Behind the Arches Our writer takes a sneak peek into the training grounds of McDonald's franchisees: Hamburger University.

Miomir Ivanovic, 43, likes sizing up the odds-not because he is a gambler, but because he isn't. When it became apparent that his native country, Bosnia, was collapsing into civil war, he decided to stay in America, where he was going to school. If he returned to Bosnia, he felt that odds were, his life would be in danger. When he chose a career, he picked a stable one-civil engineering. And when he decided that he wanted to own a business, he decided on a franchise with a track record of success. In 2004, he set his sights on McDonald's. Odds are, Ivanovic is going to do OK.

Of course, McDonald's likes reducing its odds of failure, too. The most successful quick-service restaurant chain in the world doesn't let just anybody buy a McDonald's restaurant and open for business. Their secret weapon to success isn't the Big Mac's secret sauce. It lies in the training that the company provides to every single franchise owner. McDonald's is McDonald's because of Hamburger University.

That said, driving onto the premises, I was at first a little disappointed. Oh, sure, Hamburger University is a stunning campus, nestled in lush oak forests and situated next to a sunlight-dappled lake full of bass and carp, where Canada geese, mallards and teal ducks make their homes.