Almost since its beginnings in 1939, Brown & Brown has operated as a fully decentralized, customer-focused organization. The company’s efforts have resulted in tremendous success. Today, Brown & Brown is the nation’s ninth-largest independent insurance intermediary with some of the highest pre-tax margins in the industry.

“Much of our success grows directly from our decentralized structure in which our profit center managers are charged with both the authority and accountability for success,” explains Regional Executive Vice President Tom Riley. “Placing decision-making authority at the profit-center level, rather than at the corporate level, has resulted in superior customer service, higher pre-tax margins, improved operational efficiencies and, ultimately, increased profitability.”

Through decentralization, Brown & Brown has effectively avoided the sluggish decision-making process that hinders many organizations. Instead, Brown & Brown’s leaders are free to act decisively and independently within a broad range of corporate guidelines. As a result, the company’s employees, customers and shareholders reap the rewards of higher earnings and the promise of future growth.

By assuming the ultimate responsibility for all aspects of running their profit centers, Brown & Brown’s managers act essentially like entrepreneurs who have a personal interest in their agencies’ success. “Our efforts to create a sense of ‘ownership’ among our employees is supported by a bonus program that plays an integral part in our compensation package,” says Tom. “This well-devised compensation structure richly rewards decisions that result in higher operating profits. Conversely, poor decisions that negatively affect operating profits cost managers money in terms of reduced or forfeited bonuses.”

The company’s decentralized structure also serves to improve the quality of customer service. Because customer service and claims activities are handled by employees in profit centers rather than by a centralized customer service team located hundreds of miles from the book of business, Brown & Brown employees have a vested interest in business retention. “The wisdom of servicing our clients locally proves out in customer retention rates that consistently run above 92%,” notes Tom.

In the aggressive eat-or-be-eaten animal kingdom, the cheetah may be one of the most adept animals at survival. Brown & Brown’s leaders believe that the company’s decentralized structure offers three of the cheetah’s strengths for survival -- speed, agility and endurance.