Company overview

With more than 21,000 points of distribution in more than 60 countries, Dunkin’
Brands is one of the world’s leading franchisors of quick service restaurants
(QSRs) serving hot and cold coffee and baked goods, as well as hard serve ice
cream. Dunkin’ Brands is the parent company of two of the world’s most
recognized and beloved brands: Dunkin’, America’s favorite all-day, everyday stop
for coffee and baked goods, and Baskin-Robbins, the world’s largest chain of ice
cream specialty shops.

Dunkin’, founded in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1950, is famous for its combination

of high-quality coffees, espresso beverages, baked goods and breakfast
sandwiches served all day with fast, friendly service. Baskin-Robbins, founded in
Glendale, California in 1945, is iconic for its variety of “31 flavors” of ice cream,
along with the brand’s creative ice cream cakes, milkshakes and ice cream
sundaes. Dunkin' Brands' 100 percent franchised business model currently
includes more than 12,900 Dunkin' restaurants and more than 8,000 Baskin-
Robbins restaurants.

Dunkin’ Brands believes being a good corporate citizen is good business. We set
corporate social responsibility (CSR) goals to make continuous progress in the
areas of sustainable sourcing, packaging, energy efficiency, waste reduction,
nutrition, Diversity & Inclusion and other material issues. Additionally, on an
annual basis, our franchisees around the world volunteer their time and donate
product and funds to countless non-profit groups. Most notably through the Joy
In Childhood Foundation (JICF), Dunkin’ and Baskin-Robbins franchisees provide
joy to kids when they most need it.
Organizational structure

The ultimate success of a company depends on the people chosen to lead the
company. That fact means that it is the organizations goal to select the best
quality managers and employees possible that will push the organization to its
goal. The work environment is what will ultimately reflect the employee’s view of
the organization. Dunkin’ donuts team- oriented design has helped them climb
the ranks as one of the leaders in the coffeehouse industry. Although the
company is widely successful now, it has had several organizational redesigns that
have made it into the power house it is today.

The structure of Dunkin’ Donuts is hierarchical in nature. The organization has

top-level executives (including managers and supervisors) and bottom level
executives. The responsibility of top executives is to ensure an effective flow of
information and organizational roles are given to employees with regard to their
skills and capability. Such roles are organized in departments, including
production, accounting, human resource and marketing among others.

The human resource management (HRM) would be responsible for hiring,

providing work feedback to employees and making sure that the process of
learning continuous. In addition to improving motivation, knowledge and skills for
employees would also be amplified (Champoux, 2010). The reward system, which
entails providing compensation and rewards to employees would also be
incorporated. It matches with the skills, roles and the position of employees.

The Functional structure of Dunkin' Donuts is made up of their Organization, job

design, their competitive advantage, risk they face, and the working relationship
of the organization.

Organizing To Become Dunkin’ Donuts

Once the difficult part of determining exactly what one wants to accomplish as an
organization is complete, the next step is the structural setup of the organization.
The organization hierarchy is crucial to the overall success of the organization.
Kator states one of the key philosophies of the Dunkin Donuts organization is to
keep people and products moving efficiently (Kator). The company was founded
in 1950 as an American global doughnut company and coffeehouse chain based in
Canton, Massachusetts by William Rosenberg. The name changed from Kettle
Donuts in 1949 to the corporate name Dunkin' Donuts' adopted in 1950.
Rosenberg conceived of the idea for the chain after his experiences selling food in
factories and at construction sites, where doughnuts and coffee were the two
most popular items. Since 2009 the Dunkin Brands group has been under the
leadership of Nigel Travis and his management team; Dunkin Brands, nearly a 100
percent franchised system, has delivered a compound annual growth rate of 6.2
percent in system wide sales (Quick acts). Travis has really spearheaded the
revitalization of the Dunkin Brand.

Job Designing At Dunkin Donuts

The key cogs of this organization are their franchises. The reason is that the
franchise owners act like middle managers overseeing the "foot soldiers", their
employees, which makes them vital to success of the organization at large. This
the main reason that the process of becoming a franchise is so strict because it's
basically an interview to see if a person has what it takes to be a leader in the
organization. The company believes its franchised business model provides
several advantages. Dunkin' Donuts thinks the main advantage is the lower the
main advantage is the lower capital requirement, because franchisees fund the
vast majority of the cost of the new restaurant development (Dunkin Brand). This
photo is h example of the multidivisional management structure at Dunkin'
Donuts. This is multi-divisional form which simply means that there is one parent
company, and that parent company owns smaller companies that use and work
under its brand and name.

