Implementing Continuous Improvement Unit: Domino's Sydney Report

This report examines the continuous improvement strategies employed by Domino's Sydney, a major fast-food company in Australia. It discusses the implementation of the PDCA cycle, strategic approaches, and the importance of team culture and employee participation in driving business improvements. The report analyzes how Domino's handles decision-making power, communication, and employee training, including on-the-job training and mentoring. It also assesses the advantages of employee participation, methods for measuring employee outcomes (such as feedback and performance reviews), and provides recommendations for enhancing continuous improvement efforts, such as encouraging employee input in decision-making processes and fostering a more receptive mindset towards change. References to relevant literature are also included.

Implement continuous improvement unit
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.0 Introduction...........................................................................................................................3
1.1 Concept of continuous improvement.........................................................................................3
1.2 PDCA cycle:..............................................................................................................................3
1.3 Adopt a strategic approach:.......................................................................................................4
1.4 Team and individual making decision power:...........................................................................4
1.5 Team culture for participation...................................................................................................4
1.6 Consultation with employees:....................................................................................................5
1.7 Communicating to team and individuals:..................................................................................5
1.8 Method of communication:........................................................................................................5
1.9 Coaching and mentoring employees:.........................................................................................5
1.10 Advantages of participation for continuous improvement within the team and organization:5
1.11 Measuring employee (or team) outcomes:..............................................................................6
1.12 Recommendation.....................................................................................................................6
1.13 References................................................................................................................................6
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1.0 Introduction
The following study has been conducted on Domino’s, Sydney, which comes under the group of
one of the largest fast-food companies in Australia. The following report discusses the strategies
employed by Domino’s for its continuous improvement in business and staff issues and how they
can be resolved with better management skills. The employees are given on-the-job training.
However, final decision-making lies at the hands of the senior management and the employees
who have direct consumer interface are not encouraged to give their inputs in final decision
making.
1.1 Concept of continuous improvement
Continuous implement plan:
1.2 PDCA cycle:
Walter Shewhart proposed the plan of PDCA cycle which was later developed by William
Deming. PDCA stands for a simple four-stage method; Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle. It is a cyclical
process which continuously improves the peoples, products and services. Domino’s, Sydney
implements this cycle in its program which further helps it in improving its products and
services.
Implement systems for assurance of quality performance improvement:
Domino’s, Sydney, instills an atmosphere among its employees which encourages innovation
and creativity. It encourages its employees for teamwork and makes sure they improve the
quality of their products, reminding them that ‘better quality pays’. Even their frontline
personnel such as those who work at the external customer interface are well trained and
empowered, thus, improving their decision-making skills which minimizes their need to wade
through several layers of management hierarchy (Laurie,2010). Which in turn helps them
concentrate on excelling their customer services rather than battling obstructive rules.
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1.3 Adopt a strategic approach:
For continuous improvement of their business, Domino’s needs to adopt a range of different
processes and techniques which are available and best suited for their improvement. Another
important thing for improving the business is to communicate this information effectively with
its employees (Boer, 2017).
Domino’s being majorly a fast-food and beverages company, continuously check its quality.
This quality control is brought about by a simple inspection routine. The employees are required
to have a sound understanding about the standards required, and the methods that must be
followed to meet these requirements. Domino’s has a set standards and requirements for its
products, which is assessed regularly to check whether they are at par with the required degree of
conformity. Output is checked for its quality and the poor-quality output is scrapped. Sometimes
training and rework is done so as to improve employee skills.
1.4 Team and individual making decision power:
Domino’s Sydney provides its employees with adequate information and training which makes
them capable of making sound and useful decisions. Supervisors and team leaders at Domino’s,
Sydney, usually take their decisions alone. The company does not encourage their employees to
give their input as well. Since, employees at Domino’s work directly with their organization’s
procedures, processes and clients/customers, they are at a better position to understand the
existing problems and ways to resolve them.
1.5 Team culture for participation
Domino’s, Sydney, encourages active participation of its employees. It encourages its employees
to work in a system and put efforts to improve it. Domino’s motivates its employees towards
continuous improvement by discouraging status quo and embracing innovative thinking.
However, due to disparity in their wage structures employees often quit their jobs as they feel
underpaid.
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1.6 Consultation with employees:
Management often tends to make decisions on behalf of its employees. It does not always consult
its employees before making a final decision. Thus, employees are not encouraged to give their
input which decreases their credibility diminishing their support for the processes and the
organization.
1.7 Communicating to team and individuals:
Domino’s inculcates a moderate involvement of its employees thus, not encouraging much
communication. As the employees do not give their inputs before final decision making, there
exists a lagging communication network.
1.8 Method of communication:
Domino’s, Sydney has an effective and well-established communication network. Employees are
updated over calls and regular meetings are arranged for innovative and modification
developments.
1.9 Coaching and mentoring employees:
Employees with direct consumer interface are given training on-the-job. They are continuously
monitored by a team leader, who assesses their work and guides them whenever required (Kahn,
2017). Employees up in the hierarchy ladder such as the ones holding managerial positions are
briefed and trained before starting their job.
1.10 Advantages of participation for continuous improvement within the team and
organization:
Encouraging participation helps in improvement of the business. Encouraging the employees
with rewards for active participation helps in proper staff management and less absenteeism
leading the business to thrive. This helps them improve their business.
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1.11 Measuring employee (or team) outcomes:
At Domino’s employee outcomes are measured by getting feedback from the employees and
review their performance. Observations are conducted at workplace and questions and complains
are paid heed to. SWOT analysis and Bench marking rate is also used to measure the employee’s
outcome (Kuvaas, 2017). Flowcharts are used for hierarchical analysis and outcomes are
monitored and coaching is provided when needed.
1.12 Recommendation
Employees can be encouraged to give their inputs before final decision making and the
employees must be encouraged to change their mind-set and be more welcoming towards
continuous improvement.
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References
Boer, H., Berger, A., Chapman, R., & Gertsen, F. (2017). CI Changes from Suggestion Box to
Organisational Learning: Continuous Improvement in Europe and Australia: Continuous
Improvement in Europe and Australia. Routledge.
Domino's Corporate - Domino's Pizza. (2018). Retrieved from
https://www.dominos.com.au/inside-dominos/corporate
Kahn, M., LaRue, N., Zhu, C., Pal, S., Mo, J. S., Barrett, L. K., ... & Joynson, J. (2017).
Recombinant human G6PD for quality control and quality assurance of novel point-of-care
diagnostics for G6PD deficiency. PloS one, 12(5), e0177885.
Kuvaas, B., Buch, R., Weibel, A., Dysvik, A., & Nerstad, C. G. (2017). Do intrinsic and extrinsic
motivation relate differently to employee outcomes?. Journal of Economic Psychology, 61, 244-
258.
Laurie, C. C., Doheny, K. F., Mirel, D. B., Pugh, E. W., Bierut, L. J., Bhangale, T., ... & Gabriel,
S. B. (2010). Quality control and quality assurance in genotypic data for genome‐wide
association studies. Genetic epidemiology, 34(6), 591-602.
What is PDCA (plan-do-check-act)? - Definition from WhatIs.com. (2018). Retrieved from
https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/PDCA-plan-do-check-act
What is Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle? (2018). Retrieved from https://kanbanize.com/lean-
management/improvement/what-is-pdca-cycle/
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