Pros
Sonic, as the only large drive-in restaurant concept, continues to be an exciting brand with a unique customer value proposition. Customers that have been with the brand for a long time, in it's core markets, are committed to the brand in a way that other brands can only envy. The excitement generated by the brand's arrival in new markets is second to none. With these platforms, there's a whole lot of upside potential for growth in sales and profitability.
Cons
Sonic takes pride in being, at the corporate level, a "flat" organization. Unfortunately, this leads to a couple of problems that are almost insurmountable. First, with so few empowered gatekeepers, it's nearly impossible to get major decisions made in a timely fashion. Secondly, with no "worker bees", senior level managers are forced to focus too much on minutia, while strategic projects are ignored. Finally, even the executives that are "in charge" of their respective domains, must get ongoing permission for every decision from the Chairman. The Chairman, it turn, seems to relish the idea of questioning data and research unless it supports his preconceptions. The net result is that innovation is not only not embraced, it's actively discouraged. Instead, the question becomes "will this get past Cliff?"