Black MBA - Summer 2008 - (Page 40)

FEATURE Interview I feel that my desire is being met. We are all keeping a close eye on our dollars, yet we don’t want to give up the special pleasures of life. We want to pay less for them and get the same quality. By working within your own sandbox, you went back to the basics, focusing on what the customers’ needs are. So many companies get away from really thinking about what the customers’ needs are, and that changes the quality. I commend you all for the strategic direction that you all are taking. DT: What’s interesting is this – and I want to bring this closer to home. Many people have said that Latino Americans and African Americans don’t drink those types of coffees. I think this is another part of our company’s enthusiasm. We really believe that we can democratize coffee. It is more of an economic segmentation than an ethnic segmentation. To take it even further, many people would argue that today people are ordering a cup of coffee and have no idea what they are truly ordering. If you ask people, ‘What’s espresso-based coffee? What’s the difference between it and a cappuccino?’ there are a lot of people who don’t really know. They just know that they feel good when they order it. So one of the things that we have attempted to do is introduce America to the espresso-based cup of coffee, which is a world trend. People all around the world are drinking these specialty coffees and have been doing so forever. Iced coffee has been popular in Asia for more than 30 years. We are inviting people who typically have not been invited over for coffee. I think that, for us, we are making the point that when you walk through the doors of McDonald’s, you represent America in all walks of life. You sit in one of our restaurants and you see some of everyone – from blue-collar to whitecollar and all genders and ethnicities. So when you come to McDonald’s, you don’t have to worry about what you’re ordering, right? BT: Of course. DT: You don’t have to worry that someone will look at you a little differently. Come and order just what you like, say, a Diet Coke, and when you order it, you know it can be small, medium or large. You know we have one. One of the things that our managers in the restaurants came up with is little placards that basically say, here is a latte and here is the cup. Here’s what has steamed milk. What doesn’t have steamed milk? How much is espressobased coffee? It goes through these definitions so that people know. BT: Keeping it simple! DT: Yes. So a lot of people are beginning to say, ‘That’s what it is! That’s all it is. Oh, I could order that!’ We feel good about that, too. BT: Let’s talk a little bit about Don Thompson. As we look at where you have taken your life and how you have given and grown, what is your motivation, and what words of wisdom do you have to share with our readers? DT: I pray a lot. I will say it very quickly, but I will tell you the truth. My faith is a large part of who Don is, as people who have heard me give speeches and talks know. I tell them all the time that first and most important to me is my faith in my God. Second, clearly, is my family and extended family. Third is McDonald’s. I’ve never forgotten that… never. And I think that there are a whole lot of other Don Thompsons – other executives who happen to be African American who are out there, but might not even know yet that they have the strength, they have the background and they have ability to be able to do what I do. McDonald’s has afforded me the opportunity to learn this business, and for a person who had an electrical engineering background when I came to McDonald’s, it was a big change to go from working in the fence industry to working at a hamburger company. BT: Back to basics, and the power of prayer. DT: The opportunities that I have been afforded have been tremendous. A big opportunity for me was a fantastic set of mentors from all kinds of backgrounds. Some had been at McDonald’s for years, and others had not. Some were Caucasian, some African American and beverage categories, along with things like smoothies, bottled water and tea on a much smaller basis. We looked at that and said, ‘What is it within this category that we can do?’ We knew we had changed our drip with our premium roast coffee and saw how well that was performing, so we went to espressobased coffees. Why? Because we knew that we could serve it at the speed of McDonald’s. We knew that with our supply chain, we could produce a greattasting cup of coffee and espresso base and a great lineup. We also knew that we were the most convenient and we could offer a value price. Those things together did not add up to the coffeebuying experience that people were accustomed to. People have told me a number of times, ‘You all are trying to be…’ – you can fill in the blanks. But we have never tried to be another company. We’re not another company. Our core strength is, yes, our convenience of ubiquity. Yes, it is the fact that we have a tremendous supply chain and provide great leverages so we can provide a great price. Yes, we know how to serve customers and we serve them based on the way they want to be served. OK, 65 percent of our business is drive-thru. So we understand when you’re in your car trying to get from point A to point B, you want something that tastes good and fits into your lifestyle. So we knew that operation- and consistency-wise, no one could outperform us. And it has been a fantastic team – Jill Scanton; Ralph Alvarez, who was president of McDonald’s U.S. when I was chief operations officer; and Bill Lamar, who was a marketing senior vice president at the time. We all got together with the rest of the team, our field officers and with operations and put this plan together. We started in 2004 and now in 2008, we’re implementing an espresso-based coffee. We have tested and are testing smoothies and bottled beverages. BT: Most mornings, I go to a coffee house for an iced coffee. But this morning, I decided to try a McDonald’s iced coffee. It’s just as tasty as a coffee house’s iced coffee and yet I am saving money. 40 BlackMBA • Summer 2008 • www.nbmbaa.org http://www.nbmbaa.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Black MBA - Summer 2008

Black MBA- Summer 2008 Contents Mailbag Up Front From the President & CEO Politics of Change Catalyst for Change: Results of our 2008 Political Poll Know Whose Shoulders You Stand On: The Legacy of H. Naylor Fitzhugh Howard University: Changing With the Times Straight Talk: CEO to CEO Creating Your Own Sandbox Dual Threats Avoiding the Faux Pa Invest in Your MBA Everything You Need to Know About...Estate Planning On Campus Plan Ahead The Big Show What's in a Name? On the Move Market Forecast Jeff Friday Keith Wyche Life Lessons On the Ground Real Biz A Golden Opportunity Entrepreneurial Institute Tech Tools Read for Success Stacey Tisdale Advertiser Index

Black MBA - Summer 2008

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