雙語財經新聞 第4期:麥當勞的商業冒險(1)

The story: By the late-1990s fast-food chain McDonald’s had enjoyed 40 years of exceptional performance. In 1997, for example, the company had registered 10 years of 20 per cent per annum growth.

背景:截止20世紀90年代末，快餐連鎖店麥當勞的非凡表現已經持續了 40年。 比如說，到1997年，該公司已連續10年維持着20%以上的年增長率。

The challenge: That year, Jack Greenberg became the company’s fourth chief executive. His main concern was how to lead the business in less favourable market conditions. McDonald*s was facing concerns about fatty foods and about beef; competition was squeezing margins; andgrowth from international markets was slowing.

挑戰:那一年，傑克 格林伯格成爲該公司第四任首席執行官。他首要考慮的是 如何在市場狀況惡化的形勢下領導公司繼續前進。當時麥當勞面臨着以下問題：人 們對高脂肪食品和牛肉心存顧慮;激烈的競爭正擠壓着利潤率;來自國際市場的增 長正在放緩。

The strategy: Mr Greenberg did what the textbooks suggest. First, he focused on improving the core business, announcing it as his top priority. Then，he also set a second priority: to find a new platform for growth. With this audacious goal in mind, he supported five acquisitions of related restaurant businesses including Chipotle, a Mexican food restaurant, and 50 per cent of Pret A Manger, the U.K. sandwich chain and he setup the Partner Brands Division, to be responsible for these new businesses. Mr Greenberg also opened the door to a number of other, more organic initiatives led by his head of strategy, Mats Lederhausen.

策略:格林伯格完全依照教科書行事。首先，他着力改善核心業務，宣稱這是自 己的第一要務。其次，他確定了第二項優先事項,即尋找新的增長平臺。懷着這樣的雄心，格林伯格支持實施5起收購，將一些相關餐飲企業收人麾下，其中包括一家墨 西哥餐廳Chipotle,以及英國三明治連鎖店Pret A Manger 50%的股權。同時，他成立 了夥伴品牌部門，負責管理這些新業務。格林伯格還同意了主管戰略的馬茨?利德 豪森提出的許多更具內生性的舉措。

What happened： Mr Greenberg found it difficult to dedicate enough attention to both priorities. The core business continued to deteriorate andin 2001 McDonald’s announced its first quarterly loss and the resignation of Mr Greenberg.

結果：格林伯格發現難以兼顧兩個優先事項。核心業務每況愈下,到了2001年, 麥當勞首次出現季度虧損，格林伯格本人辭職。

Jim Cantalupo, a retired McDonald’s executive, was asked to return as CEO. His first announcement was that McDonald’s had been trying to do too many things. He shut down many of the organic initiatives and housed all the new businesses into a structure called McDonald’s Ventures.

麥當勞請當時已經退休的原高管吉姆?坎塔盧波重新出山，出任首席執行官。 坎塔盧波上任後馬上宣佈,麥當勞一直以來手頭的事情太多。他叫停了許多內生性 措施，並把所有新業務合併在一起，稱之爲麥當勞的商業冒險。