International Product Expansion - Chick-Fil-A
International Product Expansion
The company firstly started its operation in 1946, with the name of Dwarf Grill, Hapeville, Georgia. The company introduced Chick-fil-A's that is a boneless breast chicken sandwich. The company was re-launched with the name of Chick-fil-A, Inc. at the beginning of 1960's. The founder focused on establishing the restaurants in different shopping malls and opened the first Chick0fil-A restaurant in 1967, in a mall present in Suburban Atlanta. After that, the business grew at exceptional rates and became the most renowned and largest quick-service chicken restaurant provider all over the United States. The company currently operates in the United States with more than 1,950 outlets in forty-two states and Washington D.C. The annual sales computation for 2015 was approximate $6Billion, and the expectations are still high that the company earns more profits in years to come. The company still operates as a private and family owned company and has completed over 48 years with consecutive positive sales value. The company is known for pioneering innovations and differentiating the products on the quality and taste of the offerings. The most popular product offered by the corporation is the Chick-fil-A® a chicken sandwich .
The increasing demand for the products has led the company to open 1,350 new and stand-alone restaurants at different locations in the United States. The Chick-fil-A started the expansion for independent sites in late 1986 (which totals to more than 1,350 restaurants by the end of 2015). The company operates different restaurants strategically located in different parts of the US. They are restaurants, outlets, and counters across the US .
Cultural Analysis
The company currently has an open culture within its organization. The company has developed a clear commitment to serving humans in the best possible manner both internally and externally. The company also aims to play an important role in the communities where it operates and give back to the people and society. The company places an utmost importance on its role to be a major player in the communities and work on strategies that could help it deliver the best value to its customers. The culture of the company ranks human value at the top and trains everyone in the organization to serve human values with complete dignity and respect
For a company currently operating in the US and that aims to expand the company operations to any other of the world creates cross-cultural communication and other issues than can create stress for the enterprise. The two most convenient solutions provided to companies are either to standardize their current business operations in the new country or to adapt the cultural aspects of the operational practices of the enterprise. The examples provided to Chick-fil-A are McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) as these businesses are based in the US and are successfully operating in China.
The most important aspects to focus are the behavior of groups and social classes of China. In general, the people of China are affiliated with their families, schools, country, or with their work groups. People of China maintain harmony and decorum and will not try to create public embarrassment. They have a different and unique language, rely on facial expressions, and tone of the voice/posture to signify their feelings. The social groups in China are well versed and are organized by Hierarchical principles. The highest authority in China is the political generalists (such as emperor's council and governors). The population of China belongs to more than fifty-six recognizable ethnic groups; the most popular ethnic groups are Zhuang, <anchu, Uyghur, Hui, Miao, Yi, and others. The political situation in the region is satisfactory, and the analysis of cultural aspects of China also highlight that the business must expand in China. The business expansion and operating strategies must be designed according to the cultural norms and traditions of the country .
References
Cao, T. Y., Zhong, X., & Liao, K. (2010). Culture and Social Transformations in Reform Era China. Leiden: Brill.
Chick-fil-A. (2016). Facts and History - Company Highlights | Chick-fil-A. Retrieved 2016 йил 14-Feburary from chick-fil-a.com: http://www.chick-fil-a.com/Company/Highlights-Fact-Sheets
Who are we? . (2012). Retrieved from http://www.chick-fil-a.com/media/pdf/who-we-are.pdf
