Learn To Share Not in the altruistic way, but in the save-big-bucks-through-shared-services way

For most of Buck's Unpainted Furniture Inc.'s 41 yearsof operation, the manager of each location has done the hiring forhis or her store. But things at the 40-employee retailer inMinnesota's Twin Cities area have recently changed. Now allhiring is done by a new human resources department operating out ofBuck's Bloomington headquarters.

"We had some industry people come in and look at us, andthis was one of the first things they recommended," says vicepresident Ray Buck, 50, one of four brothers who together run thecompany their parents founded.

The advice isn't surprising. Centralizing companyfunctions-in a manner now known as the "shared services"model-is one of the hottest trends in business today. Those whopractice it say they can cut costs while improving the quality ofthe services shared. The latter of those effects is the impetusbehind Buck's move to share human resources among its threestores.