their bolivianos on less expensive hamburgers sold on the …show more content…
In 2014, McDonald’s suffered its worst loss since 2002; net income dropped $935,500 from 2012 to 2015 (NASDAQ, 2016) and sales fell 3.7 percent. When considering where to expand in the franchise market, Bolivia is the only Latin American country to not have the Golden Arches, even Cuba has one, on Guantanamo Bay (Anderson,2015). This also makes economic sense as, according to Exports.gov, the Bolivian economy has grown at an average of 5.6% per year between 2012 and 2015, leading to a dramatic increase in the size and spending of the middle class. And unlike back in 2002, when anti-American sentiment was popularized by President Morales, his new cabinet realizes the impact that foreign direct investment will have on its economy and encourages investment from the US (Doing Business in Bolivia, 2016). But in order for McDonald’s to succeed this time in Bolivia a new strategy must be developed. One that entails selecting great locations, segmenting the tourist and younger populations, localizing the menu to cater to Bolivian tastes and preferences, and developing successful marketing strategies to reach this new market far and
There has been withstanding controversy about whether fast food is easier on the pocket than eating home-cooked meals. Take McDonald’s for instance, they’re notorious for their convenient and affordable dollar and value menus. Since you can get a burger for just $1.19, feeding a family of four should be inexpensive right? Mark Bittman, author of “Is Junk Food Really Cheaper?” argues otherwise. He claims that fast food is not at all cheaper than buying a few groceries and cooking at home. He expresses the different myths about fast food like how it is supposedly cheaper than real food when measured by the calorie, the mentality of people that if it isn’t fast food, it has to be costly organic food, and that there just isn’t enough time to cook at home. These myths followed by genuine factors such as addictions and a cultural impact, help Bittman prove his argument’s validity across to his audience. I have to say that Bittman proved his argument’s effectiveness, for he clearly stated his thesis and provided various reliable
The author introduces the concept of the "new means of consumption" to illustrate the ways in which not only business, but cultural, practices are threatened by McDonaldization. Defined as "those things owned by capitalists and rendered by them as necessary to customers in order for them to consume" (91), examples of the new means of consumption include fast-food restaurants, credit cards, mega-malls, home shopping television networks, and cybermalls. The critical point for the author is that each changes the ways individuals consume. For example, the exportation of fast-food restaurants and American eating habits, with their emphasis on food as something to be consumed as quickly, efficiently, and inexpensively as possible, alters the way people eat and, thereby, "poses a profound threat to the entire cultural complex of many societies" (8).
The food industry has become a large part of the American lives by providing cheap, affordable, and fulfilling food. Now, fast food has expanded globally, creating a global phenomenon. In Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Scholosser, the book looks at the history of fast food and how it became a multi-billion dollar industry. Scholosser is an investigative journalist that seeks to uncover the truth about the fast food industry by researching its roots and exploring every aspect of the industry. Scholosser divided the book into two sections called “The American Way” and “Meat and Potatoes.”
In today’s society Americans want everything quick and cheap, so the question stands what is a quick lunch and what is available for an economical price? Americans live in a world that surrounds us with fast food restaurants. Two of the most well known restaurants for fast food restaurants is McDonald 's and Checkers. Far from what we imagined, McDonald 's and Checkers have huge differences. Most people perceive them just as the same fast food restaurant with different names. For this reason, they create debates on which one of them is the superior restaurant and which one is the more economical price. Though neither of these companies provides the healthiest foods for Americans the question stands, which one is for lunch today? Even though,
McDonaldization is the process in which the principles of popular fast food companies such as McDonald’s are appearing throughout the world in many aspects of our modern society. As McDonaldization sweeps across the globe, The authors of McDonaldization Revisited argue that “‘Americanisation’ is so often a synonym for cultural decline” (Alfino, Caputo, & Wynyard , 1998, p. 8). George Ritzer claims that this is due to the rationalization of society as McDonaldization is meant to signify the optimal fusion of efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control (Ritzer, 2011). The intricacies of the human touch are utterly eliminated from this process, and what is left is an uninviting, cold, and unforgiving concept. When the novelty of something so foreign and American wears off, adaptation is needed to sustain one’s position in other countries. One research design type that researchers might utilize to view McDonaldization would be observation of the adaptation and cultural assimilation across different parts the world. This can be measured with ethnographies, the systematic study of the customs of people and cultures.
