The Business Cultre Differences Between North America and China: McDonald's
Introduction
In 1954, fifty-two year old Ray Kroc, exclusive distributor of the Multimixer milkshake mixer, approached Dick and Mac McDonald, owners of the single hamburger stand located in California, called McDonalds (McDonalds Corporation, 2004). Impressed by the stands fast service, Croc encouraged the brothers McDonald to open up several restaurants, and in 1955, Kroc succeeded in opening the second restaurant in Des Moines, earning just over three-hundred and sixty dollars on its first day (McDonalds Corporation, 2004).
Forty-six years later, the McDonalds corporation opened its thirty thousandth restaurant (Adbrands.net, 2004) and reported a six per cent increase in global sales results to over $10.1 billion in the fourth quarter of that same year of 2001 (PR Newswire, 2002). Currently, the restaurant chain is the worlds largest (Agence France Presse, 2004).
Throughout the years, McDonalds restaurants have evolved from simple hamburger and milkshake stands to family destination places offering a wide-ranging menu which offers healthy lifestyle choices (McDonalds Corporation) and extensive kids meal line, along with the traditional favourites. The McDonalds Big Mac brand name