"....paint a picture of ultra-disciplined owners who are sticking to the same playbook they have followed at companies including Burger King, Anheuser-Busch, Kraft Foods and Heinz: massive layoffs, replacing legacy managers with hungry youngsters and, above all, a fanatical devotion to financial benchmarks and cost-cutting." 

This is what I call the "Americanisation of business in Canada". A short term focus on only money (not other aspects of a company's success) is the only diver and the more money the company makes, the bigger the bonus for the executives. I've seen it first hand. A horrible way to run a company. If you want loyalty these days, go buy a puppy!