Competitive Advantage
The Dunkin' Donuts' organization has a great competitive advantage in the quick
service restaurant market. Not only is the organization doing well with their
coffee sales but they have also branched out the selection of products they offer.
These other products include providing consumers with coffee, baked goods,
sandwiches, and ice cream, to name a few. A key to the competitiveness of the
organization is their service and convenience. The way they treat their customers
is a huge boost to them because they truly value their customers and want a sit to
one of their establishments to be an experience. Another one of the things that
helps is the value perception of Dunkin' Donuts' products. People view their
products as a more premium product compared to some of their competitor's
stores like McDonalds, Panera Bread, and Quick Trip. And it is this value that
people have set in their minds about the product, and when one look how
competitively priced Dunkin' Donut products are, it really gives them a
competitive advantage. Dunkin' Donuts' also uses technology to keep them ultra-
competitive. They use a mobile app as well| as the "DD card" to present their
customers with deals (Dunkin' Donuts). This approach keeps customers engaged
and provides a way to offer them savings while continually marketing products.
This competitive attitude makes Dunkin' Donuts more than just a breakfast
option, but also an all-day eatery.

Risks to Dunkin’ Donuts

There are a lot of things that could be harmful to the progress of the Dunkin’
Brand. One of the major risks to the organization is the fact that their financial
results are affected by the operating results of their franchisees. That is shown in
their main source of revenue "We receive a substantial majority of our revenues
in form of royalties, which are generally b on a percentage of gross sales at
franchised restaurants, rent, and other fees from franchisees” (Travis). This is a
huge risk for the organization because if their franchised restaurants don't do
well, or there is a down tic in the profitability of the restaurants it affects the
organization negatively. Another risk for Dunkin' Donuts' is their franchisees and
what they might do to the brand in the eyes of the customers. Dunkin' Donuts is
just the executive entity over the franchisee but it is the franchisee that actually
runs a brick and mortar store. By this fact they have direct influence on the
customers view on the Dunkin' brand.

The way that a particular store may be run causes problems especially with
today's technology and customers outlets to vent their displeasure with a
company can be detrimental. A third risk that the company could face would be
from the competitiveness of the quick service restaurant market or "QSR". They
state this by saying "The QSR segment of the restaurant industry is intensely
competitive. The beverage and food products sold by our franchisees compete
directly against products sold at other QSR...." (Travis). This is one of the biggest
risks they have because this takes away from the uniqueness of the company and
in affect some of their revenue. In the QSR market everyone is fighting for the
same dollar but unique items that are only available at one particular business is
what draws customers, and helps create customer loyalty. purthly a risk for
Dunkin' Donuts would be the substantial indebtedness of the organization. They
are facing very large amounts of debt as stated in their annual report "We have a
significant amount of indebtedness. As of December 28, 2013, we had total
indebtedness of approximately $1.8billion, excluding $3.0 million of undrawn
letters of credit and $97.0 mi of unused commitments under our senior credit
facility." (Travis). This could cause a lot of problems for Dunkin Donuts in the
future because this could affect the willingness of lending institution to lend them
money. This also reduces the amount of capital that they have to fund in new
endeavors themselves because that money has to be put toward debt service
payments.

Working Relationships at Dunkin

Dunkin' Donuts' mission statement is "to make and serve the freshest, most
delicious coffee and donuts quickly and courteously in modern, well-
merchandised stores" (Dunkin Donuts). This mission statement is reflected in
their organization. They have an open organization so that even lower level
people with good ideas can send them in, and those ideas are used if they are of
any benefit to the organization.

The human resource management (HRM) would be responsible for hiring,

providing work feedback to employees and making sure that the process of
learning continuous. In addition to improving motivation, knowledge and skills for
employees would also be amplified (Champoux, 2010). The reward system, which
entails providing compensation and rewards to employees would also be
incorporated. It matches with the skills, roles and the position of employees.