Case Study 1: DOMINOS SIZZLES WITH PIZZA TRACKER

When it comes to pizza, everyone has an opinion. Some of us think that our current pizza is just fine the way it is. Others have a favorite pizza joint that makes it like no one else. And many pizza lovers in America agreed up until recently that Dominos home-delivered pizza was among the worst. The home-delivery market for pizza chains in the United States is approximately $15 billion per year. Dominos, which owns the largest home-delivery market share of any U.S. pizza chain, is finding ways with the help of its managers to innovate through overhauling its in-store transaction processing systems and by providing other useful services to customers, such as its Pizza Tracker. And more important, Dominos is trying very hard to overcome its reputation for poor quality by radically improving ingredients and freshness. Critics believe the company significantly improved the quality of its pizza and customer service in 2010. Dominos is part of a heated battle among prominent pizza chains, including Pizza Hut, Papa Johns, and Little Caesar. Pizza Hut is the only chain larger than Dominos in the U.S., but each of the four has significant market share. Dominos also competes with local pizza stores throughout the U.S. To gain a competitive advantage Dominos needs to deliver excellent customer service, and most importantly, good pizza. But it also benefits from highly effective information systems. Dominos proprietary point-of-sale system, Pulse, is an important asset for managers especially that they are in charge of planning, creating scope of projects and capturing data from information technology systems. A point-of-sale system captures purchase and payment data at a physical location where goods or services are bought and sold using computers, automated cash registers, scanners, or other digital devices. In 2003, Dominos implemented Pulse in a large portion of its stores, and those stores reported improved customer service, reduced mistakes, and shorter training times in addition of providing tools that capture, store, process and exchange information thus improving employees performance. Since then, Pulse has become a staple of all Dominos franchises. More recently, Dominos released a new hardware and software platform called Pulse Evolution, which is now in use in a majority of Dominos more than 5,000 U.S. branches connecting them all together. Pulse Evolution improves on the older Information technology in several ways. First, the older software used a thick-client model, which required all machines using the software to be fully equipped personal computers running Windows. Along with Pulse Evolution, Dominos rolled out its state-of-the-art online ordering system, which includes Pizza Tracker. The system allows customers to watch a simulated photographic version of their pizza as they customize its size, sauces, and toppings. Once customers place an order, they are able to view its progress online with Pizza Tracker. Pizza Tracker displays a horizontal bar that tracks an orders progress graphically. In 2010, Dominos introduced an online polling system to continuously upload information from local stores. Moreover another important feature for these online tools is that it employs an analytic model which helps users gain insights into a problem situation and to examine alternative solutions especially in case of material shortage. After Dominos tried to compel those franchises to use Pulse, the U.S. District Court for Minnesota sided with franchisees who claimed that Dominos could not force them to commit using this system. Now, Dominos continues to make improvements to Pulse in an effort to make it overwhelmingly appealing to all franchisees. Pizza Hut and Papa Johns also have online ordering capability, but lack the Pizza Tracker and the simulated pizza features that Dominos has successfully implemented. Today, online orders account for almost 20 percent of all of Dominos orders, which is up from less than 15 percent in 2008. But the battle to sell pizza with technology rages on.

1)

At Dominos Pizza, ___________ are in charge of identifying the scope of the project, data captured and the usability of new information technology systems in order to provide customers with a smooth and fast delivery.

a.Managers

b.Supervisors

c.Software designers

d.Ethical administrators

2)

Through the use of Pulse ____________, Dominos were able to deliver a program that includes tools that capture, store, process, exchange, and use information and hence increase accuracy of information delivery.

a.Information consistency

b.Information access

c.Information broadcast

d.Information system

3)

What are some of the objectives that Dominos was trying to achieve by implementing a new information system?

a.Customer intimacy

b.Improved decision making

c.Competitive advantage

d.All of the above

4)

Through the use of Pulse Evolution, which involves the use of reliable hardware, well designed networks and a stable software, we can say that Dominos pizza has a strong :

a.IT enablers

b.IT stability

c.IT infrastructure

d.IT equipment