FLEXIBILITY: HERSHEY'S SECRET INGREDIENT

HERSHEY, Pa. -- If Hershey has a secret to success, it could be a program called QTE, or Quality Through Excellence. It aims to teach and motivate employees to be flexible when serving the retail customer.

no, president and chief operating officer. Category management plays a part in the program these days, explains Viviano, especially in sales and marketing. QTE is in place to understand the customer, and category management is one way of doing so. "We just don't 'top-down' things anymore. We 'bottom-up,' " he says. If there's a problem with a Wal-Mart or a Kroger, "we send three people out to go see them. In the past, only the salesman would have seen that person. "We also invite those people in, and they talk to our group. They go in the plants, and they go to logistics. They go to marketing," he says. Viviano creates a scenario that has the customer saying, "Tell me again why you're putting your Cadbury Easter eggs in this size bag? You're wrong. Put them in this size bag."

According to Viviano, the program began a decade ago as a way to compete more effectively with other brand marketers, specifically M&M/Mars. The way to challenge such well-run companies is to challenge your own employees, he adds. "To do that, you had to develop skills. You had to develop certain understanding and a much better system of communication. You had to set goals on a companywide basis. That was the start of QTE." The focus of the program today, Viviano points out, is the customer. QTE is as well run and well thought of as any program at Hershey. That's because people are involved in the business.

"If you look out at this magnificent town, you can see that there's a little something different going on here. For that matter, maybe in all small towns. Maybe in Bentonville, Ark. "What are you going to do next year? That's something very special around here," he says.