Case Study: Delivery Disaster (Robbins & Coulter, 2012, page 454)
When two Domino's Pizza employees filmed a gross prank in the kitchen of the restaurant in Conover, North Carolina, the company suddenly had a major public relations crisis on its hands. The video ended up posted on YouTube and other sites and showed a Domino's employee preparing "sandwiches for delivery while putting cheese up his nose, nasal mucus on the sandwiches, and violating other health-code standards," with another employee providing narration. By the next day, over a million disgusted people had viewed the video and discussion about Domino's had spread throughout Twitter and Google.
As Domino's quickly realized, social media has the power to take tiny incidents and turn them into marketing crises. A company spokesperson said, "We got blindsided by two idiots with a video camera and an awful idea." When the company first learned about the video, executives decided not to respond aggressively, hoping the controversy would quiet down. What they missed, though, was the "perpetual mushroom effect of viral sensations." The chief marketing officer of a social media marketing firm said, "If you think it's not going to spread, that's when it gets bigger." And as Domino's discovered, it did. In just a matter of days, Domino's reputation was damaged. Customers' perception of its quality went from positive to negative. One brand expert said, "It's graphic enough in the video, and it's created enough of a stir, that it gives people a little pause."
So what happened to the two employees? Although they told Domino's executives they never actually delivered the tainted food, they were fired and charged with a felony. And Domino's posted its own video featuring its top manager addressing the incident on YouTube not long after it occurred.
Question 1: Discuss the barriers to communication that you find in your own organisation? Provide at least 4 suggestions as a manager to improve communication within your own organization using any of the communication models?
Question 2: You're a manager of a workplace that has different "generations." How will you approach engaging and motivating your employees? Do you think Gen Y employees are going to be more difficult to "engage and motivate"? Discuss the above using a relevant motivational theory.