theceomagazine.com | 63Alan hopes KFC can form a more meaningful
connection with the Hong Kong people.
“Moving forward, I hope to expand this
network to include more charity organisations
in the program,” Alan says. “For the time
being, I’m still searching and thinking about
what else we can do. But the overarching
direction is to reach out to the community to
serve people.”
Birdland currently operates 71 KFC
outlets, 66 in Hong Kong and five in Macau- way behind McDonald’s, which has 240
outlets in Hong Kong and 28 in Macau.
“We have one-quarter of the number of
McDonald’s outlets, so we’re extremely
underrepresented in the market,” says Alan.
“We want to undertake an aggressive growth
plan where Birdland will open at least 50
outlets over the next three years.”
Most importantly, Alan believes, KFC’s
turnaround in Hong Kong was all about
getting the basics right: serving good food
fast and providing a hygienic and clean
environment for the customers.
“All of this sounds very basic but,
to be honest, KFC back then was way
under that kind of standard,” he concludes.
“But through the experience, I think I’ve
proven to myself that I can handle any
tough situation.”
for them to have “some ego”. The experience
at Triple O’s, however, taught him the
importance of humility; that it is okay to not
know everything and direct people, but to
inquire and ask questions. It has helped to
keep his ego in check, something that arguably
he might not have been able to do had he
gone straight to KFC from McDonald’s.
Alan thinks KFC now has more humble
people than arrogant people, certainly many
more than when he first moved there, and that
it is something all C-suite professionals need to
seriously consider if they want to successfully
run a business. “All the wisdom is actually out
on the floor. It’s not in my office. I just need
to go out and ask the best questions, so I can
provide the best solutions for the people,” he
says. “I think this magic has helped me to turn
around the business. Being humble, I think, is
very contagious.”
Alan also recognises that McDonald’s has
been doing a much better job than KFC on
the community engagement front. So last year,
KFC started a food-donation program in
partnership with Food Angel, a Hong Kong
charity that helps the underprivileged by
providing lunch boxes and dinner meals. In
addition to donating food, it is also sending
some of its employees to volunteer in the
Food Angel kitchens. Through such programs,
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