The loitering situation described in the case is quite challenging. On the one hand, restaurant suffers from loss in revenues, as it cannot welcome new visitors because elder community members occupy many seats for a long time. On the other hand, by forcing them to leave, the restaurant caused protests in the Korean community because local traditions of respect to elderly people were broken. However, limiting time for customers to sit in a restaurant cannot resolve all problems. The decision to limit sitting time is both positive and negative, and it should be made with respect to different conditions in order to be reasonable. The first condition is the size of the restaurant. If it is large enough to accept all customers, there is no need in limiting time they can sit there. However, if the restaurant is small and not all visitors can freely find seats, time can be limited. The second condition is the amount of visitors, especially during different days and parts of day. It is possible to limit sitting time only during holidays and hours when there are too many visitors. However, during periods with smaller amount of visitors, time should not be limited. The third condition is the order size. A visitor who takes a $20 order and sits for 40 minutes brings much more income than one who takes a $2 order and sits for 30 minutes. Therefore, McDonald’s can limit the time in the restaurant depending on the order size or price. For example, a person with a minimal order is limited to 20 minutes, and additional order will prolong the stay.
To my opinion, McDonald’s is not obligated to align its values with those of the Korean community in which it operates. This company has its unique culture formed throughout years. Therefore, it is the choice of the company whether to align its values with local ones or not. It does not refer to the whole corporation, but only to one franchise owner. Corporate culture can be aligned with community’s culture, but it is not necessary to change everything. Any business has the right to introduce changes, but they should not to break the global corporate culture. It is absolutely the choice of franchise owner to align the values or not. However, if the values are aligned with local ones, the restaurant can benefit because local customers will respect and visit it more. McDonald's can find a way to combine its corporate culture based on Western culture, where people of all ages are treated equally, and Eastern culture with higher respect to elder people.
To my opinion, there is no one best way to handle a situation like this, because there is very few information about major factors. They are the determinants of the final decision. Everything depends on the size of the restaurant and the quantity of visitors. If the restaurant is large enough to provide seats for all visitors, there is no need in arguing with elder community members who spend much time there. If the amount of visitors varies much during different days and parts of the day, the situation should be considered only when there are too many visitors and lack of seats. As it was mentioned above, the restaurant may use time limit depending on the order size and price. When there are many visitors, elder community members will be able to sit as long as they want, only they order something extra. One more good method to resolve the issue is to make separate seats for elderly people. They will be able to sit as long as they wish, but only there. When all seats are occupied, they can use regular ones, but the time limit would be equal for everyone there.
About the author
Linda Ween has been the leading writer at https://bestwritingservice.com/vip-writing-services.html since 2014. Her passion for helping people in all aspect of academic writing flows through expert industry coverage she provides. In addition to writing, Linda provides editing and copywriting services for businesses of all sizes.
Comentarios