Pre-reading act:

Discuss the following questions with a partner.

1. Who do you think is the most important business person in the world right now?
2. Why is that person important?
3. What can we learn from him/her?
4. What kind of business does the person run?
5. What is a franchise? How is it different from other businesses?

READING 1: EXPLORING BUSINESS CAREERS

Mike Schlater Domino’s Pizza[1]

Domino’s Pizza has more than 14,000 stores worldwide. These are franchises where individuals
pay Domino’s in order to use their brand, advertising, and recipes. As executive vice president of
Domino’s Pizza’s international division, Mike Schlater is president of Domino’s Canada with
more than 440 stores. Schlater started his career with Domino’s as a pizza delivery driver and
worked his way up into management. Schlater saved his earnings, and with some help from his
brother, he was able to accept the opportunity to have the first international Domino’s franchise
in Canada in 1983. Within weeks, Schlater’s store in Canada reached higher sales than his
previous store in Ohio had ever attained. However, it was not an easy start. Schlater had to
identify the international suppliers and get them approved to sell their products to Domino’s.
This shows one of the challenges that organizations face when entering new global markets. To
meet quality standards designed to protect a brand, companies must undertake an extensive
review of potential new suppliers to ensure consistent product quality. By 2007, Schlater and a
partner unified all of the Canadian franchises under one corporate umbrella, and Schlater is now
president of Domino’s of Canada, Ltd., which operates more than 440 stores located in every
province in Canada.
Domino’s store. (Credit: Mr. Blue Mau Mau/ Flickr/ Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

Such an impressive career path might seem like luck to some, but Schlater achieved his success
due to determination and attention to detail. Luck did play a role in a recent event in his live,
though. Schlater won $250,000 in a lottery. Since Schlater believes in philanthropy, he donated
the entire amount to Cardinal Carter High School in his hometown. Over the years, Schlater has
donated millions of dollars to foundations and charities, such as The London Health Sciences
Foundation, because he now has the ability to indulge after spending decades climbing the
corporate ladder at Domino’s Pizza.

The master franchisees of Domino’s Pizza’s international business, like Mr. Schlater, are
individuals or entities who, under a specific licensing agreement with Domino’s, control all
operations within a specific country. They operate their own stores, set up a distribution
infrastructure to transport materials into and throughout the country, and create sub-franchisees.
One particular benefit of master franchisees is their local knowledge. As discussed in this
chapter, a major challenge when opening a business in a foreign country is negotiating the
political, cultural, and economic differences of that country. Master franchisees allow Domino’s,
and the individual franchisee owners, to take advantage of their local expertise in dealing with
marketing strategies, political and regulatory issues, and the local labor market. It takes local
experience to know, for example, that only 30 percent of the people in Poland have phones, so
people are less likely to call for delivery and carryout needs to be the focus of the business; that
Turkey has changed its street names three times in the past 30 years, so delivery is much more
challenging; or that, in Japanese, there is no word for pepperoni, the most popular topping
worldwide. These are just a few of the challenges that Domino’s has had to overcome on the
road to becoming the worldwide leader in the pizza delivery business. Under the leadership of
people like Schlater, and with the help of dedicated, local master franchisees, Domino’s has been
able to not only compete in but to lead the global pizza delivery market.
Sources: “Domino’s Pizza Corporate Facts,” http://phx.corporate-ir.net, accessed June 20, 2017;
Domino’s Canada website, https://www.dominos.ca, accessed June 20, 2017; Trevor Wilhelm,
“Domino’s CEO, who lives in Leamington, will donate $250K lotto winnings to high
school,” Windsor Star, February 27, 2015.
READING COMPREHENSION
Read the statements. Put T for True or F for False. If the statement is false, correct the error
to make it true.

1. ______ A franchise is usually owned and operated by a large corporation.

2. ______ Schlater worked in Canada.
3. ______ Schlater worked his way up at Domino’s.
4. ______ For his first international store, ingredients had to be shipped from Ohio.
5. ______ Schlater owns more than 400 stores.
6. ______ Schlater bought his businesses with lottery winnings.
7. ______ Domino’s changes its pizza based on the local market.
8. ______ Domino’s controls every aspect of the store for franchise owners.

Choose the best answers to the following questions according to the reading.

9. What is the main difference between a franchise owner and a master franchisee?
a. A master franchisee is more international than a franchise owner.
b. A master franchisee helps franchise owners operate their businesses.
c. A franchise owner manages the businesses of a master franchisee.
d. A franchise owner can become a master franchisee by earning more
money.
10. What was the purpose of this reading passage?
a. to show the difficulties of owning an international business
b. to explain how Domino’s, a global brand, entered a new country
c. to introduce a successful international business and business person
d. to give an example of a company that exists all around the world

VOCABULARY PRACTICE
Complete the sentences with the best word. You may need to change the verb form to fit the
sentence.
attain consistently ensure expertise regulate

1. Governments sometimes _________________________ the price of oil and other

products.
2. The executive had taken care to _________________________ that the new product
was well advertised.
3. Some companies _________________________ have double-digit growth every
year.
4. Her _________________________ was in cross-cultural training.
5. After years of trying, few people believed he would _________________________
his goal of running a successful international corporation.
 distribution entities infrastructure undertake unifying

6. The company _________________________ a series of actions to reduce the

number of workplace injuries.
7. Because they are an international company, they have a complex
_________________________ system to make sure things arrive on time.
8. After the sale, the two _________________________ became one.
9. The _________________________ theme of the conference was globalization.
10. Because of the country’s aging _________________________, the delivery service
often failed to meet their deadlines.

Discuss the questions below using the academic vocabulary words in italics.

11. What government infrastructure do international companies rely on?

12. What is one expertise that you hope to develop?
13. What government regulations do you think hurt businesses? Should they be
changed?
14. What unifies a country? Or a company?
15. What is a consistent challenge for global businesses?

FURTHER DISCUSSION
Discuss these questions with your classmates.

1. Consider an international franchise in another country, like Domino’s, McDonald’s,

or Subway. How do some of the ingredients differ from in the US?
2. What ingredients, like cheese, in American restaurants might be difficult to purchase
abroad? How might companies handle this?
3. Why do people open franchises rather than starting their own new businesses?
4. What help could a new business owner want from a franchise or master franchisee?