Day 137 - 19 Jun 95 - Page 11


     
     1   Q.   Is there another way in which McDonald's business is
     2        conducted outside the United States apart from wholly owned
     3        subsidiary companies?
     4        A.  Yes, we have joint venture partners.
     5
     6   Q.   Tell his Lordship, please, precisely how (in as few words
     7        as you can manage) that joint venture partnership works?
     8        A.  Generally speaking, we have an ownership stake with a
     9        local partner and our interest is a financial one, and the
    10        local partner's obligation is to manage the business and
    11        run the operation.
    12
    13   Q.   Do you put people in to help him run the operation?
    14        A.  Occasionally, we do.  We have a limited number of
    15        expatriates, if you will, or third country nationals, and
    16        that generally occurs at the outset, at the start, to help
    17        them develop their systems and their processes and provide
    18        advice.  All of these people though work under the Managing
    19        Director and they are really employees of that Managing
    20        Director, but we try to limit that as much as possible.
    21
    22   Q.   Staying with unions for the moment -- we will leave them
    23        in a moment and come back to them -- suppose the law of a
    24        foreign country obliges an employer of a certain size
    25        either to join an employers' association or to enter
    26        directly into a collective bargaining agreement with a
    27        union, would the Corporation have anything to say about
    28        that?
    29        A.  That the Managing Director should comply with all the
    30        laws of the country and the customs of the country.
    31
    32   Q.   My next question was, suppose that were not an obligation
    33        of law but merely -- I say "merely" -- was customary in the
    34        place where the business was situated?
    35        A.  Again, or if it is customary, we want to fit into the
    36        customs and the way things are done within that community.
    37
    38   Q.   Is there in Oak Brook any sort of -- now you must imagine
    39        for a moment, Mr. Stein, I am one of the Defendants --
    40        secret planning committee that hatches schemes for dealing
    41        with union problems?
    42        A.  No, not at all.
    43
    44   Q.   How much do you travel, Mr. Stein?
    45        A.  60 to 70 per cent of my time.
    46
    47   Q.   Is that less or more than it was before you became Senior
    48        Vice President?
    49        A.  Actually, it is less; it had been more.
    50 
    51   Q.   Is that travel within the United States alone or does it 
    52        extend overseas? 
    53        A.  It extends overseas as well; it is both.
    54
    55   Q.   Has that always been so?
    56        A.  Since -- overseas, since really the early 70s; prior to
    57        that time it was strictly domestically within the United
    58        States based -- I cannot think of a trip prior to 1970.
    59        There may have been one or two, but primarily within the
    60        United States up till the early 70s.

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