麦当劳需要洗心革面

    坎塔卢波的前任杰克•M•格林伯格在60岁时退休，退休前他刚刚成功推出了一款以“为你制作”（made for you）为主题的广告，同时推出了一些轻度定制的产品。当时恰好也是麦当劳连续遭遇7个季度收益下跌之时，与唐•汤普森的处境有些相似。

    对坎塔卢波和贝尔的任命起初并没有给股东留下好印象，因为这些人事安排显示，该公司出现了“近亲繁殖”的问题。在贝尔短暂的CEO任期内，麦当劳因为食品的健康性受到攻击。特别是记录片《超码的我》上映更加剧了这种攻势。在贝尔的领导下，麦当劳向食谱中加入了一些健康选择，使父母们可以用果汁和苹果片换掉孩子的薯条和软饮料。为了不刺激消费者，“超大号”这个概念也被从产品中剔除了。在短暂的任期内，贝尔的举措成功地扭转了局面，该公司的股价在其任期内上涨了24%。贝尔也推出了麦咖啡和味道相当不错的Newman’s Own咖啡。

    后来由于贝尔的健康状况每况愈下，吉姆•斯金纳接任了CEO一职。斯金纳最大的成就——“制胜计划”战略，成功地扭转了麦当劳的利润下跌之势。他的战略将重点放在改善现有门店的运营上，而不是向过去一样追求盲目扩张。麦当劳希望实现“更快、更友好的服务；更美味的食物；更有吸引力的氛围；更好的价值；更犀利的营销”目标。在斯金纳及其团队的带领下，麦当劳的总销量成功上涨，从2004年的501亿美元增长至2008年的701亿美元。

    事实上，就在这段时期里，麦当劳管理层还隐藏着其他一些商业明星，比如CFO马特•波尔，以及前法务总顾问、麦当劳子公司Boston Market的CEO杰夫•金德勒等。（金德勒后来从麦当劳离职，成为辉瑞制药公司的法律总顾问，后又担任了该公司的CEO）。另一位是刚刚被任命为CEO的史蒂夫•伊斯特布鲁克。他曾一度离开公司去运营其他的欧洲快餐连锁公司，这段经历为他提供了宝贵的外部视角。从这层意义上说，伊斯特布鲁克的轨迹与可口可乐前CEO内维尔•艾斯戴尔很相似。

    伊斯特布鲁克看起来的确是一个出色的选择。他曾经担任过麦当劳的品牌管家，在欧洲也是一个非常出色的运营高管，成功地领导过企业扭亏为盈，并且向核心菜单上加入了非常成功的有机健康食品。他还引入了具有吸引力的现代化店面设计，而且支持各种具有前景的数字战略。

    因此，尽管麦当劳犯下一些无心之过，但却没有什么管理上的重大过失。而且他们已经认识到需要承认错误，对领导层进行改革，那些付出了艰苦努力的高管不应该被非难。另外，麦当劳也不必依赖媒体宣传或代理权争夺战等戏码来促进改革。在董事会的投资下，麦当劳已经具备了很深厚的“板凳实力”，使新一届有准备、有实力的领导人能够在尽量不造成内外混乱的情况下接管公司。（财富中文网）

    本文作者Jeffrey Sonnenfeld是耶鲁大学商学院领导力研究高级副院长兼管理学教授，同时也是耶鲁高管领导力学会会长。

    译者：朴成奎

    审校：任文科

    Cantalupo’s predecessor, Jack M. Greenberg, stepped down at age 60 after his successful introduction of a “made for you” campaign, with mildly customized products. The initiative was introduced at a time when McDonald’s suffered earnings declines for seven consecutive quarters, a similar situation to what Don Thompson encountered.

    Shareholders were initially unimpressed with Cantalupo and Bell’s appointments, as it suggested that the company was suffering from inbreeding. During Bell’s short time as CEO, McDonalds’ was being criticized for the health of its food. This was exacerbated by the release of the documentary film Super Size Me. Bell led efforts to add healthier choices to the McDonald’s menu, allowing parents to substitute juice and apple slices for fries and soft drinks. The “Supersize” option was also eliminated. During his brief tenure, Bell’s initiatives resulted in a successful turnaround, with the firm’s stock price rising 24% during his brief reign. Bell also introduced the McCafe and the strikingly tasty Newman’s Own coffee.

    When Bell’s health declined, Jim Skinner stepped up. Skinner’s greatest accomplishment, the “Plan to Win” strategy, managed to reverse McDonalds’ falling profits. Skinner’s strategy focused on improving operations at existing locations instead pursuing the expansion models of the company’s past. The company hoped to achieve “faster, friendlier service; tastier food; a more appealing ambiance; better value; and sharper marketing.” Skinner and his team were able to increase McDonalds’ total sales, increasing from $50.1 billion in 2004 to $70.1 billion in 2008.

    In fact, there were terrific stars positioned just below the surface through much of this period, such as CFO Matt Paull and Jeff Kindler, former general counsel and CEO of such McDonald’s units as Boston Market. (Kindler left McDonald’s to serve as general counsel and then CEO of Pfizer.) One of these stars in the McDonald’s pipeline is Steve Easterbrook, now the company’s newly anointed CEO. Easterbrook left the company to run other European food chains, giving him valuable outside perspective. In this sense, Easterbrook’s trajectory marks a similar path to former Coca-Cola CEO Neville Isdell.

    Easterbrook seems to be a superb choice—as a brand steward and past top operating executive in Europe, he led triumphant turnarounds and engineered the very successful introduction of organic, healthy foods in the core menu. He also introduced modern, attractive store designs and championed promising digital strategies.

    So, while the company has made some honest mistakes, there is no governance failure at McDonald’s, beyond, perhaps the somewhat overly Chicago-oriented board. They have recognized the need to admit mistakes and change leadership without vilifying hardworking officials who swung at the pitch but missed. In addition, McDonald’s did not need media campaigns or proxy battle drama to make change. The McDonald’s board has invested in deep bench strength, giving the company prepared, credible leaders to take charge with little internal chaos and external confusion.

    Jeffrey Sonnenfeld is Senior Associate Dean for Leadership Studies and Lester Crown Professor of Management at the Yale School of Management, as well as President of the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute