For years, investors have endorsed Yum’s strategy of selling ever more fried chicken in China while reducing investment at home. This has allowed the fast-food giant to increase earnings per share by 13 percent for 10 straight years—a record it expects to maintain until at least 2020—and led to a quadrupling of the stock price. But failing on the home front carries other costs, from frustrated franchisees who are skeptical about a promised turnaround to consumers who are choosing to eat chicken elsewhere. And it’s all happening with a brand Ghanaians and millions of others worldwide are supposed to associate with high-end, American-style chicken.
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