麦当劳需要洗心革面

    本周一刚刚发布季度财报的麦当劳公司，可谓才出油锅，又进火坑。

    这份季度财报显示，该公司的全球同店销售额下降了4.8%，超出了此前的下跌预期（1.2%）。曾经迅速增长的亚洲市场，更是下降了12.6%，超过了此前8.4%的下跌预期。

    对于这家市值720亿美元的汉堡包巨头来说，现在的确是一个颇具讽刺意味的时刻。就在已经走过65个年头的麦当劳公司解雇首席执行官唐•汤普森12个小时之后，丹尼•梅耶14年前创立的Shake Shack汉堡餐厅在纽交所成功上市，当日收盘价是IPO价格的两倍，从而使该公司的市值达到17亿美元。

    没错，麦当劳是西式快餐市场上的“大块头”，它在全球130个国家开设的3.8万家分店雇佣了200万名员工，每天为全球6800万人提供服务。尽管如此，还是挡不住食客和投资者纷纷投向质量更高，也更好玩的Shake Shack、Five Guys Burgers and Fries、In and Out Burger和Smashburger等市场新入者的怀抱。不过，尽管遭受了一些小小的挫折，但麦当劳或许已经做好了反击的准备。

    虽然麦当劳的管理层和董事会犯下了一些战略和运营上的错误，不过没有人否认公司需要变革，也没有人非难在麦当劳备受爱戴，虽然不怎么成功的领导人唐•汤普森。另外，麦当劳的董事会也不需要外部的维权投资者来推动公司所需要的变革。

    麦当劳的失误远比其苦涩的财务结果更为复杂。最近的数据显示，麦当劳的同店销售额已经出现了12年来的首次下滑，同时麦当劳的销售收入也连续五个月下跌，利润也大幅缩水。这些财务数据表明，麦当劳的战略、执行、领导等方面都出了问题，并不是行业性的不景气。不仅仅是它的竞争对手日益火爆，就连原先从麦当劳剥离出来的Boston

    简言之，麦当劳是被一种品牌认知悖论绊住了手脚：质量一般的产品，令人迷惑的信息，包括过于低姿态的外卖服务，都加剧了品牌形象的下滑。它目前主要有五大困境：

    （1）食品质量。麦当劳也尝试过健康食谱，但没有成功。人们现在经常把麦当劳和“粉红肉渣”（含有可用于制造化肥和清洁剂的氢氧化铵）联系在一起。直到2011年知名大厨杰米•奥利弗公开爆料后，麦当劳才停止使用这种材质。想想麦当劳汉堡还曾被珍•梅尔等营养学家吹捧为健康饮食，真是可笑可悲。2014年6月，《消费者报告》将麦当劳列入美国最差的汉堡供应商之列。同样走低价路线的Wendy’s餐厅却做得更好。与此同时，一份Shake Shack双层汉堡，配上薯条和黑白奶昔，能够提供2000卡路里的热量，远远超过麦当劳的同类产品。

    （2）食品安全。过去，麦当劳的食品安全性在亚洲、中国和中东等地一直受到追捧，但是在2014年关掉一家肉品加工厂并不断爆出食品安全问题后，麦当劳和百胜餐饮集团的信誉遭受重创。

    （3）定价政策。麦当劳试图引诱人们放弃廉价食品，转而选择它正在推出的高质量的快餐，这种做法使得传统顾客不禁疑惑，价格到底还是不是麦当劳的营销重点。现在，引领简约和低价风的是Sonic Burger，而不再是麦当劳。

    （4）标准化VS定制化。麦当劳因长期不允许顾客“提出符合自己口味的制作要求”而饱受诟病。所以，他们转向另一个极端。现在提供的多达130多种产品，让顾客眼花缭乱。与此同时，作为快餐业立身之本的服务速度却显著降低。

    （5）供应链管理。麦当劳曾经是无与伦比的供应链管理大师。但当原料在洛杉矶港发生延误时，麦当劳并没有制定没有任何有效的应急计划，最终导致一些关键市场（比如日本）连薯条都供应不上。

    为了挽救因品牌形象、产品质量和定位及运营问题导致的业绩损失，麦当劳也尝试过一些权宜之计，比如增加汽车穿梭窗口的数量（这些窗口贡献了其营业额的70%），并推出目前这款以“示爱”为主题的怪异广告，但所有这些都无法解决食品质量、运营和形象方面的深层问题。它在“超级碗”上打的“用爱付款”（Pay it with Lovin）广告也遭到了无情的嘲笑，其副作用估计要延续到情人节，当这轮广告按照计划结束的时候。

    另一个更深层的问题是公司领导层的继任人选。在过去十几年，麦当劳已经更换了五位CEO。广受尊敬、经验丰富的唐•汤普森当年并不是董事会钟意的人选，事实上他在候选名单里只排在第三顺位。

    前CEO吉姆•斯金纳看中的继任者麦克•罗伯茨于2006年辞职，据报道，他曾报怨过斯金纳对他的继任安排不够确定。另一个曾一度提上议事日程的人选是拉尔夫•阿尔瓦雷兹，但在2009年的一天，这位55岁的高管突然宣布将于次日“退休”，理由是他突然发现自己的膝盖有问题，这件事在公司上下引起了不小的震动，因为当时关于他个人操守问题的议论再度传开。针对他跟女下属保持不正当性关系的公开指控，迫使阿尔瓦雷兹不得不在CEO杰克•格林伯克将其解雇之前离开公司。

    斯金纳自己也没想到能坐上CEO的宝座。前两位CEO都是英年早逝，詹姆斯•R•坎塔卢波死于心脏病发作，他的继任者查尔斯•H•贝尔因罹患癌症离职。（贝尔于2005年1月去世。）

    With Monday’s quarterly earnings release, McDonald’s has gone from the frying pan into the fire.

