麥當(dāng)勞CEO黯然下臺(tái) 為什么董事會(huì)不再給他時(shí)間了

Just last week McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson madethe case for more time to turnaround the troubledcompany during his year-end earnings calls.

就在前一周，在麥當(dāng)勞年終收益電話會(huì)議中，公司首席執(zhí)行官唐o湯普森表示，他需要更多時(shí)間來(lái)幫助這家陷入困境的快餐巨頭扭轉(zhuǎn)局勢(shì)。

His board, it appears, gave him a resounding “no.”Yesterday Thompson announced he will step downfrom the job after two-and-a-half years, a periodmarked by sliding sales and mounting pressure onthe brand. Fortune chronicled McDonald’s MCD5.06% woes in November, which you can read about here. The company’s stock was up morethan 3% in after-hours trading yesterday.

眼下看來(lái)，麥當(dāng)勞的董事會(huì)斷然拒絕了湯普森的要求。上周四，湯普森宣布，將不再擔(dān)任麥當(dāng)勞首席執(zhí)行官一職。湯普森兩年半前走馬上任，在此期間，麥當(dāng)勞銷(xiāo)售滑坡、品牌面臨巨大壓力。去年11月，《財(cái)富》曾撰文細(xì)數(shù)了麥當(dāng)勞面臨的種種困境，。CEO即將離職的消息一出，麥當(dāng)勞股價(jià)在周四盤(pán)后交易中上漲了3%以上。

 

 

The official word out of McDonald’s Oak Brook, Ill., headquarters is that Thompson, 51, is“retiring.” But it’s pretty clear that he didn’t make this choice alone. When the companyreported earnings last week, 2014 became the first year since 2002 that the fast-foodbehemoth suffered a global decline in sales at outlets open for at least a year. As SanfordBernstein analyst Sara Senatore wrote in a note today: “While we understand that the timingwas determined by Thompson, there is no doubt in our mind that he was under increasingscrutiny by investors and therefore the board.”

來(lái)自美國(guó)伊利諾伊州橡溪鎮(zhèn)麥當(dāng)勞總部對(duì)此的官方說(shuō)法是，現(xiàn)年51歲的湯普森將“退休”。但很顯然，“退休”并非湯普森獨(dú)自做出的決定。麥當(dāng)勞最新公布的業(yè)績(jī)顯示，自2002年以來(lái)，2014年這家快餐巨頭全球開(kāi)張一年以上店面銷(xiāo)售首度出現(xiàn)下滑。正如桑福德伯恩斯坦公司分析師薩拉o塞納托雷日前在報(bào)告中所寫(xiě)的：“雖然我們理解此時(shí)退休是湯普森的決定，但無(wú)疑他承受的來(lái)自投資者以及董事會(huì)的壓力與日俱增。”

So after five quarters of declining same-store sales in the U.S. market, why now?Nonexecutive chairman Andrew McKenna told Fortune in the fall, “We’re very supportive of Don.We see the leadership team moving forward with a sense of urgency, which is good.” ButMcKenna and his fellow directors were starting to feel the pressure as the press increasinglyfocused on its role in the company’s struggles. On Friday, for example, Jim Cramer took theboard to task on CNBC, demanding, “When will someone finally be held accountable for thiskind of sub-par performance and why do corporate boards tolerate these mistakes, keepingthe flailing CEOs of these two companies [McDonald’s and UPS] around for still more earningsseasons?” He concluded that both companies would create value immediately if their CEOs left.

麥當(dāng)勞在美國(guó)市場(chǎng)的同店銷(xiāo)售額已連續(xù)下降5個(gè)季度，湯普森為何現(xiàn)在“退休”?去年秋天，該公司非執(zhí)行董事長(zhǎng)安德魯o麥肯納向《財(cái)富》表示：“我們非常支持唐。我們看到公司管理層懷著緊迫感勇往直前，這是件好事。”但隨著媒體日益聚焦董事會(huì)在麥當(dāng)勞身處困境時(shí)所發(fā)揮的作用，麥肯納及其他董事開(kāi)始感受到壓力。舉例來(lái)說(shuō)，前一個(gè)周五，CNBC知名主持人吉姆o克拉默在電視上批評(píng)麥當(dāng)勞董事會(huì)，責(zé)問(wèn)：“何時(shí)才會(huì)有人對(duì)這類(lèi)低水準(zhǔn)的業(yè)績(jī)擔(dān)責(zé)?企業(yè)董事會(huì)為何容忍這樣的錯(cuò)誤，繼續(xù)讓[麥當(dāng)勞和UPS]這兩家公司的首席執(zhí)行官任職?”克拉默稱(chēng)，如果麥當(dāng)勞和UPS的首席執(zhí)行官下臺(tái)，兩家公司將立即增值。

Thompson’s successor, SVP and chief brand officer Steve Easterbrook, joined the company in1993 but left in 2011 to become CEO first of Pizza Express and then Wagamama, both UK-based restaurant brands. Thompson brought him back in 2013, telling Fortunein October, “Ilove the fact that he had experience sitting in a CEO chair. It broadened his purview of businessin general.” Two years away may very well give him an outsider’s perspective at a notoriouslyinsular company like McDonald’s, but it might not be enough time away to give him the kind offresh thinking that the chain needs to accomplish an incredibly daunting task. As we wrote inNovember:

