Before Yum! Came about, PepsiCo decided to spin-off in Tricon Global Restauramts with their restaurant holdings, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and KFC in October 1997. With Tricon Global Restaurants, Novak became president and vice chairman of the company. Novak served in these capacities until December 1999. In 2000, Novak was named the CEO of Tricon Global Restaurants.
Before he was CEO, Novak worked closely with his predecessor, Andy Pearson's. With Pearson, they both spent a lot of time correcting the management problems left over from the company's time under PepsiCo, increasing the competitiveness of its four operating companies, and capitalizing on opportunities for multibranding, international growth, and increased sales.
During this time span, first under Pearson and later under Novak, Tricon's performance dramatically increased with respect to profit and sales growth, debt payment, margin improvement, return on investment, and employee commitment. Novak's excellent understanding of the nature of the CEO position allowed Pearson to step down making it known that Novak was the driving force behind Tricon's great performance. Novak was known to a have a remarkable grasp of the company's business, outstanding skills as a conceptual management leader, and superior operating expertise— proving that he was an effective leader.
Novak later then united the global fast-food brands of KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell, after the three individual companies were struggling. He turned things around by utilizing the same people-friendly attitude, quality-service standards, comprehensive vision, and product innovations as he took and molded the three restaurants into a cohesive partnership with division leaders that worked together rather than competed against one another.
With Novak’s strategies intended to strengthen revenues and profits, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and KFC did well. The company also looked to strengthen its relations with its franchise locations. With Taco Bell, Tricon began selling off company-owned stores to its franchisees. In the case of Pizza Hut, hundreds of locations were sold back to franchisees and over 700 locations were closed.
Novak’s ability to change the company with regards to its franchisee relationships made many consider him to be the brains and architect of Tricon's successful and profitable company. In the first five years under Novak, Tricon increased system-wide sales by 8 percent, which was more than doubling operating earnings per share; and improved return on invested capital by 10 percentage points.
In March 2002, Tricon had acquired the Yorkshire Global Restaurants as well as its two brands: Long John Silver's and A&W All-American Food. Novak announced that the company would be changing its name from Tricon Global Restaurants to Yum! Brands. The move showed that Novak and the company were committed to multi-branding.
Under Novak's direction, Yum! Brands became a Fortune 300 company, turning into one of the largest fast food restaurant companies in the world. Novak's approach of including multibrand expansion, international expansion, worldwide franchise fees, strong cash generation and returns were some of the essentials to the company’s growth and progress.