肯德基東家想開更多店 Finger lickin'all over the world

It is lunchtime in Louisville, Kentucky and David Novak, chief executive of Yum Brands, strolls up to the KFC in his company's cafeteria, orders a grilled chicken sandwich and joins a couple of employees for a bite to eat.

這裏是美國肯塔基州的路易斯維爾(Louisville)，午飯時分，百勝(Yum Brands)首席執行官大衛•諾瓦克(David Novak)溜達到公司餐廳的肯德基(KFC)，要了一份烤雞腿三明治，與幾名員工一起吃起來。

Mr Novak has a lot on his plate these days. Yum, which operates KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, is continuing its push to be the dominant foreign restaurant chain in China while trying to revive a struggling business in the US. In spite of its international aspirations, Yum maintains a rich sense of its history.

諾瓦克最近有很多事情要做。經營着肯德基、必勝客(Pizza Hut)和塔可鍾(Taco Bell)的百勝，正繼續努力成爲中國主要的外國餐廳連鎖店，同時試圖讓步履維艱的美國業務復甦。儘管有着國際抱負，但百勝仍對自身歷史保持着深刻認識。

Unlike many corporate campuses, which sequester themselves in suburban fortresses, Yum is housed in a sprawling colonial-style complex that resembles and is referred to as the "White House"de the main entrance sits a museum, where a talking mechanical replica of Colonel Sanders, the founder of KFC whose face is immortalised in its logo, introduces guests to the company.

與很多企業園區（它們一般將自己隔絕在郊區堡壘似的建築中）不同，百勝的辦公地點位於一棟諾大的具有殖民風格的建築中，被人們稱作"白宮"，外形也頗類似。進入主門，你會看到一座博物館，在那裏，一個以肯德基創始人桑德斯上校(Colonel Sanders)爲原型的會說話的機械模型向客人們介紹該公司，桑德斯上校的臉已成爲肯德基標識上不朽的元素。

The walls and ceilings in the 59-year-old's office are decorated with framed photographs of him with hundreds of employees he has rewarded for exemplary work. Winners are given rubber chickens or cheesehead hats or smiling teeth with feet, along with some cash.

在諾瓦克這間有着59年曆史的辦公室裏，牆壁和天花板上掛着曾經因工作出衆被他獎勵過的數百名員工與他的合影。獲獎者的獎勵除了現金之外，還會有橡膠雞、奶酪造型的帽子或者長腳的微笑假牙。

"I use my office to symbolise what our business is all about, which is building people capability," he says. "Our formula for success is you build up people capability, you do that first. Then you satisfy more customers. Then you make more money."

"我用我的辦公室來象徵我們企業的宗旨，那就是提高人們的能力，"他表示，"我們成功的祕訣是提高人們的能力，這是首先要做到的。接着是讓更多顧客滿意，然後纔是賺更多的錢。"

Yum was spun off from PepsiCo in 1997, when Mr Novak was running KFC and Pizza Hut in the US. He passed on an opportunity to run Frito-Lay, PepsiCo's snack business, so that he could continue developing his restaurant expertise. Four years later he was named Yum's chief executive.

1997年，百勝脫離百事(PepsiCo)，當時諾瓦克正在管理肯德基和必勝客的美國業務。他把經營百事休閒食品業務菲多利(Frito-Lay)的機會讓給他人，這樣他就能繼續發展他在餐飲業的專長。4年後，他被任命爲百勝首席執行官。

Mr Novak now teaches leadership training programmes and recently authored a book, Taking People With You, but his early days did not foretell his fast ascent to the top of one of the best known US corporations.

諾瓦克現在教授領導能力培訓課程，最近還寫了一本書，名爲《超級領導力》(Taking People With You)，但他早年的經歷並沒有預示出，他會快速成長爲美國最知名企業之一的領袖。

Born in Texas, Mr Novak lived in 23 US states by the time he reached seventh grade. His father was a government surveyor and his family had to relocate frequently, living in trailer parks and changing schools. He studied journalism at the University of Missouri and worked in advertising for a decade before taking a marketing job at Pizza Hut in 1986.

