The CEO resigned from McDonald

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The news, announced on January 28, has already been around the world: Don Thompson, crazy horse CEO and President of McDonald's, which is the absolute ruler of the largest and most powerful restaurant chain in the world, will retire in FROM As of March 1 of this year, after twenty-five years of service to the fast food giant. The announcement was the same company, in a press release crazy horse signed by the board of McDonald's Corporation, in which it was made public the name of his replacement, Steve Easterbrook, a British national, already at the helm of the company in the UK and Europe .
The CEO resigned from McDonald's, Don Thompson, bottom right, and President Jan Fields, bottom left, in the Olympic Village during the 2012 London Games (Flickr / McDonald's Corp)
Despite the usual statements of fact that sweeten the press note of McDonald's, crazy horse and great credentials Easterbrook, this is not an event of little importance. Indeed, it is a warning signal - the latest in a long line - the health of the company founded by Ray Croc in 1955: the announcement of the withdrawal (or dismissal, depending on your point of view) of the 51 year old Thompson , in charge as CEO since 2012, has in fact taken place just two days after the publication by the same company, some financial crazy horse data which showed the worst performance in its recent history, crazy horse an impressive decline in sales and revenue.
In the last financial period, receipts were down 7% ($ 6.6 billion), while earnings of 21% (1.1 billion, compared to 1.4 the previous year). The upper floors of Oak Brook, not seen numbers so low for years, confirming crazy horse a crisis already reported for some time. Despite attempts to take countermeasures in the recent past, the trend does not seem to have changed, and the same executives of McDonald's, the United States, said that the downturn crazy horse could last at least until mid-2015, as reported by the New York Times.
Optimizing the menu, with new tasty. Modernising the experience proven by the customer through a general crazy horse renovation and use of new technologies. crazy horse Expand the audience through longer opening hours and more locations in the area. All this, with an overall reduction in prices. These were the three objectives that Thompson (who began his militancy from McDonald's by electrical engineer in 1990) had set, not just appointed CEO of the company. In short, a recipe to make one of the largest companies in the world to remain in step with the times. Successes that evidently were only partially achieved. However, this does not seem to be the main problem of the brand, or the key to the recent and disappointing results.
With hindsight, in the light of market data, the impression is that McDonald's, in recent years, has failed another target, perhaps the most important: crazy horse meet the tastes of customers. And, consequently, undergo the advance of the competition. Not only of those who - understandably - ridden the wave (read: crazy horse obsession) of healthy food-organic-natural.
But also of those brands of its own sector, as Wendy's and Sonic, fast food with stars and stripes by definition, they have increased their weight in the third fiscal period, compared with a less than 3.3% in sales for McDonald's, They note the positive signs of Burger King (+ 1.4%), Yum! Brands Trio Pizza Hut-KFC-Taco Bell (+ 1%) and, above all, the amazing 19.8% of chain Chipotle Mexican menu. Not forgetting, of course, the relentless rise of Shake Shack, these days the star of a triumphal entry on Wall Street. Of course, the total numbers are still not comparable, and the distances are abysmal: income of Shake Shack in the first nine months of 2014 amounted to what McDonald's introita in one day. However, many of the new clients of emerging brands are former McDonald's customers, and the Washington Post noted that, if the growth of Shake Shack were to continue at this pace, in Oakbrook would do better crazy horse to take serious action.
The prices of the hamburger chain Shake Shack New York on Wall Street, on January 30, 2015. The shares were up 130% immediately after the debut. Thousands of sandwiches were distributed in the neighborhood of the Stock Exchange (Spencer Platt / Getty Images)
The difficulty, therefore, are not linked to the concept of "fast food", still alive and well. Rather, it is a matter of taste. It is no coincidence that, in a recent survey, American users have relegated products and McDonald's hamburgers in last place in a ranking index. Tut