One of the first fast-food chains to go international during the late 1960's. KFC develops one of the world's most recognizable brands.
             Heublein, Inc. acquired KFC in 1971. Problems arose in service quality and restaurant cleanliness as well as quality control and new restaurant openings.
             In 1977, Heublein sent in a new management team to redirect KFC's strategy. They immediately implemented a back-to-the-basics strategy and discontinued new-unit construction until existing restaurants could be upgraded and operating problems eliminated. They refurbished restaurants, placing emphasis on cleanliness and service. They cut out marginal products and re-established product consistency. By 1982, KFC's strategic focus had proven successful and the company was again aggressively building new units.
             In 1982, R.J. Reynolds Industries, Inc merged Heublein into a wholly owned subsidiary. R.J. Reynolds took a hands-off approach to managing KFC, where Heublein had not. They believed that KFC managers were better qualified to run the restaurant business than it's own managers were. The strategy worked, and KFC continued to expand profitably under R.J. Reynolds' ownership.
             In 1985, R.J. Reynolds acquired Nabisco, and one year later divested itself of KFC by selling the company to PepsiCo, Inc. in order to concentrate on the consumer foods industry.
             PepsiCo currently has three market lines: soft drinks, snack foods, and restaurants. The company originally started out with just soft drinks, but then merged with the Frito-Lay company in 1965 to enter the snack foods market, and then acquired Pizza Hut in 1977 and Taco Bell in 1978 to enter the restaurant business.
             The marketing of fast food, soft drinks, and snack foods follows many similar patterns, and PepsiCo believed that its management skills could easily be transferred among its three business segments. PepsiCo had a practice of frequently movi...