So in 2000, when we changed the business model and started really focusing on that triangle and putting the customer in the center, we decided we should hold off - we've done enough consolidation; we've got enough critical mass.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
It's really important we stay in touch with our customers and try to, over time, have more packages and flexibility than perhaps we have historically offered. And that's part of that tension that is healthy that is going on in the marketplace.
Customers are now driven by trying to optimize value.
Companies buy customers when they cannot win new business on their own. They merge when their executives do not have a better idea of what to do.
A frustration I have is that a lot of people increasingly seem to equate an advertising business model with somehow being out of alignment with your customers. I think it's the most ridiculous concept.
We are putting the customer at the center of everything we do and are directing our resources towards those innovations and investments that will strengthen our ability to deliver a better McDonald's experience over time.
A lot of companies have chosen to downsize, and maybe that was the right thing for them. We chose a different path. Our belief was that if we kept putting great products in front of customers, they would continue to open their wallets.
And our size: The company this year is going to be close to $50 billion, so if that's the case and you can continue to grow that fast, I would rather put my energies to solving customer problems and growing our business than worrying about integrating and laying people off.
Our customers are at the center of everything we do.
I am seriously troubled by the proposed rapid consolidation in the telecommunications marketplace.
Reduce the layers of management. They put distance between the top of an organization and the customers.