Can McDonald’s Corp’s Directors Help Steer its Upscale Beverage Initiative to Financial Success?

A flurry of speculation was ignited when The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday morning that McDonald’s Corp (NYSE: MCD) was planning “to poach Starbuck’s customers” by adding upscale-like coffee bars to 14,000 of its U.S. restaurants (see the WSJ article by Janet Adamy).

The blogosphere heated up almost immediately with financial analysis surrounding the competition between the two chains.  For example, the well-respected financial news blog 1440 Wall Street pointed out that of McDonald’s $16 billion in market cap increase, “perhaps $3-4 billion came at the expense of Starbucks’” loss of market share in coffee drinks (read the 1440 story by Stock Jockey).

Still, the analysts agree that McDonald’s new initiative into the coffee bar arena is laden with risks.  McDonald’s CEO/Vice Chairman James F. Skinner is well placed to understand the retail market and the risks involved.

Nevertheless, given the size of this McDonald's move, NewsVisual decided to create an IntellectSpace Knowledge Map in order to illustrate who currently sits on the company’s Board of Directors and whether they were likely to offer its Management Team sound business advice about the retail market, especially the more upscale consumer market.

The Knowledge Map shows that several of McDonald’s current Directors have business connections with other retail-related companies.

From the standpoint of understanding the purchasing preferences of the upscale consumer, the most notable example is Director Jeanne P Jackson who also serves on the boards of Nordstrom, Inc and Nike Inc.  Director Jackson’s experience with Nordstrom is particularly valuable for understanding how to appeal to the upscale, latte-sipping crowd.

But Director Richard H Lenny, the CEO/President/Chairman of the Hershey Co, undoubtedly has the experience of being able to advise McDonald’s on how it can retain its traditional customer base, while the company seeks to expand the range of tastes that appeal to its traditionally more conservative palates.

Furthermore, Director Walter E Massey, who sits on the Bank of America’s Board of Directors, could also advise on market issues like price sensitivity, which will play a large role in determining the successfulness of McDonald’s coffee bar initiative.

(Note: the information contained and presented in Knowledge Maps is public information from the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States of America).

Click here or copy this link into your Internet Explorer browser for an interactive version of this IntellectSpace Knowledge Map: http://nv.intellectspace.com/ispace/GuestMonitor.aspx?id=84695947-9619-47dd-ba5d-7ef440a4f5f9