Question

How does Mcdonalds handle their expatriate managers and does McDonalds have any expat issues or challenges?

Answer 1

Companies take different approaches towards staffing and operating new local markets. In this case, McDonald’s “expatriates were involved in assisting with the selection and training of local staff: each crew member received the standard McDonald’s training (60 hours of training per crew member). Russians selected for managerial positions were sent to McDonald’s Institute of Hamburger ology in Toronto, Canada and to the Hamburger University in Oakbrook, IL, USA”. Among other things, McDonald’s had to expatriate individuals that could speak or were willing to learn Russian on one side, and hire people that could speak English, on the other side. Language is a very important aspect of a culture and can easily become an important barrier for business. As explained by Dowling and Welch, “For most large international firms, a common reporting language is necessary for formal and information communication, reporting systems and information flow…Whether deliberately or by default, the language tends to be English. Such language standardization is both a facilitator and a barrier…It does facilitate formal reporting and communication, but only to the extent that people have a required level of fluency in the corporate language.” There are many different aspects that a company needs to consider when staffing in a new market, and the role expatriates play in this situations is extremely important since they will not only transfer their knowledge, but also the company’s culture.