In the book Fast Food Nation: The Darks Side of the All-American Meal, Eric Schlosser claims that fast food impacts more than our eating habits, it impacts “…our economy, our culture, and our values”(3) . At the heart of Schlosser’s argument is that the entrepreneurial spirit —defined by hard work, innovation, and taking extraordinary risks— has nothing to do with the rise of the fast food empire and all its subsidiaries. In reality, the success of a fast food restaurant is contingent upon obtaining taxpayer money, avoiding government restraints, and indoctrinating its target audience from as young as possible. The resulting affordable, good-tasting, nostalgic, and addictive foods make it difficult to be reasonable about food choices, specifically in a fast food industry chiefly built by greedy executives.
“Out of every $1.50 spent on a large order of fries at fast food restaurant, perhaps 2 cents goes to the farmer that grew the potatoes,” (Schlosser 117). Investigative journalist Eric Schlosser brings to light these realities in his bestselling book, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Schlosser, a Princeton and Oxford graduate, is known for his inspective pieces for Atlantic Monthly. While working on article, for Rolling Stone Magazine, about immigrant workers in a strawberry field he acquired his inspiration for the aforementioned book, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, a work examining the country’s fast food industry (Gale).
The American life has been transformed by the fast food industry not just changing the American diet but also the culture, workplace, economy, and the landscape. “Today about half of the money used to buy food is spent at restaurants-mainly fast food restaurants.” (Schlosser) This could be due to the fact that about two-thirds of working women are mothers. The impact of fast food on the American culture is transparent when just looking at McDonald’s. McDonald’s has become the world’s most famous brand; the golden arches are more known than the Christian cross. “A survey of American schoolchildren found that 96 percent could identify Ronald McDonald.” (Schlosser) McDonald’s is responsible for 90 percent of new jobs in The United States. The landscape has changed due to the fast food ...
Malone, Elizabeth, and George Ritzer. "Globalization Theory: Lessons from the Exportation of McDonaldization and the New Means of Consumption." Amerstud (2008): 97-112. Web. 26 Apr 2011. .
According to Royle (1999) McDonald’s is a very large multinational enterprise (MNE) and the largest food service operation in the world. Currently the company has 1.5 million workers with 23,500 stores in over 110 countries with the United Kingdom and Germany amongst the corporation’s six biggest markets, and over 12,000 restaurants in the United States. In 1974 the United Kingdom corporation was established and in 1971 the Germany corporation was established, currently the combined corporation has over 900 restaurants and close to 50,000 employees in each of these countries (Royle, 1999).
"Studying McDonald's ABroad: Overseas Branches Merge Regional Preferences, Corporate Directives." Editorial. Nations Restaurant News 11 Nov. 2005: n. pag. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 5 Mar. 2013.
To conclude, McDonald’s definitely did a great job in maintaining its sustainability in the economic perspective. However, the performance of company in social and environmental perspective is not satisfactory. Some may suggest that most criticisms are oddly jealous from its competitors. Yet, it is important for an international company do consider its surrounding while earning money from it. McDonald’s needs to pay more effort on truly serving the community, instead of just fighting back those criticisms.
McDonald’s was the first company to try to export America’s fast food and changes in eating habits to other nations. McDonald’s has over
Vignali, C. (2001). McDonald’s: “think global, act local”--the marketing mix. British Food Journal, 103(2), pp.97--111.
Overall, McDonalds are able to reach customers all around the globe and they market their products inexpensively. According to Naim (2001, p. 1) it is acknowledged that, “McDonald 's is a global brand, but we run our business in a fundamentally different way that ought to appeal to some critics of globalization. We are a decentralized entrepreneurial network of locally owned stores that is very flexible and adapts very well to local conditions. We offer an opportunity to entrepreneurs to run a local business with local people supplied by a local infrastructure. Each creates a lot of small businesses around