諾瓦克生於美國德克薩斯州，在升入7年級之前，他的足跡曾遍及美國23個州。他的父親是一位政府測繪員，因此他們全家不得不多次遷移，他們曾經生活在拖車公園，還不斷地換學校。他曾在密蘇里大學(University of Missouri)讀新聞，在廣告業工作過10年，1986年，他得到了一份在必勝客的營銷工作。

"I think it helped me read situations well, understand people, learn how to get to know people quickly," Mr Novak says of his frequent moves as a child. "I think it's been great in business, particularly international business, where you have to go in the countries and understand how people think, and listen to what makes them tick."

諾瓦克在談到他小時候多次搬家的經歷時說道："我認爲，這些經歷有助於我很好地瞭解環境、理解他人，並學會如何很快與人結識。這對經商很有幫助，尤其是跨國經商，你必須進入不同的國家，理解人們如何思考，傾聽他們對什麼感興趣。"

Yum has excelled at understanding what makes China tick. Mr Novak recalls that in 1997, the year of his first trip to the country, parents would take their children to KFC for birthdays or celebrations but did not have enough money to buy food for themselves. "And now, the biggest thing that I see and the biggest difference when I go to China is that the kids are buying the food themselves," he says. "The consuming population is growing so rapidly that the business is exploding because of it."

百勝非常出色地理解了中國對什麼感興趣。諾瓦克回憶道，1997年，那是他第一次來中國，那時父母會在生日或節日時帶自己的孩子來肯德基，但他們的錢不夠給自己也買一份。"如今，當我來到中國時，最令我吃驚以及最大的不同是，孩子們自己在買食物，"他說道，"消費人羣正迅速擴大，我們的業務也因此激增。"

During a visit to a KFC on that first trip, a Chinese woman came up to Mr Novak and, assuming he worked for the company, implored him in Mandarin to "build more".

在第一次中國之行中，當諾瓦克參觀一家肯德基時，一位中國女子走到諾瓦克跟前（她以爲他是肯德基的職員），用普通話懇請他"再多開一些店吧"。

And he has.

他確實這樣做了。

Yum had 612 restaurants in China in 2001. By last year it had more than 4,000 in 800 cities. The company built its own distribution system and expande into remote parts of the country by drawing customers with a combination of American flair and local flavours. Yum's strategy of adapting menus with regionalised options is often regarded as a case study in how to succeed in emerging markets. The company is now trying to export that model of success in India, localising the menus with sinus-searing spices.

2001年，百勝在中國擁有612家餐廳。到去年，該公司在中國擁有4000多家餐廳，遍及中國800個城市。通過把美國創意和本土風味結合在一起吸引消費者，該公司建立了自己的配送體系，並將業務擴大到中國偏遠地區。百勝調整菜單以提供地域化選擇的戰略，經常被用作案例，提供如何在新興市場成功的範本。該公司現在正試圖將這種成功模式移植到印度，他們在當地菜單中加入了辛辣沖鼻的口味。

China is one of the few markets in the world where McDonald's is not the dominant western fast-food brand. However, the hamburger chain's promise to push deeper into the country represents a challenge that Yum cannot ignore. "We've been creating the category," Mr Novak says. "What we're focused on in China is not staving off McDonald's, but it's just doing a better job of responding to what our customers are telling us we need to do to become even more relevant."

只在全球爲數不多的市場中，麥當勞(McDonald)不是占主導地位的西方快餐品牌，中國就是其中之一。然而，麥當勞承諾將更深入地挖掘中國市場，這是百勝不能忽視的一項挑戰。"我們一直在創造新的食品種類，"諾瓦克表示，"在中國，我們關注的不是避開麥當勞，而是更好地傾聽客戶的需要，並且更準確地滿足他們。"

In spite of Yum's success overseas, the US has been a sore spot. When he discusses leadership, one of Mr Novak's favourite tools is the "hotshot" question, where he asks someone to imagine what a hotshot successor would do with their job.

