McDonald's is the world's leading foodservice retailer with 1.8 million employees serving 69 million people in 118 countries every day; with more than 34,000 local restaurants, 80% of which are franchised. (“Learning to know”, 2013)I. Establish a sense of urgencyMcDonalds faces a financial crisis The Dollar Menu is no longer producing the expected results; providing a draw for customers and profits for the franchise. The Dollar Menu itself had little opportunity to generate profits directly (6 cents per hamburger), but indirect sales of items generated higher profits by customers once they were lured into the store by the Dollar Menu were the way to generate profits. (Ransom, 2009) Inflation, recession, and several other issues that lead to increased costs of preparing food and maintaining franchises caused the failure of the Dollar Menu and the resulting financial crisis. (Thompson, 2013) Declining profits and growing discontent among franchise owners increased the level of urgency for the management team. The management team then clearly communicated the issues and demonstrated sufficient responsiveness so that the crisis was perceived as a reality by all employees. (Patton, 2013) The shift from an unprofitable and unsustainable Dollar Menu to a profitable Dollar and Up Menu was necessary to ensure the continued success of McDonalds franchise owners, McDonalds businesses, and most importantly, McDonalds employees . ("McDonalds Mission and", 2013) Although there are no obvious signs of elimination of excesses, there are reports that the benefits of cooperation have increased, or changes in the mechanisms by which performance is deemed can be found, the management team communicated with the customers (franchise owners). )... middle of paper ......Thompson, D. (October 22, 2013). Why McDonald's killed the dollar menu – in 1 chart. Retrieved from: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/10/why-mcdonalds-killed-the-dollar-menu-in-1-chart/280778/Wong, V. (October 23, 2013) . McDonald's new "dollar menu" goes up to $5. Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-23/mcdonald-s-new-dollar-menu-goes-up-to-5Munarriz, R. (October 24, 2013). $2 is the new $1 on McDonald's value menu. Retrieved from http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/10/23/mcdonalds-revamps-dollar-menu/McDonald's reports comparable sales share in October. (November 8, 2013). Retrieved from http://news.mcdonalds.com/Corporate/Press-Releases/Financial-Release?xmlreleaseid=123039McDonald's continues to invest for future growth. (November 14, 2013). Retrieved from http://news.mcdonalds.com/Corporate/Press-Releases/Financial-Release?xmlreleaseid=123040