Is that Gluttony at McDonald’s?

While the retail headlines have been all about job cuts, store closings and bankruptcies, here comes McDonald’s, reporting a strong fourth quarter and an aggressive worldwide expansion plan. Good news! But is it simplistic just to credit that strong performance to the weak economy? People have to eat, after all, and what looks better than a dollar menu when dollars are being squeezed?

Anthony Mirhaydri, a business consultant and frequent contributor to msn.com’s money blog, cautions the fast-food giant to watch out. Global expansion may not be the smartest choice right now. He recalls 2003, when the company turned its ailing fortunes around with a Plan to Win initiative, improving its menu, lowering the trans-fats and cleaning up its existing locations. Mirhaydri thinks rapid expansion, just because people right now seem eager for an affordable burger-and-fries meal and to hell with obesity, may cause the company to take its eye off the ball.

“Now is not the time to walk away from Plan to Win,” Mirhaydri blogged recently. “If anything, now is the time for more menu innovation. More variety should be offered. I mean, how many variations on the sandwich and fries concept can there be?”

It makes me think of another food giant that built and built and built. Today, Starbucks is cutting and cutting and cutting. What do you think? Strike while the iron’s hot? Or don’t touch the hot iron?