儘管百勝在海外取得了成功，但美國市場一直是它的痛處。在討論領導能力時，諾瓦克最喜歡藉助關於"高手"的提問，他會請人們設想，一位"高手"繼任者會如何做他們的工作。

So what would Mr Novak's hotshot successor do differently? "I feel we could get even more urgency and bigger thinking in our company," Mr Novak says after a pause.

那麼，如果諾瓦克有一位"高手"繼任者，這位高手的行事會有何不同？諾瓦克停頓了一會說道："我覺得，我們的緊迫感可能會更強，公司會有更遠大的想法。"

He goes on to explain that McDonald's has done a better job of "leveraging its asset base", by launching into breakfast, beverages and being open all night. "I had my entire team around the world go out into McDonald's, and we called it McDonald's Immersion Day," Mr Novak says. "We looked at what they were doing and we said: ‘How can we do something that's similar with our brands?' "

他繼續解釋道，在"利用資產基礎"方面，麥當勞做得更好，它推出了早餐、飲料以及24小時營業。"我曾讓我的全球團隊全員去麥當勞觀摩，我們將其稱爲‘麥當勞浸泡日(Immersion Day)'，"諾瓦克說道，"我們觀察他們的做法，然後問：‘我們怎麼能讓我們的品牌也做到這些？'"

Studying the best practice of other is something Mr Novak values highly. Once a year, for example, he heads to Omaha, Nebraska and treats Warren Buffett to lunch at KFC to pick his brain on business. He was introduced to the "Oracle" by Doug Ivestor, former chief executive of Coke, who agreed on one condition: Mr Buffett would not talk about Yum's stock.

諾瓦克對於研究他人的最佳業務慣例高度重視。例如，他會每年一次前往內布拉斯加州的奧馬哈，請沃倫•巴菲特(Warren Buffett)在肯德基吃午餐，並向他請教商業方面的知識。把諾瓦克引見給巴菲特的是可口可樂(Coke)前首席執行官道格拉斯•伊維斯特(Douglas Ivester)，當時伊維斯特提出的一個條件是巴菲特不會討論百勝的股票。

"He says make sure you talk about the good, the bad and the ugly," Mr Novak says. "The more transparent you can be about not only the opportunities you have but the issues you have, the more credibility you're going to get."

"他說一定要談論善、惡、醜，"諾瓦克說道，"你越開誠佈公，不但坦誠地談論你所擁有的機會，也坦然談論存在的問題，你的可信度就越高。"

In spite of its recent success, Yum faces tough challenges, from high commodity costs to health advocates who say its fast food is causing obesity and diabetes.

儘管最近取得了成功，但百勝仍面臨着艱難挑戰，從大宗商品價格高企，到健康倡導者表示肯德基的快餐食品正導致肥胖和糖尿病。

Mr Novak bluntly offers no apologies, saying that fried chicken, pizza and tacos can be part of a balanced diet. Still, the company has been offering more salads, reducing sodium levels and adding grilled chicken items, such as the sandwich Mr Novak sometimes eats for lunch.

諾瓦克毫不客氣地沒有表現出任何歉意，他表示，炸雞、比薩餅和墨西哥捲餅可以成爲平衡飲食的一部分。而且，該公司一直在提供更多沙拉，同時降低食物中的鹽含量並增加烤雞產品，例如諾瓦克有時會當作午餐食用的烤雞腿三明治。

"You can't be something that you're not," he says, explaining that Yum, which aims to be the defining company that feeds the world, is constantly trying to improve its food quality. "We're actually providing a great service to the world."

"你不能變成其他人，"他表示，並解釋道，百勝的目標是成爲爲全球提供飲食的標杆公司，正不斷努力提高其食品質量，"我們實際上正在爲世界提供一種了不起的服務。"