Abstract

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, McDonald's, the leader in the fast food industry saw its performance deteriorating and in January 2003, announced its first quarterly loss since it went public in 1965. The case discusses the reasons for McDonald's' poor performance in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The case starts with a description of the growth of McDonald's over the years and the challenges it faced due to changes in the external environment. It then goes on to explain the reasons for poor performance of McDonald's, which ultimately led to the resignation of CEO Greenberg and the re-entry of Cantalupo, who had vast experience with McDonald's, as the new CEO. The case also explains the changes initiated by Cantalupo to restore McDonald's to its glorious days.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Coping with changes in business environment.

Keywords

McDonald, leader, fast food industry, January 2003, quarterly loss, poor performance, growth, challenges, external environment, Greenberg, Cantalupo