CKGSB Knowledge

China-focused leadership and business analysis

  • Know China
    • Chinese Economy
      • Airline Industry
      • Agriculture
      • Automobile Industry
      • Business Conditions Index
      • Logistics
      • Manufacturing
      • Movie Industry
      • Real Estate
      • Retail
      • Tourism
    • Society
      • Consumers
      • Culture
      • Demographics
      • Sports
    • Economics
    • Employment
    • Environment
    • Policy and Law
    • Resources
  • Finance
    • Internet Finance
    • Banking
    • Stock Markets
    • Private Equity
  • Digital Economy
    • eCommerce
    • Technology
    • Digital Marketing
    • O2O
  • Connections
    • Economy
    • Emerging Economies
    • International Trade
    • Globalization
  • Winning in China
    • Multinationals in China
    • Joint Ventures
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
  • Best Practice
    • Marketing
    • Management
    • Creativity
    • Branding
    • Social Good
      • CSR
      • Social Entrepreneurship
      • Sustainability
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Innovation
    • Strategy
    • Intellectual Property
    • Supply Chain
    • Talent
  • ExpertSpeak
    • Conversations
    • C-Suite
    • The Thinker Interview
    • The Chinapreneurs
    • Invisible Hand Revealed
    • Opinion

Yum China: Can it Become ‘Finger Lickin’ Good’ Again?

October 26, 2015 By Li Hui

Yum Brands, owner of brands like KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, has been on a scary roller coaster ride in China. The highs were really high—the Chinese loved KFC so much that China became Yum’s largest market in terms of profits globally. Things were so good that Yum even ventured into uncharted territory: a western brand offering Chinese food to Chinese customers. But 2012 onwards Yum China has been running into trouble. The troubles have grown so big that the parent company finally succumbed to investor pressure and split the China operations into a separate company. Post the split, can Yum China get its mojo back?

Filed Under: All Articles, Branding, Consumers, Know China Tagged With: Consumer Behavior, Fast Food in China, KFC, Yum! Brands

China Roundup: Apple inches ahead of Samsung in China; China’s Staggering Debt; and a New Food Scandal

July 25, 2014 By Neelima Mahajan and Major Tian

The week that was: Apple is making a comeback and beating Samsung in China; China has a debt-to-GDP ratio of a whopping 251%; and fast food giants find themselves battling a new food scandal. Will Apple eat Samsung’s pie?  Although the earnings report of Apple’s third fiscal quarter of 2014 (Apple’s fiscal quarter runs from end […]

Filed Under: All Articles, Best Practice, China Round-up, Chinese Economy, Digital Economy, Economics, Finance, Know China, Supply Chain, Technology Tagged With: Apple, Bank of China, Chinese Economy, Debt, Fast Food, Food Security, GDP, KFC, Lenovo, Pizza Hut, Samsung, Slider, Technology, Xiaomi, Yum!

China Roundup: China Powers US Business Growth; Fosun’s Silicon Valley Venture Arm; and China’s Manufacturing Woes

April 25, 2014 By Major Tian

The week that was: China’s manufacturing activity is still in contraction; US multinationals report robust growth in Chinese operations; and Fosun sets up $100 million venture capital arm in Silicon Valley. China April flash PMI still below 50 A sneak peak of China’s manufacturing activity in April by Markit and HSBC shows that the sector […]

Filed Under: All Articles, China Round-up, Chinese Economy, Connections, Economy, Employment, Finance, Know China, Manufacturing, Policy and Law Tagged With: Adidas, China Transition, Chinese Economy, Economic Growth, Fosun, KFC, labor market, Sina, Slider, US, Venture Capital, WeChat

China Roundup: China’s manufacturing activity falls; Alibaba launches crowdfunding platform; and KFC’s makeover

March 28, 2014 By Neelima Mahajan

The week that was: China’s manufacturing activity continues on its downward trend; Tencent acquires a 28% stake in South Korean gaming giant CJ Games; Alibaba launches crowdfunding product for the entertainment sector; and Hong Kong banks worried about China exposure. China’s manufacturng activity hits eight-month low China’s manufacturing activity continues to contract—and has hit an eight-month […]

Filed Under: All Articles, Banking, China, China Round-up, Chinese Economy, Digital Economy, eCommerce, Finance, Know China, Manufacturing, Technology Tagged With: Alibaba, CJ Games, Crowdfunding, KFC, Slider, Tencent, Yu Le Bao, Yum!, Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands in China: Colonel Sanders’ Recipe Gone Wrong

