Has McDonald’s lost the plot?

Abstract

Marketing magazine calls it the brand that many love to hate and a “lightning conductor for anti‐capitalists”. But for the McDonald’s Corporation in 2002, name calling has been the least of its concerns. After a sustained spell of seemingly relentless international growth, stock prices have now hit a seven year low. CEO Jack Greenberg has abruptly retired, restaurants are being closed down and competitors are fighting back to challenge what not too long ago was viewed as the unchallengeable – McDonald’s reign as the world’s number one fast‐food chain.