article thumbnail

McDonald’s Already Knows How to Manage Its Franchisee Labor Practices

Harvard Business Review

Then, McDonald’s might follow the lead of other industries and develop a collaborative initiative with peer companies and some of its harshest critics. Following the 2013 Rana Plaza factory collapse , the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety and the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety were established to focus on that country.

article thumbnail

Social Media Is Too Important to Be Left to the Marketing Department

Harvard Business Review

Since 2013 the number of customers who expect a response through social media has doubled, according to research from Sprout Social , yet seven out of eight messages to companies go unanswered for 72 hours. Develop a social care team that can address all areas of social information efficiently and effectively.

Media 8
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

McDonald’s Has to Do More than Manipulate Its Stock Price

Harvard Business Review

The company’s executives said that to help finance the plan, McDonald’s would increase refranchising (turning company-owned restaurants into franchises), take on more debt (even at the risk of lowering its bond rating ), and find $300 million to cut in general and administrative expenses.

Price 8
article thumbnail

The Big Picture of Business: The Colonel and Me

Strategy Driven

Business development. The second was at what was the fourth KFC franchise to open in the United States. There became too many competitors, too much franchising, too much hype and just as many who exited the industry as quickly as they entered it. Copyright 2007-2013 by StrategyDriven Enterprises, LLC. Body of Knowledge.

article thumbnail

How to Understand the EU-U.S. Digital Divide

Harvard Business Review

Congress, however, wisely left the internet out of that experiment , letting fixed and mobile broadband access markets to develop largely on their own. This has helped contribute to the development of innovative Internet-based businesses , where 11 of the top 15 Internet businesses, most started in the last decade, are U.S.

Price 8
article thumbnail

The U.S. Media’s Problems Are Much Bigger than Fake News and Filter Bubbles

Harvard Business Review

Two developments bear noting. When the pseudonymous Robert Galbraith published A Cuckoo’s Calling in 2013, the novel sold about 1,500 copies in the first month. First, and most obvious, traditional media is no longer the only way to spread the word. Any candidate can communicate directly and instantly with millions of people.

Media 11