April 3, 2013 By Angela Doland

Have Chinese consumers lost their appetite for Yum! Brands? The KFC in the food court at Shang­hai’s New World Department store has seen better days. The yellow stuffing of a dingy vinyl booth has bro­ken free of its casing, and someone has patched it with tape. A stool is minus its seat, and faded promotional […]

Filed Under: All Articles, Best Practice, Branding, Consumers, Demographics, Know China, Management, Retail, Strategy, Supply Chain Tagged With: Burger King, East Dawning, Fast Food, Fast Food in China, KFC, Little Sheep, Pepsico, Pizza Hut, Real Kung Fu, Slider, Yum!, Yum! Brands

Download the March 2013 issue of CKGSB Magazine: Tapping homegrown innovation

March 25, 2013 By CKGSB Knowledge

You are invited to download the March issue of CKGSB Magazine. You’ll enjoy articles and interviews like: COVER STORY: Innovation: Incubators tap homegrown innovation in China. With close similarities to incubators in Silicon Valley and an arsenal of China-specific tactics for start-up success, Chinese incubators are moving beyond the traditional role of incubators. They are creating […]

Filed Under: All Articles, Banking, Best Practice, China, Chinese Economy, Connections, Consumers, Digital Economy, eCommerce, Employment, Entrepreneurship, Environment, Finance, Globalization, Infographics, Innovation, Know China, Private Equity, Talent Tagged With: #Sir Tom Hunter, Apple, Art of War, Baidu, Best Buy, E-Commerce, E-Commerce in China, Environment, Globalization, Haier, Huawei, Incubators, Innovation, Jeffrey Pfeffer, Jennifer Li, KFC, Lenovo, Nokia, Pizza Hut, Private Enterprise, Robert Aumann, Slider, Smartphone, Sun Tzu, Yum! Brands

China’s Fourth-Tier Cities: The Road Less Worn

February 18, 2013 By Berken Byrne

China’s fourth-tier consumer markets come into their own. If you travel to China’s poorest fourth-tier-cities such as Jiangsu Province’s Taixing in the hope of leaving behind the international brands that dominate the major coastal cities, then you will be disappointed. The familiar grin of KFC’s iconic Colonel Sanders is there to greet you outside the […]

Filed Under: All Articles, Best Practice, China, Chinese Economy, Demographics, Know China, Marketing, Retail Tagged With: #Fourth-Tier Cities, #Philips, Apple, KFC, MNC Strategy in China, MNCs, Multinational Company, Slider

Customer Service in China: Upping the Ante

February 6, 2013 By Mark Andrews

Companies need to step up their service in China to satisfy the new sophisticated customer. Lining up for a table at the Hai Di Lao Sichuan hotpot restaurant in Beijing is not such a bad experience–you get served tea and snacks and can even opt for a manicure while you wait–a welcome reprieve from other […]

Filed Under: All Articles, Best Practice, China, Consumers Tagged With: #Customer Service, #Service, #Staff Training, Hai Di Lao, KFC, Slider

Chasing its China dream: Burger King’s dilemma

August 10, 2012 By Bing Jing

Burger King’s ambitious plan to roll out 1,000 new restaurants in China is out of sync with reality

Filed Under: 2012, All Articles, Best Practice, Marketing Tagged With: Burger King, Fast Food, KFC, McDonald's

About

Information, analysis, and interviews about the Chinese economy and doing business in China, from the people who know it best. Presented by the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, China's leading business school.


The Knowledge Newsletter

Keep up with CKGSB Knowledge: Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Read the Knowledge Magazine

RSS CKGSB News & Events

  • Professor Erica Li comments on IMF’s latest ‘Global Financial Stability Report’
  • CKGSB Economist Develops Dynamic Model for Reopening Strategies amid COVID-19
  • Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business and Johns Hopkins Carey Business School Launch Dual Degree Master’s Program
  • What 500 years of history tells us about the long-term economic impact of pandemics
  • CKGSB Convenes Global Opinion Leaders to Advance Gender Equality

About Us

  • CKGSB Knowledge Reader Survey
  • Contact
  • Copyright Statement
  • Know What’s Next for Business in China and Beyond
  • Publications
  • The CKGSB Knowledge team

Follow us

RSSTwitterFacebookLinkedinYoutube

Search

Magazine

Newsletter

Keep up with CKGSB Knowledge: Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

RSS CKGSB News & Events

  • Professor Erica Li comments on IMF’s latest ‘Global Financial Stability Report’
  • CKGSB Economist Develops Dynamic Model for Reopening Strategies amid COVID-19
  • Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business and Johns Hopkins Carey Business School Launch Dual Degree Master’s Program
  • What 500 years of history tells us about the long-term economic impact of pandemics

Copyright © Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business. All Rights Reserved. ICP1057951