肯德基东家想开更多店 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.

这里是美国肯塔基州的路易斯维尔(Louisville)，午饭时分，百胜(Yum Brands)首席执行官大卫•诺瓦克(David Novak)溜达到公司餐厅的肯德基(KFC)，要了一份烤鸡腿三明治，与几名员工一起吃起来。

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.

诺瓦克最近有很多事情要做。经营着肯德基、必胜客(Pizza Hut)和塔可钟(Taco Bell)的百胜，正继续努力成为中国主要的外国餐厅连锁店，同时试图让步履维艰的美国业务复苏。尽管有着国际抱负，但百胜仍对自身历史保持着深刻认识。

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.

与很多企业园区（它们一般将自己隔绝在郊区堡垒似的建筑中）不同，百胜的办公地点位于一栋诺大的具有殖民风格的建筑中，被人们称作"白宫"，外形也颇类似。进入主门，你会看到一座博物馆，在那里，一个以肯德基创始人桑德斯上校(Colonel Sanders)为原型的会说话的机械模型向客人们介绍该公司，桑德斯上校的脸已成为肯德基标识上不朽的元素。

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.

在诺瓦克这间有着59年历史的办公室里，墙壁和天花板上挂着曾经因工作出众被他奖励过的数百名员工与他的合影。获奖者的奖励除了现金之外，还会有橡胶鸡、奶酪造型的帽子或者长脚的微笑假牙。

"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."

"我用我的办公室来象征我们企业的宗旨，那就是提高人们的能力，"他表示，"我们成功的秘诀是提高人们的能力，这是首先要做到的。接着是让更多顾客满意，然后才是赚更多的钱。"

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，百胜脱离百事(PepsiCo)，当时诺瓦克正在管理肯德基和必胜客的美国业务。他把经营百事休闲食品业务菲多利(Frito-Lay)的机会让给他人，这样他就能继续发展他在餐饮业的专长。4年后，他被任命为百胜首席执行官。

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.

诺瓦克现在教授领导能力培训课程，最近还写了一本书，名为《超级领导力》(Taking People With You)，但他早年的经历并没有预示出，他会快速成长为美国最知名企业之一的领袖。

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.

诺瓦克生于美国德克萨斯州，在升入7年级之前，他的足迹曾遍及美国23个州。他的父亲是一位政府测绘员，因此他们全家不得不多次迁移，他们曾经生活在拖车公园，还不断地换学校。他曾在密苏里大学(University of Missouri)读新闻，在广告业工作过10年，1986年，他得到了一份在必胜客的营销工作。

"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."

诺瓦克在谈到他小时候多次搬家的经历时说道："我认为，这些经历有助于我很好地了解环境、理解他人，并学会如何很快与人结识。这对经商很有帮助，尤其是跨国经商，你必须进入不同的国家，理解人们如何思考，倾听他们对什么感兴趣。"

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."

百胜非常出色地理解了中国对什么感兴趣。诺瓦克回忆道，1997年，那是他第一次来中国，那时父母会在生日或节日时带自己的孩子来肯德基，但他们的钱不够给自己也买一份。"如今，当我来到中国时，最令我吃惊以及最大的不同是，孩子们自己在买食物，"他说道，"消费人群正迅速扩大，我们的业务也因此激增。"

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".

在第一次中国之行中，当诺瓦克参观一家肯德基时，一位中国女子走到诺瓦克跟前（她以为他是肯德基的职员），用普通话恳请他"再多开一些店吧"。

And he has.

他确实这样做了。

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，百胜在中国拥有612家餐厅。到去年，该公司在中国拥有4000多家餐厅，遍及中国800个城市。通过把美国创意和本土风味结合在一起吸引消费者，该公司建立了自己的配送体系，并将业务扩大到中国偏远地区。百胜调整菜单以提供地域化选择的战略，经常被用作案例，提供如何在新兴市场成功的范本。该公司现在正试图将这种成功模式移植到印度，他们在当地菜单中加入了辛辣冲鼻的口味。

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."

只在全球为数不多的市场中，麦当劳(McDonald)不是占主导地位的西方快餐品牌，中国就是其中之一。然而，麦当劳承诺将更深入地挖掘中国市场，这是百胜不能忽视的一项挑战。"我们一直在创造新的食品种类，"诺瓦克表示，"在中国，我们关注的不是避开麦当劳，而是更好地倾听客户的需要，并且更准确地满足他们。"

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.

尽管百胜在海外取得了成功，但美国市场一直是它的痛处。在讨论领导能力时，诺瓦克最喜欢借助关于"高手"的提问，他会请人们设想，一位"高手"继任者会如何做他们的工作。

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.

那么，如果诺瓦克有一位"高手"继任者，这位高手的行事会有何不同？诺瓦克停顿了一会说道："我觉得，我们的紧迫感可能会更强，公司会有更远大的想法。"

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?' "

他继续解释道，在"利用资产基础"方面，麦当劳做得更好，它推出了早餐、饮料以及24小时营业。"我曾让我的全球团队全员去麦当劳观摩，我们将其称为‘麦当劳浸泡日(Immersion Day)'，"诺瓦克说道，"我们观察他们的做法，然后问：‘我们怎么能让我们的品牌也做到这些？'"

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.

诺瓦克对于研究他人的最佳业务惯例高度重视。例如，他会每年一次前往内布拉斯加州的奥马哈，请沃伦•巴菲特(Warren Buffett)在肯德基吃午餐，并向他请教商业方面的知识。把诺瓦克引见给巴菲特的是可口可乐(Coke)前首席执行官道格拉斯•伊维斯特(Douglas Ivester)，当时伊维斯特提出的一个条件是巴菲特不会讨论百胜的股票。

"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."

"他说一定要谈论善、恶、丑，"诺瓦克说道，"你越开诚布公，不但坦诚地谈论你所拥有的机会，也坦然谈论存在的问题，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.

尽管最近取得了成功，但百胜仍面临着艰难挑战，从大宗商品价格高企，到健康倡导者表示肯德基的快餐食品正导致肥胖和糖尿病。

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.

诺瓦克毫不客气地没有表现出任何歉意，他表示，炸鸡、比萨饼和墨西哥卷饼可以成为平衡饮食的一部分。而且，该公司一直在提供更多沙拉，同时降低食物中的盐含量并增加烤鸡产品，例如诺瓦克有时会当作午餐食用的烤鸡腿三明治。

"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."

"你不能变成其他人，"他表示，并解释道，百胜的目标是成为为全球提供饮食的标杆公司，正不断努力提高其食品质量，"我们实际上正在为世界提供一种了不起的服务。"