McDonald's cross-cultural ethical challenges and social responsibility

Cross-Cultural Perspectives

The company that I am researching is McDonalds. McDonalds has expanded around the world and brings with it service standards and food standards that exemplify the brand. For the company, the cultural issue relates to many aspects of service in foreign countries. Dietary restrictions are one in particular that the company needs to address -- in some places people do not eat pork while in other places people do not eat beef. There are also environmental issues where the company is using beef from ranchland that came from deforestation -- in countries like Brazil, for example. The company also faces ethical problems with respect to its role in childhood obesity, a concern of some in Western markets. Overall, McDonalds has to address ethical issues around the world that stem from difference between the different cultures.

Cultural Issue

McDonalds must meet the expectations of culture wherever it operates, and this entails a number of issues. To this end, McDonald's must have a combination of standards that will help it to grow its business, and the ability to be flexible with its menus and its staffing, not to mention approaches to other issues of cultural sensitivity. To this end, McDonalds needs to come up with a plan that melds the local responsibility with the global responsibility. This plan can then be used to help guide the company's decision-making with respect to these sorts of ethical issues.

Ethical Perspectives

By taking a relativist approach to ethics, McDonalds is able to meet the needs of its local audiences, because it is in a position to understand those needs and respond to them. There are other ethical perspectives that could be chosen, however. Some firms might prefer to take the perspective of absolutism, where the companies works around the world with home country ethics. This approach allows for greater consistency in the operations of McDonalds, and keeps its operations within the bounds of U.S. law. However, the approach of following just one code is difficult to reconcile with global operations.

Across Cultures

One of the biggest issues that companies face with international business is corruption, and to be sure this is something that McDonalds deals with, because it operates in so many countries. The approaches to corruption -- and even its definition -- are subject to the whims of the people. In this case, with corruption, there are dramatically different global standards. What may be perceived positively in one country could be perceive negatively in another, especially if there are major cross-cultural differences.

It is important when working across cultures to have a baseline ethical standard that can be adapted and applied the international context. It is also important that the company has an approach that allows it to understand the issues in every country in which it operates. This is important especially in the service business where you have to meet the needs of the local population while at the same time delivering a standardized business on which your customers count.

As the result of being a global corporation, McDonalds must begin with e global framework. That global framework will define the best ways to deal with situations. Take for example the issue of treating workers well. In some countries, worker in a fast food restaurant would make very little -- much less even than they would make in America. The issue of corporate citizenship therefore arises. In this case, the corporate citizenship would be to weigh the different options with respect to throw much the workers get paid. Do you pay them at the same as the U.S., or just the local rate. In this case, McDonalds does tend to rely on local standards, as it feels that by focusing on local standards it can come up with locutions are evident.

Conclusion

As a global operation, McDonalds must take into account that it needs to set policies that not only help guide its actions and give it a consistent outlook with respect to its social decision-making. By setting imperatives early and training the management team about the best practices, the company can take a global approach to social responsibility management. If that occurs, then McDonalds can continue to enjoy success. The company thus far has worked with other stakeholder groups, though it does seem to lack a certain clarity of vision for what it wants to accomplish with it social responsibility management. If McDonalds can find for itself a clear definition of the socially responsible company it wants to be, then it will be more successful going forward.

The performance of the company with respect to social responsibility does seem to be aligned with the desired outcomes that are defined by senior management, and this alone makes McDonalds relatively successful among global companies at maintaining a unified approach to social responsibility policy and management.

Works Cited:

Whitehouse, L. (2003). Corporate social responsibility, corporate citizenship and the global compact. Global Social Policy. Vol. 3 (3) 299-318.

Werther, W. & Chandler, W. (no date) Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility. Sage Publications.