Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/economy-on-the-minds-of-for-profit-ceos/5019123/
Considering how bad the economy was in 2009, North America’s 50 largest for profit chains (see list on page 25) fared pretty well. In fact, about half of these organizations actually expanded their capacity in 2009 �" although the expansion wasn’t spectacular, averaging just under 3%. About one-fourth of the organizations maintained their capacity and a fourth experienced minor decreases. So it was not a stellar year, nor was it a disastrous year for the Top 50.For the two largest for profit organizations �" Knowledge Universe-US and Learning Care Group �" 2009 was not a growth year. In fact both organizations decreased their capacity slightly. The last two years have shown no growth for both organizations. This is in stark contrast to their activity earlier in the current decade. Both Knowledge Universe and Learning Care Group engaged in a flurry of major acquisitions between 2003 and 2007 (see chart on page 26).
CEOs of the Top 50 organizations are nervously watching the economy for signs of improvement. When these CEOs were asked to rank the most serious challenges they face, far and away their top concerns were “the state of the economy” and “the rising cost of health insurance.”
In recent ...