Mcdonald's External Environment Analysis

Analyze critically the external environment of the industry in which McDonald’s operate in India. What were the industry pressures that McDonald’s faced? The practice of eating home cooked food has been deeply ingrained into the minds and lives of people in India and as a result changes in eating habits were earlier slow. But with the increase in the number of nuclear families and the desire of Indians to taste Western food has led to the rise of fast food industry in the country. The industry is mostly dominated by McDonalds in the country. But like its competitors McDonalds’ also faces both social and cultural pressures that right from the time of inception in India. When McDonalds’ made an entry into the country it was faced with stiff opposition from health activists, environmentalists and animal lovers who were against the entry of fast food giants in the country. This in addition to the ‘global’ brand image that it carried which was not in tune with the Indian standards made McDonalds’ a complete foreigner. The socio-cultural differences between the west and India are quite prominent and well pronounced that it became difficult for them to figure out where to strike the right chord. Adding on to this, was the fact that majority of Indians are Hindus with a small percentage of Muslims and other religions. The cultural and religious sensitiveness of these groups where evident in their eating habits as well which made selling pork and beef in the Indian market a tough