    It reported that global same store sales were down by 4.8%, versus the expected 1.2% dip. Its once high-growth Asian markets were down 12.6% versus the expected 8.4% drop.

    Indeed, it is an ironic time for the $72 billon burger business, where 12 hours after the 65 year-old McDonald’s MCD -1.35% fired its CEO Don Thompson, Danny Meyer, founder of 14 year-old Shake Shack SHAK -1.10% , fired up his burger chain on the New York Stock Exchange with a $1.7 billion value, doubling its IPO price of the day.

    Yes, McDonald’s is the big cheese in this market, with 68 million people served daily in 130 countries, 38,000 outlets, and 2 million employees. Despite that presence, diners and investors alike have flipped over the higher quality, fun entrants such as Shake Shack, Five Guys Burgers and Fries, In and Out Burger, and Smashburger. But despite the company’s stumbles, McDonald’s may now be posed to start firing back.

    Despite strategic and operational missteps shared by the fast food giant’s management and board, there was no sugar coating over the need for change nor was there a vilification of the company’s beloved, albeit unsuccessful, leader. Moreover, the company’s Chicagoland-oriented board did not need outside activist investors to force needed changes.

    McDonalds’ missteps are more complex than its distasteful financial results. Recent results showed the first declining same store sales in 12 years and the fifth straight quarter of declining sales revenues and a plunge in profits. These financial records reveal problems in the company’s strategy, execution, and leadership, not an industry-wide problem. In addition to the soaring prospects of its competitors, even McDonald’s spinoffs—Boston Market (2007) and Chipotle Mexican Grill (2006)—were positioned for success when they were liberated.

    In short, McDonald’s has been caught in a whirlwind of confusing brand identity paradoxes; a situation in which the company’s inadequate products, confusing messaging, and overly humble messengers have aggravated its sinking public image. Consider these five quandaries:

    1. Food quality. The fast-food chain’s tries at healthier menu options did not work. Now people associate McDonald’s with the hamburgers with “pink slime filler” (ammonium hydroxide), which the company only discontinued in 2011 amid an expose by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. How sad that the company’s burgers were once endorsed by leading nutritionists, such as Jean Mayer, as a healthy, rare treat! In June 2014, Consumer Reports cited McDonald’s as the purveyor of the worst-rated burger in the nation. Wendy’s now fares better on account of its low prices. Meanwhile, a double Shackburger, fries, and black & white shake would ring the bell with 2,000 calories, far more calories than what you’d get from similar items at McDonald’s.

    2. Food safety. Long revered for its food safety in Asia and China in particular, as well as the Middle East, McDonald’s and Yum Brands have lost credibility as they had to close a meat processing facility in 2014 for continuing food safety problems

    3. Pricing policy. In its attempts to woo people away from the cheap dollar menu items and value meal offers toward high quality food, traditional customers were confused if price was the focus or not. Now it is Sonic Burger, not McDonald’s, that leads in simplicity and low prices.

    4. Standardization vs. customization. McDonald’s was long criticized for not allowing customers to “have it your way.” So they swung to the opposite end of the pendulum, offering so many varieties that customers were confused by more than 130 items while service speeds—a key ingredient for fast food—slowed dramatically.

    5. Supplier sourcing.Once a master of sourcing channels to the point that it appeared like a supply chain hegemon, McDonald’s was ambushed by slowdowns at the Port of Los Angeles, without any effective contingency plan. This left the fast-food chain French fry-less in key markets, like Japan.

    McDonald’s attempted to respond to the loss of business over these image, quality, positioning, and operations problems, with band aid solutions. Expanding the number of drive-thru windows, which accounts for 70% of its business, and the current weird campaign about “showing love” do not address the deeper problems in food quality, operations, and image. In fact, McDonalds’ schmaltzy Super Bowl “Pay it with Lovin’” campaign was met with ridicule and continues to backfire all the way to its planned expiration on Valentine’s Day.

    Yet an even deeper problem had to do with the company’s succession drama. Indeed, McDonald’s has had five CEOs in a dozen years. The universally respected and experienced operator Don Thompson was not the board’s intended successor. In fact, he was their third choice candidate.

    CEO Jim Skinner’s presumed successor, Mike Roberts, quit in 2006, reportedly complaining that Skinner was not clear enough about his intended succession schedule. Another initial favorite was Ralph Alvarez, who had to “retire” due to a sudden concern over his knees, at age 55, with a single day’s notice in 2009. The news shocked the company, as he left the company in the aftermath of a second wave of rumors over personal conduct problems. Published allegations of serial sexual misconduct with subordinates forced Alvarez’s exit when he was previously fired by CEO Jack Greenberg.

    Skinner himself was not expected to take the reins as CEO. He came into the job after two McDonald’s CEOs died young. James R. Cantalupo died of a heart attack, and his successor, Charles H. Bell, left with cancer. (Bell died in January 2005.)