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Magazines Archives - 2012 July Yum! accelerates investment in Thailand
Yum! Thailand, which has outlets in 74 provinces, reported a 20% growth rate for both KFC and Pizza Hut over the past two years, and this strong performance is expected to pick up momentum in the coming years. Said David Novak, chairman and CEO of US-based Yum! Brands, who was in Bangkok last month to celebrate the opening of Yum! Thailand's 500th store: "We will continue to expand and invest more in Thailand. Yum! Thailand plans to invest Bt27 billion (US$850 million) to more than double the number of stores across Thailand to 1,000 eateries by 2020." Novak believes that Thailand has great potential to grow as the country is on the verge of urbanisation. "More customers will move to urban lifestyles, where global food brands with various sophisticated and healthier products [will be] required, and our QSR and delivery business will be considered as suitable to fulfil the needs of urban lifestyles throughout Thailand," he said. Furthermore, in 2015, the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) will achieve the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), making ASEAN a more interesting place for investors, eventually leading to immense economic growth among ASEAN members, he said.wing entrepreneurs to cut costs and thrive." Yum! Thailand's Bt27-billion investment will create 14,000 jobs nationwide, bringing the company's total employment to 28,000 positions by 2020. "Our success depends on our ability to anticipate and respond to changing consumer preferences, tastes, eating and purchasing habits, as well as other factors affecting the restaurant industry, including new market entrants and demographic changes," said Novak. "We have got to be able to take people with us to make big things happen. More importantly, I believe in building a culture of recognition and positive energy. This is key in successfully taking people with you," he said. The Yum! chief was referring to his book Taking People with You: The Only Way to Make BIG Things Happen, which was released in January this year and is on the New York Times' and Wall Street Journal's bestseller lists. The book contains secrets based on the distinctive leadership programme Novak developed and has taught during his 15 years at Yum! to thousands of managers and franchisees around the world. It offers a step-by-step guide to setting big goals, getting others on board and achieving breakthrough results. Specific tools are included at the end of each chapter that challenge readers to reflect on how they are doing on key aspects of leadership. Novak said: "Taking People with You is not just another book filled with leadership principles you have heard time and time again. It is really more of an action plan. It offers a very specific process that will help you maximise your potential as a leader. This is a book that will help you become not just a better leader, but also a better person, by making you more self-aware and showing you how to build up the people around you. "I still teach my Taking People with You programme regularly up to eight times a year, in three-day sessions each time and people often ask me how, in my position, I can afford to spend so much time on it. I figure that with three famous brands and an international infrastructure already in place, if I can teach our people how to get big things done, then just imagine the potential for even more growth. "I am pleased to say that despite global challenges, Yum! Brands has been growing during these hard economic times. Our stock has increased over six times, and we have had 13% growth or more for the past nine years. The fact that our organisation has put the lessons in this book into action is a major reason behind our success We believe that when people enjoy their work, this will lead to better service for customers." Based in Louisville, Kentucky, USA, Yum! Brands operates more than 37,000 KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell stores in over 120 countries and territories with 1.4 million employees. To view other stories, get a copy of Retail Asia. To subscribe, please download the subscription form from http://www.retailasiaonline.com/subscription.html
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