Ayanna Omodara Young Marshall and Alfred Walkes
Specific teaching and learning objectives include to identify factors influencing market expansion decisions and recommend appropriate entry modes, understand factors in the…
Abstract
Learning outcomes
Specific teaching and learning objectives include to identify factors influencing market expansion decisions and recommend appropriate entry modes, understand factors in the international business environment that contribute to success or failure of international businesses in developing countries, evaluate strategies enabling international businesses to sustain market presence in developing countries and overcome local competition, analyze the concept of local responsiveness in international business operations and suggest strategies for internationalizing domestic companies from developing countries.
Case overview/synopsis
The McDonald’s case examines the challenges associated with market expansion by global brands. The case occurs during the early-globalization era in the 1990s. Barbados, a developing country, is the site for potential expansion. Prospective investors, the Winters, are desirous of establishing a McDonald’s in Barbados. They need to thoroughly analyze the previous experience of McDonald’s against the host country’s current international business environment, e.g. political, economic, cultural and competitive environment. This case analysis provides a framework for understanding the multifaceted reasons behind McDonald’s exit from Barbados, considering the complex interplay of political, economic, sociocultural, technological and legal factors in the international business environment. The case equips the instructor and students to explore the risks of international expansion, particularly in developing country markets. The case study on McDonald’s failure in Barbados highlights the need to thoroughly examine one’s market entry strategy and available information on the host market and be more locally responsive regarding tastes and preferences. The case study also presents essential lessons for firms and planners from developing countries. Local firms innovated and enhanced their operations in response to the threat from the entry of the global fast-food giant. Yet, they did not seek to internationalize once McDonald’s exited the Barbadian market. The case study, therefore, considers strategies firms from developing countries could utilize to penetrate markets from developed countries.
Complexity academic level
At the undergraduate level, the McDonald’s Barbados case can be used in international business classes to highlight risks in the international business environment and the need for a carefully planned and executed market entry strategy.
Supplementary materials
Teaching notes are available for educators only.
Subject code
CSS5: International Business.
Details
Keywords
Dwayne Devonish, Philmore Alleyne, Wayne Charles‐Soverall, Ayanna Young Marshall and Paul Pounder
The purpose of the paper is to highlight the need for Caribbean scholarship to advance and test social psychological models that speak to current entrepreneurial realities on the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to highlight the need for Caribbean scholarship to advance and test social psychological models that speak to current entrepreneurial realities on the ground which have implications for theory, education, practice and public policy. It tests a revised entrepreneurial intentions‐based model by examining the impact of several socio‐cognitive predictors.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a structural equation modelling approach, a revised model of entrepreneurial intentions is tested based on a survey of 376 university students from a Caribbean university.
Findings
The chi square difference results reveal that when compared with the proposed (revised) model, a previous model advanced by Krueger is found to be the most suitable model in explaining entrepreneurial intentions.
Research limitations/implications
The cross‐sectional design of the study does not permit causal statements to be made regarding the variables examined. There is a call for longitudinal research to further examine the causal links between relevant variables in entrepreneurial models.
Practical implications
This paper has strong practical value in that the results can assist students, educators, and present entrepreneurs in understanding the dynamics and processes involved in entrepreneurial decision‐making. This understanding can promote the development and maintenance of further entrepreneurial ventures in the Caribbean.
Originality/value
The paper also has a strong theoretical value as it relies on several socio‐cognitive explanations of human behaviour, and seeks to advance the theoretical field by using more rigorous analyses.