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Recently, Larry Cuculic, president and CEO of BWH Hotel Group, sat down with Asian Hospitality to share his insights into the status of the Best Western Hotel brand and the industry as a whole. A video of the entire interview, the first in Asian Hospitality's "Leadership Series," is now available on the magazine's website. Subjects included the labor crisis, attracting new franchisees and the state of the economy. Below are excerpts from the interview along with additional information on the subjects discussed, including franchise relations, the labor crisis and changes the company has seen since his appointment to the top role. Franchise relations One of the biggest issues Cuculic discusses in the interview is maintaining positive relations with Best Western franchisees. He emphasized the need for openness and transparency. "We disclose all of our contract terms throughout the negotiation. I tell our people, I believe in karma," Cuculic said in the Leadership Series interview. "Karma doesn't forget a name or an address. If you treat someone who's thinking about coming into your brand reasonably fairly, and then when they sign a contract, you drive revenue to them, that's a win-win relationship. That's what we want. If you don't have that win-win relationship, they're going to leave and your reputation is that you don't support your hoteliers or believe in that relationship, which then hinders development." Cuculic said his training at West Point Military Academy and law school at Notre Dame University instilled in him an innate sense of fairness. Also, due to its structure, the company has to involve its members in every decision. "I'm the president, CEO of Best Western, I cannot design a governance change," Cuculic said. "The members vote on all those changes. Our board of directors approves our contracts."

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