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.
