Why It's So Hard for McDonald's to Change
"The system" McDonald's holds dear is what's holding it back
Five Numbers Explain Why McDonald's Needed a Change
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McDonald's is an industrial wonder. It's the biggest restaurant chain in the world, measured by sales, with some 14,000 locations in the U.S. and 36,000 globally. That's the problem. Executives proudly refer to "the system," which guarantees that its French fries will be the same size everywhere and cooked for exactly the same amount of time; its burgers will be the same thickness and have the same taste; and its liquid eggs will be precooked, folded, and flash-frozen by its suppliers before they become part of a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit.
As I wrote in 2013: