Day 009 - 08 Jul 94 - Page 55
1 is, and see how improvements could be made?
A. Exactly correct.
2
Q. So your department, although it makes recommendations, it
3 has to fit, you did say this, it has to "fit into the
business"?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. If you felt there were some fundamental aspects of the
business that were damaging to the environment, that would
6 be a dilemma, would it not, considering your particular
position?
7 A. The way I would describe it would be that if I see an
opportunity where we can minimise environmental impact, it
8 would be my job to see if I can make that happen within
the McDonald's system.
9
Q. If it challenged one of the planks of the business, would
10 that be a dilemma for you personally?
A. The question would become, if you are using the word
11 "damage", that is a whole -- I cannot speak towards
that. That is all a relative term, but the way we look at
12 it is environmental impact.
13 MR. JUSTICE BELL: But this is just the old sore about: Do you
leave the party or stay in and fight from within, is it
14 not? How can he help about that? I may have
misunderstood the line of your questioning.
15
MR. MORRIS: You probably understood it quite well, in fact.
16
But it was suggested before, also by Mr. Justice Bell,
17 that there may be a conflict of interest between different
departments. If your job is to be concerned about the
18 environment, it may be bringing into conflict, would it
not, with the finance and accounting department that
19 believes in promoting drive-throughs because of the
profitability of them?
20
I know you said that was not strictly within your remit,
21 but do you not raise these kinds of issues and then
someone says to you: "Well, that is not really something
22 that can be open to question"?
A. OK, your specific question is, do I raise issues
23 within the company related to?
24 Q. Which challenge some aspects of the business.
A. Yes. In a broad sense, yes, that is part of my
25 responsibility to look at environmental issues, to look at
science, to see where we can make improvements in any
26 aspect of our business and to make recommendations to do
so in our business. I would not call it a conflict at
27 all.
28 That is part of our management style at McDonald's, is to
work in teams, and to work through issues related to all
29 departments in our company take all things into
consideration, so that we are never satisfied with what we
30 do. We want to have continuous improvements in our
operations. I know the reusable issue pretty well, to a
