麦当劳即将改朝换代

    麦当劳（McDonald's）宣布，公司CEO吉姆•斯金纳将于今年6月份退休，其继任者、麦当劳现任董事长多恩•汤普森将于今年7月1日接替他的职位。自笔者开始报道麦当劳以来，这家公司共经历了五位CEO，但却没有一位的离职像吉姆•斯金纳这般体面。他做出退休决定的时机确实出人意料，但鉴于吉姆•斯金纳在麦当劳任职已长达41年之久，因此对于他的离职，外界无需过分担忧。

    麦克•昆兰（CEO任期：1987年3月——1998年7月）：昆兰时代的麦当劳与今天大不相同。上世纪90年代的麦当劳还不是一家上市公司。昆兰与华尔街没有任何关系，他甚至会有意回避华尔街的分析人士。昆兰最大的成就是带领麦当劳实现了在海外市场的快速增长。他任职期间，麦当劳股票上涨幅度超过了400%。

    杰克•格林伯格（CEO任期：1998年7月——2003年1月）：很遗憾，格林伯格执掌麦当劳时，公司正处于动荡不安的阶段。当时的麦当劳正面临过度增长的问题，尤其是在美国市场。格林伯格提议在2003年春推出沙拉菜单，正是这一措施使公司在13个月后，首次出现同店销售额正增长。但格林伯格无法摆脱的是，公司七个季度令人失望的盈利数据。他任职期间，麦当劳股票下跌幅度约为60%。

    吉姆•坎塔卢波（CEO任期：2003年1月—— 2004年4月）：坎塔卢波于2003年提出“制胜计划”策略，但就在公司局面扭转的时候，坎塔卢波突然去世。在他短暂的任职期间，公司股票上涨了60%，并从此开始进入上升通道。

    查理•贝尔（CEO任期：2004年4月 —— 2004年11月）：在他任职期间，麦当劳因继任计划而成为企业管理的典范。查理•贝尔接管麦当劳几个月后也不幸离世。

    吉姆•斯金纳（CEO任期：2004年11月 —— 2012年6月）：斯金纳最初执掌麦当劳时，笔者曾戏称，他的工作就是别把事情搞砸。结果，在其任职期间，麦当劳股票上涨幅度超过了200%，可以说，他圆满完成了自己的工作！

    笔者最大的疑问是：“为什么选择现在离职？”近期，公司公布的盈利数据不尽人意，是斯金纳上台以来首次出现这样的情况，难道这一切只是巧合吗？他是否预见到了投资者尚未察觉的异常情况？欧洲经济危机以及其他许多因素确实使麦当劳未来的增长面临着严峻的挑战。

    当然，我们很难搞清楚斯金纳选择现在退休的真实原因，但他在麦当劳已经任职了长达41年的时间，他也应该好好歇一歇了。他的继任者汤普森很难取得吉姆•斯金纳的成就，不过作为在麦当劳工作了22年之久的“老将”，汤普森也绝非泛泛之辈。

    对于每天这些靠麦当劳谋生的人来说，斯金纳退休这件事本身不足为奇，但蹊跷的是他退休的时机。汤普森的接任可谓众望所归，但我们还是禁不住怀疑，麦当劳7月份的权力交接是否另有玄机？

    译者：阿龙/汪皓

    McDonald's announced that CEO Jim Skinner will retire in June and the company's president and Don Thompson will take the helm effective July 1. Since I have been covering McDonald's, there have been five different CEOs and none has stepped down as decorated as Jim Skinner. The timing of his decision is surprising but, given how long he has been at the company – 41 years – him stepping down is not an undue cause for concern.

    Mike Quinlan (CEO from March 1987 – July 1998): The Quinlan era was very different. The McDonald's (MCD) of today is not the public company it was in the 1990s. Quinlan did not have a relationship with Wall Street -- in fact he shunned analysts. His primary achievement was the dramatic overseas growth of McDonald's. The stock was up more than 400% during his tenure.

    Jack Greenberg (CEO from July 1998 – January 2003): Unfortunately Greenberg held the top spot during a tumultuous period for the company. Excessive growth, particularly in the U.S., was a problem for McDonald's. It was Greenberg's idea to launch salads in the spring of 2003 which lead to the first positive month of same-store sales after 13 painful months. What he could not shake off was seven quarters of earnings disappointments. The stock was down roughly 60% during his tenure.

    Jim Cantalupo (CEO from January 2003 – April 2004): Cantalupo gets credited with bringing about the "Plan to Win" strategy in 2003, but passed away just as the company was turning the corner. The stock has gained 60% during his short tenure, a period that ended up being the beginning of a long upward trend for the stock.

    Charlie Bell (CEO from April 2004 – November 2004): It was during this period in McDonald's' history that it became the role model company for always having a succession plan in place. Bell passed away mere months after taking the reins at MCD.

    Jim Skinner (CEO November 2004 – June 2012): When Skinner took the helm at McDonald's I joked to myself that it was his job not to mess things up. With the stock up more than 200% during his tenure, he certainly did his job!

    The question that comes to mind most is, "why now?" Is it just a coincidence that the company recently announced its first earnings disappointment of the Skinner era? Does he see something investors do not? The economic turmoil in Europe, among other factors, poses a significant challenge to McDonald's going forward.

    Of course, it is difficult to know why Skinner is stepping down now but after 41 years with the company he deserves some time off. It will be difficult for Thompson to achieve the same results that Jim Skinner did but, as a veteran of 22 years, he is also a very capable executive.

    To those of us that live and breathe McDonald's every day, Skinner's retirement itself is not a surprise, but the timing was somewhat surprising. Thompson was widely-expected to take over but we are left wondering if there is any reason for the change taking place in July.