At the beginning of the year I wrote about the tremendous growth that will occur outside the US. Both business (Goldman Sachs) and world policy institutions (International Monetary Fund) have presaged the new world financial order that will have the rapidly growing emerging markets like Brazil, Russia, India & China (BRIC) equaling the GDP of the current G7 within the next fifteen to twenty years.
An indicator that American business has embraced this thinking are the actions of two of the US’s preeminent fast food chains, MacDonald’s and Yum Brands (Taco Bell, Pizza Hut & KFC).
Yum Brands has just opened its first Taco Bell in India while it has already established roughly 230 Pizza Hut & KFC outlets there. With a heady adherence to cultural issues in India, the company is making its offering spicier with a large selection of vegetarian foods and will not serve beef—which many Indians will not eat for religious reasons.
With 230 of its 250 non US outlets in India (is that an eye-opening stat, or what?), Yum is targeting to have over 1,000 total restaurants there by 2015—that would be over 400% growth in just five years—wow.
MacDonald’s has had a foothold in mainland China for twenty years now (60,000 employees in over 1100 outlets) and has just established its first Hamburger University in Shanghai (first in China & seventh worldwide) to train and develop new generations of managers.
Why in China? Well—not surprisingly—China is MacDonald’s fastest growing global market with the fast food market there expanding at an annual rate of over 10% compared with just 2% here in the US.
With that kind of market expansion MacDonald’s is hoping to double its restaurants in China to over 2000 in just three years—double wow.
And just what kind of opportunity does this present for American jobs? You guessed it—Huge! As I have noted before, the best new jobs in America (offering the greatest possibilities for advancement and salaries—not to mention excitement and satisfaction) will come from those companies, both US and foreign, looking to capitalize on the incredible growth in the world’s emerging economies.
Want to be a part of this new global order and establish a fabulous and interesting career? Silly question, huh? Besides having or getting a good education what should you be aware of and know? Well, both Yum and MacDonald’s have a keen focus on cultural issues and so should you. No matter if you might wind up in India or China—or any other global market—my book Lies, Bribes & Peril will be a critical guide to success.
Ron Cruse 