Page 173 - Everything I Know About Business I Learned

Communications

really going on in the field. We now talk about what’s going on
all the time. We trust our leaders [in the field] to bring those
issues to us, and we address them.”
Under decentralization, however, regional managers decided
on real estate acquisition and development, as well as licensing
decisions, and many times utilized their own boards of operators
to help facilitate resolutions. Boards consisting of marketing,
public relations, and operations were developed to establish a
process for information flow and getting critical input. This struc-
ture greatly aided in communication at all levels, and is a model
of how an organization can grow and yet remain responsive to
the local market’s needs. Still, even with decentralization Fred
Turner was mindful of keeping the lines of communications open.
In a note to company partners, Fred wrote: “. . . We’ve got to
chip away at our own bureaucracy. We’ve got to push harder
than ever for the basic principles that made us what we are.”
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To this day, CEO Jim Skinner is a firm advocate of decen-
tralization and keeping the decisions closest to the marketplace,
be that a region in the United States or another country entirely.
Again, this was really an extension of Ray and Fred’s idea of
seeking to get as much information and engaging those closest
to the customer for ideas, and those who understood the culture
and the local political process as well.
Decentralization was as critical then as it is today. “Commu-
nication from the regional manager is far more important than
some executive VP or me, semiworking, semiretired, but trying
to keep his hand in to help however I can,” Fred told me.
Fred understood the importance of keeping the authority
within the regions. Decentralization works well as long as the
facts are communicated effectively and those in power respect
that the final decision should be deferred to the field. The chan-
nels of communication should discourage people from bypass-
ing regional management but keep the chain of command intact
by allowing the regions the first dialogue and opportunity to