Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/six-national-chains-six-approaches-to-development/5012535/
After pursuing similar growth strategies for the past two decades, the nation’s largest for profit child care organizations have suddenly headed off in different directions.In the 1970s and 1980s, large chains basically pursued the same agenda �" growth through the addition of more and more centers �" although some companies pursued it more aggressively than others. From 1974 until 1989, this strategy worked wonders as the six largest for profit chains expanded by over 1,000% (see Table A).
In the 1990s, the era of rapid expansion ended. From 1989 to 1996 the six largest chains in total expanded at an average annual rate of less than 2% �" a dramatic drop off from the soaring expansion of past decades.
Coming out of this slow growth period, the national chains have undergone considerable changes. Now instead of six similar companies following similar strategies, we have six unique organizations following six unique game plans.
To provide readers with a sense of where the six largest chains are headed, Exchange interviewed the CEO of each company and prepared the following reports. In addition, we visited a center selected by each of these organizations and featured their directors on the cover of this issue.
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