????本周一剛剛發布季度財報的麥當勞公司，可謂才出油鍋，又進火坑。

????這份季度財報顯示，該公司的全球同店銷售額下降了4.8%，超出了此前的下跌預期（1.2%）。曾經迅速增長的亞洲市場，更是下降了12.6%，超過了此前8.4%的下跌預期。

????對于這家市值720億美元的漢堡包巨頭來說，現在的確是一個頗具諷刺意味的時刻。就在已經走過65個年頭的麥當勞公司解雇首席執行官唐?湯普森12個小時之后，丹尼?梅耶14年前創立的Shake Shack漢堡餐廳在紐交所成功上市，當日收盤價是IPO價格的兩倍，從而使該公司的市值達到17億美元。

????沒錯，麥當勞是西式快餐市場上的“大塊頭”，它在全球130個國家開設的3.8萬家分店雇傭了200萬名員工，每天為全球6800萬人提供服務。盡管如此，還是擋不住食客和投資者紛紛投向質量更高，也更好玩的Shake Shack、Five Guys Burgers and Fries、In and Out Burger和Smashburger等市場新入者的懷抱。不過，盡管遭受了一些小小的挫折，但麥當勞或許已經做好了反擊的準備。

????雖然麥當勞的管理層和董事會犯下了一些戰略和運營上的錯誤，不過沒有人否認公司需要變革，也沒有人非難在麥當勞備受愛戴，雖然不怎么成功的領導人唐?湯普森。另外，麥當勞的董事會也不需要外部的維權投資者來推動公司所需要的變革。

????麥當勞的失誤遠比其苦澀的財務結果更為復雜。最近的數據顯示，麥當勞的同店銷售額已經出現了12年來的首次下滑，同時麥當勞的銷售收入也連續五個月下跌，利潤也大幅縮水。這些財務數據表明，麥當勞的戰略、執行、領導等方面都出了問題，并不是行業性的不景氣。不僅僅是它的競爭對手日益火爆，就連原先從麥當勞剝離出來的Boston

????簡言之，麥當勞是被一種品牌認知悖論絆住了手腳：質量一般的產品，令人迷惑的信息，包括過于低姿態的外賣服務，都加劇了品牌形象的下滑。它目前主要有五大困境：

????（1）食品質量。麥當勞也嘗試過健康食譜，但沒有成功。人們現在經常把麥當勞和“粉紅肉渣”（含有可用于制造化肥和清潔劑的氫氧化銨）聯系在一起。直到2011年知名大廚杰米?奧利弗公開爆料后，麥當勞才停止使用這種材質。想想麥當勞漢堡還曾被珍?梅爾等營養學家吹捧為健康飲食，真是可笑可悲。2014年6月，《消費者報告》將麥當勞列入美國最差的漢堡供應商之列。同樣走低價路線的Wendy’s餐廳卻做得更好。與此同時，一份Shake Shack雙層漢堡，配上薯條和黑白奶昔，能夠提供2000卡路里的熱量，遠遠超過麥當勞的同類產品。

????（2）食品安全。過去，麥當勞的食品安全性在亞洲、中國和中東等地一直受到追捧，但是在2014年關掉一家肉品加工廠并不斷爆出食品安全問題后，麥當勞和百勝餐飲集團的信譽遭受重創。

????（3）定價政策。麥當勞試圖引誘人們放棄廉價食品，轉而選擇它正在推出的高質量的快餐，這種做法使得傳統顧客不禁疑惑，價格到底還是不是麥當勞的營銷重點。現在，引領簡約和低價風的是Sonic Burger，而不再是麥當勞。

????（4）標準化VS定制化。麥當勞因長期不允許顧客“提出符合自己口味的制作要求”而飽受詬病。所以，他們轉向另一個極端。現在提供的多達130多種產品，讓顧客眼花繚亂。與此同時，作為快餐業立身之本的服務速度卻顯著降低。

????（5）供應鏈管理。麥當勞曾經是無與倫比的供應鏈管理大師。但當原料在洛杉磯港發生延誤時，麥當勞并沒有制定沒有任何有效的應急計劃，最終導致一些關鍵市場（比如日本）連薯條都供應不上。

????為了挽救因品牌形象、產品質量和定位及運營問題導致的業績損失，麥當勞也嘗試過一些權宜之計，比如增加汽車穿梭窗口的數量（這些窗口貢獻了其營業額的70%），并推出目前這款以“示愛”為主題的怪異廣告，但所有這些都無法解決食品質量、運營和形象方面的深層問題。它在“超級碗”上打的“用愛付款”（Pay it with Lovin）廣告也遭到了無情的嘲笑，其副作用估計要延續到情人節，當這輪廣告按照計劃結束的時候。

????另一個更深層的問題是公司領導層的繼任人選。在過去十幾年，麥當勞已經更換了五位CEO。廣受尊敬、經驗豐富的唐?湯普森當年并不是董事會鐘意的人選，事實上他在候選名單里只排在第三順位。

????前CEO吉姆?斯金納看中的繼任者麥克?羅伯茨于2006年辭職，據報道，他曾報怨過斯金納對他的繼任安排不夠確定。另一個曾一度提上議事日程的人選是拉爾夫?阿爾瓦雷茲，但在2009年的一天，這位55歲的高管突然宣布將于次日“退休”，理由是他突然發現自己的膝蓋有問題，這件事在公司上下引起了不小的震動，因為當時關于他個人操守問題的議論再度傳開。針對他跟女下屬保持不正當性關系的公開指控，迫使阿爾瓦雷茲不得不在CEO杰克?格林伯克將其解雇之前離開公司。

????斯金納自己也沒想到能坐上CEO的寶座。前兩位CEO都是英年早逝，詹姆斯?R?坎塔盧波死于心臟病發作，他的繼任者查爾斯?H?貝爾因罹患癌癥離職。（貝爾于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.)