Organisational Behaviour Case Study: Dominos' Workforce Management

This case study analyzes Dominos' organizational behavior, focusing on factors influencing group effectiveness, selection methods, and the evaluation of cultural and leadership factors in managing a diverse workforce. The report examines various leadership styles, including supportive, transformational, and servant leadership, and their impact on cultural appropriateness within the workplace. The study also investigates the connection between conflict and stress, their impact on the organization and employees, and provides recommendations for managing diversity and resolving workplace conflicts through open communication, strategic conversation approaches, and employee education. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of selecting the right employees and identifying key traits to ensure team effectiveness and positive brand reputation. The assignment highlights how Dominos can improve their employee selection processes, manage cultural diversity, and mitigate the negative effects of workplace conflicts.

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Organisational Behaviour
Case Study

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Table of Contents
Introduction...................................................................................................................2
Answer 1.......................................................................................................................2
Answer 2.......................................................................................................................3
Answer 3.......................................................................................................................4
Answer 4.......................................................................................................................6
Answer 5.......................................................................................................................6
Conclusion....................................................................................................................7
Reference List...............................................................................................................9

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Introduction
Dominos is an American pizza restaurant chain that offers its services across the
globe. The company operates in food delivery, franchising and restaurant industry
and it is known for its fast services with delicious food (Dominos 2018). This report
will analyse the case of Dominos in which the company wanted to increase its
employees along with their remuneration to expand its operations in Australia and
New Zealand. This report will be divided into three parts; the first part will focus on
determining factors which influence group effectiveness and selection methods for
hiring team members in Dominos along with validity and acceptability of the
company and applicants. The second part of this report will evaluate cultural and
leadership factors to assess various leadership styles that enable Dominos in
managing a culturally diverse workforce. The third part of this report will evaluate the
connection between conflict and stress and their impact on the organisation and
employees. Recommendations will be included to address the challenge of
managing diversity in the workplace.
Answer 1
Factors that influence group effectiveness are mentioned below which should be
evaluated by Dominos.
 Individuals: A group is considered as good as it people are who form such
group. If the group comprises dedicated, talented and consciously aware
individuals who know about their responsibilities towards accomplishing
organisational objectives, then they are more likely to form an effective group
(Yidong & Xinxin 2013).
 Group size: The selection of the group size is based on the type of
complexities of problems faced by the group members. In the case of
Dominos, the members directly deal with customers to serve them better. If
the group is too small, then it cannot handle the pressure. If the group is too
big, then its waste resources and leads to conflicts.
 Group Norms: A group or team should be directed based on certain norms
and principles which guides its members how to act. The code of conduct

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along with unwritten expectations assists in avoiding conflicts between group
members which leads to its effectiveness.
 Leadership: The quality of leadership affects the effectiveness of a team. If a
positive connection is not established between the leaders and the group
members, then it becomes difficult to direct the group in a particular director to
achieve organisational objectives (Hoon Song et al. 2012).
 Cohesiveness: Cohesiveness is referred to the degree of connection and
interpersonal attachment between group members which leads to positive
results. A group with high degree of cohesion have motivated employees, and
they are loyal towards each other which are key attributes for their success.
Based on these elements, the following is a list of selection criteria which should be
used by Dominos while hiring Dominoids.
 Excellent communicator: Dominoids should be excellent communicators
because they have to deal with customers and other members during their job
and without good communications skills, they cannot improve their
effectiveness.
 Attitude: Dominoids should have a positive and welcoming attitude during
their job. The customers should feel unwelcomed when they visit Dominos,
and the employees should provide them appropriate services. The attitude of
employees towards each other also affects their performance which
influences the outcome of the team (Elci et al. 2012).
 Honesty: Dominoids should be honest towards other members and
customers while discharging their duties. If they are dishonest, then it creates
a negative image of Dominos which could adversely affect its sales.
 Respectful: Dominos has a positive reputation in Australia and New Zealand,
therefore, its employees should be respectful, or its public image can become
negative.
Answer 2
Selecting a team member is a difficult job because the member must match the
requirements and expectations of the organisations and other members to ensure
that a strong team can be built. In the case of Dominos, validity and acceptability of

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the company and its members is important to ensure that the new team members
are welcomed in the team. Following selection methods can be used by Dominos to
address this issue.
Personal Interviews
This is a traditional way of assessing new applicants and evaluating whether they
have the skills and knowledge to perform the job (Miles & Sadler-Smith 2014). While
taking interview of new candidates, the management of Dominos should take the
interviews with team leaders as well who are able to assess and give their feedback
regarding whether or not a particular candidate should be selected for the job. This
process will enable them to get the validity and acceptance of the management and
the team members.
Ability assessment
The corporation uses an ability assessment test in order to know more information
about the candidates for the job (Roth et al. 2016). The ability assessment should
showcase the abilities of the person to evaluate whether they meet the requirements
for the job. In Dominoids, abilities such as friendliness, positive behaviour,
welcoming nature, respectful and other traits should be evaluated by the company.
Situational tests
Dominos can rely on the situational test to give difficult situations to their candidates
to understand how they handle such situation. The situation analysis can be based
on issues relating to customers or other team members to understand how the
candidate will react in such situations. Based on the reaction, the management can
ensure whether the candidate is suitable for their job or not.
Answer 3
Dominos have over 670 stores in Australia, and the company has hired employees
from different cultures to perform their operations (Statista 2017). By managing
employees from different cultures, the company can promote diversity at workplace.
Selection of an appropriate leadership approach or behaviour is necessary to ensure
cultural appropriateness in the workplace and achieve organisational effectiveness.

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Supportive
The leaders who are empathetic and approachable are considered as supportable
leaders. They show concerns regarding the issues faced by employees and treat
them with dignity and respect. This leadership approach promotes diversity in the
workplace because people can simply approach the leader they face any issues
relating to unfair practices relating to diversity (Nanjundeswaraswamy & Swamy
2014). This approach fosters diversity because the leader provides appropriate
support to employees who are from different cultural background which creates a
positive working environment.
Transformational
Leaders who lead through their vision are known as transformational leaders. This
leadership approach focuses on modelling and communicating forward-thinking
commitment by the leader. In this approach, the leader handles diversity issues by
inspiring employees to improve their performance by focusing on major issues rather
than engaging in unfair behaviour based on different cultural background of an
employee (Onorato 2013). The leader is the inspiration for employees who set the
standard for high standards in the company which supports diversity in the
workplace and employees follow the leader and embrace diversity policies because
they believe in achieving common goal.
Servant
The servant leadership style is gaining popularity among corporations as leaders of
multinational companies started to adopt this leadership approach. This style
focuses on serving as per employees’ needs rather than using them to achieve
organisational objectives (Choudhary, Akhtar & Zaheer 2013). These approach
emphases on embracing diversity in the workplace because the leaders focus on
creating a positive working environment for employees without discrimination. This
leadership approach ensures that employees are not mistreated based on their
cultural background, and they receive equal opportunities in the company as well.
This approach ensures cultural appropriateness while at the same time enable the
organisation to achieve effectiveness.

