Tuesday, July 7, 2009

McDonald´s factor

Ahh, the end of this trip...what a trip it has been. I´ve tried very hard to observe things from a business perspective but at times it was quite hard to do with all the sight-seeing, eating and gabbing that I did. I absolutely love to explore other parts of the world but am always so glad to come home.

My post today is about the "McDonald´s perspective". I know that in International Business we talk about The Economist´s Big Mac Index to tell whether a currency is under-valued or over-valued. I have a more practical way of putting it. I did go to McDonald´s in every major city I visited. Not necessarily because I longed for a Big Mac but because I wanted to see the similarities and differences. And, truth be told because I am a stockholder and I like to support my portfolio :)

Here is what I can tell you. If I lived in Europe McDonald´s would be a luxury not an "I´ll stop on my way to work every day for a diet coke" place. It is very expensive. For example, a small diet coke (think Happy Meal size) was €1.50 which is about $2.10- hombre this is "muy caro"! Interestingly enough, all McDonald´s were busy. Another interesting tidbit, the workers did move quickly and served with a smile. I was glad to see that this part of the brand was consistent.

Tomorrow I´m back to the "real world" and happy to do so. This has been a very good experience.

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