Case Activity: Chapter $02$: Strategy and Human Resources Planning

mobile app for ordering, an emoji to text a standard order, or simply tell "Dom," Domino's chatbot, what they want. In Australia and New Zealand, the company is experimenting with robot and drone delivery.

Has Domino's new recipe worked? By most accounts, yes. Turnover dropped by more than $100$ percent following the initiative, and customer satisfaction scores jumped up$,$ too. In $2016,$ Domino's sales growth was the best among the $25$ largest restaurant chains in the United States. Its stock price has rocketed upward as well.

Still, strategy changes and their implementation are continually evolving challenges for firms, and Domino's is no exception. $"$We need to understand what's going on and create comp$$fitive advantage by being ahead of the curve," says the company's current CEO J$.$ Patrick Doyle. For one, the company still faces issues with its HR piece of the puzzle and ensuring its strategy is aligned all the way down the food chain. Recently a group of franchise owners in New York agreed to pay $$1\mathrm{.}5$ million to settle cases for minimum$-$wage and overtime violations.

Doyle says the firm has to start paying higher wages. Minimum$-$wage laws are rising in some states, and employers like Walmart and Target are raising their minimum wages. "The reality is the labor market is tightening up$,$ and we've got to respond to that. It's getting harder to hire people," says Doyle. "We've got to do what the market demands to get the right people for our business," he says.

Will paying hourly$-$wage employees a little more buy Domino's a little more loyalty and prevent negative publicity for the company? And if so$,$ would the costs have been worth the benefits? And who should incur these costs since most of the stores are privately owned? These questions are food for thought, ones that Domino's will have to resolve.

After all, even with the best technologies and systems, pizzas don't cook and deliver themselves. People do$.$

According to the case, which aspect of the competitive environment caused Domino's to reevaluate its value proposition?

rival firms

suppliers

substitutes