Chapter 10: Shared Leadership in a High Growth Environment: Realizing the American Dream at Panda Restaurant Group

The story of the Panda Restaurant Group—owner of the famous Panda Express Restaurant Chain—combines entrepreneurship, innovation, and profound success in a modern enactment of the American Dream. Fundamentally, Panda is an organization that has embraced a model of shared leadership and a culture of inclusiveness throughout a period of dramatic growth. Panda just celebrated their 40th anniversary. Founders Andrew and his father, esecutive chef Ming-Tsai Cherng opened the first restaurant in Pasadena, California in 1973, Panda Inn, which was a full service gourmet Chinese restaurant. Since the founding of the company, they have modestly increased the number of Panda Inns and experimented with multiple different restaurant concepts. In 1983, however, they opened the first Panda Express and it has become the juggernaut that has grown to 1,600 locations today and they have aggressive plans for continued national and international expansion. Panda currently employs over 23,000 Americans, many of whom are Chinese immigrants, reflecting the ongoing legacy of the founders’ own experience. Andrew Cherng, who was born in China, came to America to study in mid-1960s. Similarly, Peggy Cherng, who was born in Burma, emigrated to America in the mid-1960s in order to attend college. Andrew and Peggy met in college. Andrew went on to earn a Master’s Degree and Peggy earned her PhD and then they opened their first restaurant. Andrew Cherng’s original goal was “to survive and to have a place that we could all have a job.” But Panda quickly became more than a job, and Panda has grown rapidly into an American restaurant empire.