McDonald's Looks Outside for New Chief Strategy Officer -- Update
September 17 2015 - 02:47PM
Dow Jones News
By Joann S. Lublin and Julie Jargon
McDonald's Corp. is conducting a search for an outsider to
replace its chief strategy officer, who was let go in a recent
management shuffle, according to people familiar with the
matter.
This would mark the third outside hire of a top executive in
recent months at a company known for promoting from within. It is
another sign of Chief Executive Steve Easterbrook's efforts to
breathe fresh life into the struggling burger giant.
The new strategy chief would replace Adam Kriger, who led
McDonald's strategy for 14 years. Mr. Kriger apparently was among a
number of employees whose jobs were recently eliminated, said Peter
Crist, chairman of Crist/Kolder Associates, an executive-search
firm in Downers Grove, Ill.
McDonald's didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
Mr. Kriger couldn't immediately be reached.
Looking outside the Golden Arches for talent is unusual at
McDonald's, where many executives worked their way up the ranks,
many of them having started out as restaurant workers. McDonald's
corporate employees are known to boast of having ketchup in their
veins.
But Mr. Easterbrook, who was appointed chief executive in March,
has referred to himself as an "internal activist" and has had his
own outside experience. In June, McDonald's tapped former Obama
press secretary Robert Gibbs to be its global communications chief
and Silvia Lagnado, a former marketing executive at Bacardi Ltd.
and Unilever PLC, to be its global marketing chief.
"Easterbrook probably was under the strong directive to get rid
of the old and get the new (blood) in there," Mr. Crist said. "This
is a company that has lost its way."
The British-born Mr. Easterbrook began working for McDonald's in
London as a financial reporting manager in 1993 and rose through a
variety of jobs, becoming president of McDonald's European division
and then leaving for a couple of years to lead two British
restaurant chains, PizzaExpress Ltd. and Wagamama Ltd., before
returning to McDonald's in June 2013. He was McDonald's chief
global brand officer just before becoming chief executive.
Mr. Easterbrook has made a number of business and social changes
at McDonald's since March, including plans to offer all-day
breakfast starting next month, to simplify the menu, to raise wages
for employees at company-owned restaurants and switch to cage-free
eggs.
The changes, however, haven't yet yielded an increase in sales.
Same-store sales in the U.S. fell a worse-than-expected 2% in the
three months through June, and total revenue in the quarter slid
9.5% to $6.5 billion.
Even before Mr. Easterbrook replaced previous CEO Don Thompson,
McDonald's, which has been struggling with declining sales for the
last three years, began shuffling its executive ranks. Last year it
brought back some former executives who had been at the company
during better times, such as Mike Andres, who's now head of
McDonald's U.S. business.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 17, 2015 14:32 ET (18:32 GMT)
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