湯普森的繼任者將是麥當(dāng)勞高級(jí)副總裁兼首席品牌官史蒂夫o伊斯特布魯克，伊斯特布魯克于1993年加入麥當(dāng)勞，2011年離職，先后擔(dān)任Pizza Express和拉面道的首席執(zhí)行官，Pizza Express和拉面道都是總部位于英國(guó)的餐飲品牌。2013年，湯普森將伊斯特布魯克召回麥當(dāng)勞。去年10月，湯普森向《財(cái)富》表示：“我很喜歡的一點(diǎn)是，他有過(guò)擔(dān)任企業(yè)首席執(zhí)行官的經(jīng)驗(yàn)。這拓寬了他的整個(gè)商業(yè)視角。”離開(kāi)麥當(dāng)勞的兩年，很可能使伊斯特布魯克能以局外人的視角，來(lái)審視這家以封閉著稱(chēng)的企業(yè)，但要培養(yǎng)出能完成扭轉(zhuǎn)麥當(dāng)勞局勢(shì)這一艱巨任務(wù)的新思維，兩年的時(shí)間可能還不夠。正如我們?cè)谌ツ?1月所寫(xiě)：

[McDonald’s] has risen to the top of the fast-food chain by being comfortably, familiarly,iconically “mass market” and so ubiquitous as to be the Platonic ideal of “convenient.” Neitherof these selling points, however, is as high as it was even a decade ago on Americans’ list ofdining priorities. A growing segment of restaurant goers are choosing “fresh and healthy” over“fast and convenient,” and McDonald’s is having trouble convincing consumers that it’s both.Or even can be both.

“[麥當(dāng)勞]成為連鎖界老大，靠的是舒適親切，堪稱(chēng)大眾市場(chǎng)典范，其店面無(wú)處不在，方便至極。然而，在外出就餐的美國(guó)人眼中，上述這些賣(mài)點(diǎn)的重要性較之十年前都有所下降。如今，越來(lái)越多的外出就餐者，更注重新鮮健康，而非快捷方便，而麥當(dāng)勞未能讓消費(fèi)者相信，自己做到了二者兼顧。消費(fèi)者甚至不相信它有能力做到。”

In recent months, as the problems became more evident, Thompson took the tack of tryingeverything all at once. He was pushing digital investments, a build-your-own-burger platform,and a simplified menu, while also allowing regions to localize their offerings. To be fair,Thompson inherited plenty of the company’s issues, like menu bloat, but he certainly didn’tmake them better and made some of them, like issues involving pricing, he made worse.

近幾個(gè)月來(lái)，隨著問(wèn)題變得更明顯，湯普森開(kāi)始胡子眉毛一把抓。他一邊推進(jìn)數(shù)字化投資、“自主定制漢堡”平臺(tái)、簡(jiǎn)化菜單，一邊允許各地區(qū)對(duì)產(chǎn)品進(jìn)行本地化。平心而論，麥當(dāng)勞的很多問(wèn)題(比如菜品過(guò)多)在湯普森上任前就存在，但他并沒(méi)有使事態(tài)好轉(zhuǎn)，反而使得一些問(wèn)題(比如定價(jià))更加積重難返。

One big advantage Easterbrook has over Thompson is that he faces a completely different setof expectations. Thompson had the unenviable job of taking over the company after it enjoyedan incredible run. His predecessor, Jim Skinner, had eight years of consecutive positive same-store sales growth, a nearly 50% increase in revenue, and a more than doubling of profits. In2011 McDonald’s was the top-performing stock in the Dow for the one- and five-year periods.By contrast, Easterbrook takes the helm during an historically abysmal time for the brand. AsNation’s Restaurant News has reported, this year was the first time in at least 30 years thatsales at the company’s U.S. business declined, ending the longest run ever of domesticrestaurant sales growth for a single chain.

相比湯普森，伊斯特布魯克有一個(gè)很大的優(yōu)勢(shì)，那就是人們對(duì)他的期望完全不同。湯普森接手麥當(dāng)勞時(shí)，該公司剛剛?cè)〉昧梭@人的業(yè)績(jī)。湯普森的前任——吉姆o斯金納幫助麥當(dāng)勞實(shí)現(xiàn)了同店銷(xiāo)售額連續(xù)八年增長(zhǎng)，收入飆升近50%，利潤(rùn)增長(zhǎng)一倍多。2011年，麥當(dāng)勞是一年期和五年期業(yè)績(jī)最佳的道指成分股。相比之下，伊斯特布魯克是在麥當(dāng)勞品牌深陷危機(jī)時(shí)臨危受命。美國(guó)《全國(guó)餐館新聞》報(bào)道稱(chēng)，2014年是30年來(lái)麥當(dāng)勞美國(guó)市場(chǎng)史上首度出現(xiàn)銷(xiāo)售額下滑。單個(gè)美國(guó)餐飲品牌創(chuàng)造的史上最長(zhǎng)銷(xiāo)售增長(zhǎng)記錄就此告終。

On his very first earnings call after he was announced as CEO in 2012, Thompson was askedwhat he thought his legacy would be. “First of all, I hope that retirement point is quite a fewyears down the road. Otherwise, that might mean it was induced by something other than me,”he said, adding, “I’ve been around McDonald’s for over 20 years now and I think what’s mostimportant for everyone is to understand that a change in leadership doesn’t mean a change instrategy.”

湯普森于2012年被任命為麥當(dāng)勞首席執(zhí)行官，此后他在首次出席公司收益電話會(huì)議時(shí)，被問(wèn)到認(rèn)為自己會(huì)留下什么遺產(chǎn)。他回答：“首先，我希望多干幾年再退休。否則，那可能意味著退休并非出自我本人的意愿。”他補(bǔ)充道：“我已經(jīng)在麥當(dāng)勞干了20多年。我認(rèn)為，最重要的一點(diǎn)是，大家應(yīng)該意識(shí)到，領(lǐng)導(dǎo)層的變化并不意味著戰(zhàn)略的改變。”

This time, investors have to hope, a change in leadership will mean a change in strategy.

這一次，投資者勢(shì)必希望，領(lǐng)導(dǎo)層的變化將意味著戰(zhàn)略的改變。(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng))