Dunkin' Donuts: A vision for the future in the Midwest region

Dunkin' Donuts has experienced stratospheric growth in recent years. To capitalize upon its success in the Midwest region in the five new locations opening up over the course of the next two years requires playing to the organization's strengths in terms of the quality and efficiency of service it offers at a relatively low price. Recruiting top talent, even at entry level positions, is demanded for Dunkin' Donuts to continue to effectively brand itself as America's favorite place to grab breakfast or an afternoon snack. Dunkin' has transformed itself into a homey, blue-collar alterative to Starbucks that still offers a wide variety of breakfast and sandwich foods spanning from traditional donuts and bagels to egg white flatbreads. But all of these products must be served with a smile.

Job Design

Working at a franchise such as Dunkin' Donuts requires staff with strong customer service aptitude. Even the entry level jobs demand a high level of commitment from employees since Dunkin' Donuts is fundamentally a service-based organization. "To design jobs effectively, a person must thoroughly understand the job itself (through job analysis) and its place in the larger work unit's work flow process (through work flow analysis)" ("Job design," 2015). Motivation is a critical component of encouraging workers to perform at a high level. According to the path-goal theory of leadership, when tasks are highly repetitive as in the case of a service-based business, leaders must "focus on relationships. You show sensitivity to individual team members' needs, and you consider your team members' best interests" ("Path goal theory," 2015). For example, when employees go the extra mile to help out a customer, a manager should be instructed to take note of this fact and praise the worker.

A friendly atmosphere, encouraging coworkers to recognize their fellow employee's efforts,...

Employees should also have a sense of where their tasks fit into the larger business model of the company. Ideally, rotating workers between different tasks makes for a more flexible and informed workforce and also guards against monotony. Task identity (the extent to which workers can complete a task from beginning to end and thus identify with the task as a critical part of their identity as a worker) and task completion, or the ability to complete a task (which makes them derive satisfaction from it) is also important ("Job design," 2015). Workers must know that even the simple task of serving doughnuts and coffee is critical for company success. However, workers cannot live on motivational speeches alone and as well as stressing the higher aspects of the motivational pyramid such as self-actualization and the social dynamics of the workforce, there must still be mechanisms in place to ensure that workers' physiological needs such as appropriate working conditions, safety and the demand for adequate pay and benefits are addressed.
Organizational Design

According to a recent article in Forbes magazine, "Organization design should start with corporate self-reflection: What is your sense of purpose? How will you make a difference for your clients, employees, and investors? What will set you apart from others, now and in the future? What differentiating capabilities will allow you to deliver your value proposition over the next two to five years?" (Neilson, Estupinan, & Sethi 2015). Dunkin' Donuts has had a critical rebranding in recent years, marketing itself as the alternative to higher-priced breakfast providers like Starbucks and Panera Bread. It offers lower-priced yet high-quality foods and beverages in an…