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Answer 4
The nature of group conflicts in organisation leads to a hostile working environment
in which employees find it difficult for work property. Conflicts arise between
employees due to any disagreement between them or contradiction with other
employees or the management (Wolever et al. 2012). Workplace conflicts are a
major issue in multinational corporations such as Dominos because they lead to
decreasing the performance of the enterprise. Conflicts are a major source of stress
among employees which imbalance their professional and personal life. They start to
hate other employees and deliberately made plans to hurt them or decrease their
performance. Most of the times, other employees who are not a part of the conflict
have to suffer from its impact as well. Conflicts divide the team between different
groups which hinder is effectiveness.
The key impact of conflicts on employees is that they stop working, or they prefer to
stay at home. Unresolved conflicts resulted in threatening the psychological safety of
employees and the management, and they find it difficult to work with efficiency in
such hostile environment. In workplace conflicts, employees remain in a defensive
mode in which they feel that they have to protect themselves. Absence from work,
mental pressure and inability to achieve targets are some example of negative
impact of workplace conflicts on employees (Sonnentag & Fritz 2015). The
workplace conflicts also hinder the performance of a team if one or more of its
members are not performing well, or they despise one another. The effectiveness of
a team is based on collaboration between team members and cohesiveness, and
workplace conflicts result in adversely affecting these factors which hinders the
performance of the team (Romer et al. 2012). Organisations also face negative
consequences of workplace disputes. Due to conflict among employees, customers
receive poor service because employees on finding ways to fight back rather than
focus on the quality of their work. In the case of Dominos, effective customer service
is a major success point for the organisation, and group conflicts lead to adversely
affecting the brand reputation of the company.
Answer 5
Dominos can adopt various techniques to manage workplace conflicts and stress
among employees that are related to communication challenges of a culturally

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diverse workforce. Open and constructive communication is the key to resolving
disputes among the organisation and embracing diversity policies. Following are
three recommendations which lead to establishing effective workplace
communication in Dominos which will enable the company to manage conflicts and
stress among employees.
 Craft an invitation to meet: The first technique for the management is that
they should take the initiative to connect with the employees by sending them
an email or an initiation for a meeting (Spaho 2013). This meeting should be
conducted with each employee, and during these meetings, the leaders
should be empathetic. They should carefully listen to the issues faced by
employees in the workplace relating to diversity issues, and they should focus
on going to the root of the problem rather than making up their mind after just
hearing the case. The meeting should be confidential, and the conversation
between the employees and the management should be leaked outside.
 Strategically approaching the conversation: The managers should
consider the interest of employees and focus on the potential point of
alignment during conversation. They should focus on finding a middle ground
to end the conflict between employees. The managers should also focus more
on listening rather than telling the employees to resolve their dispute.
 Educating employees: The management of Dominos has to understand that
they deal with employees from different cultural backgrounds, and they should
focus on increasing awareness regarding their culture so that employees did
not mistakenly offend each other (Patrick & Kumar 2012). They should focus
on increasing communication between employees who are from different
cultural backgrounds to ensure that they learn about the cultural aspects of
each other. This will enable the management of Dominos to reduce the stress
among employees and encourage them to embrace difference between their
cultures.
Conclusion
Based on above observations, it can be concluded that Dominos should focus on
finding the right employees for their organisation to increase the effectiveness of the
team. The human resource department should identify key traits of candidates to

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ensure that they meet the requirements of the Dominoids before selecting them in
the organisation. The implications of diversity on the industry practice are identified
in the report along with the evaluation of key leadership styles which can assist
Dominos in embracing cultural difference between their employees. Conflicts result
in workplace stress which hinders the performance of individuals, teams and the
organisation, thus, they should have address properly. Effective communication
strategies, strategically approaching the issues and educating employees regarding
different cultures can assist Dominos in managing conflicts based on diversity and
promoting its effectiveness.

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Reference List
Choudhary, AI, Akhtar, SA & Zaheer, A, 2013, ‘Impact of transformational and
servant leadership on organizational performance: A comparative analysis’, Journal
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https://corporate.dominos.co.uk/about-us >.
Elci, M, Şener, İ, Aksoy, S & Alpkan, L, 2012, ‘The impact of ethical leadership and
leadership effectiveness on employees’ turnover intention: The mediating role of
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challenges’, Sage Open, vol. 2, no. 2, p. 21.
Romer, M, Rispens, S, Giebels, E & Euwema, MC, 2012, ‘A helping hand? The
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relationship of employees’, Negotiation Journal, vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 253-277.

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Roth, PL, Bobko, P, Van Iddekinge, CH & Thatcher, JB, 2016, ‘Social media in
employee-selection-related decisions: A research agenda for uncharted
territory’, Journal of Management, vol. 42, no.1, pp. 269-298.
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https://www.statista.com/statistics/277408/number-of-dominos-pizza-stores-australia/
>.
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