1.0 OVERVIEWDomino’s Pizza is the No. 1 Pizza Delivery Company in the world and the undisputed pizza

delivery expert. The Company has a unique business and operation model and is a pioneer in

the fast food industry. Since 1960, Domino’s Pizza has successfully expanded from 3 outlets in

the United State to 9,350 stores operating in seventy countries. Domino’s operation in Malaysia

and overseas uses the franchise model. The parent company, Domino’s Pizza LLC is head

quartered in Michigan, United State of America. It maintains overall control on the sourcing and

supplying of raw materials to the master franchises and enforces quality of the service and

products sold.

2.0 HISTORYThe legend of Domino’s Pizza dates back to December, 1960 with the purchase of a small pizza

shop in Ypsilanti, Michigan by brothers Tom and Jim Monaghan. The brothers bought the

restaurant from friend Dominick DeVarti for USD500 cash and assuming the stores USD8,000

debts. Neither Tom nor Jim had the intention of making the restaurant business their career, but

rather saw the opportunity as a part-time venture to help cover the cost of their studies at the

nearby University of Michigan. By June the store was earning a profitable USD400 a week but

briskly fell off when students at the University went home for summer. Faced with the prospect

of a slow phase, Jim sold Tom his half of the business in 1961 and changed the name from

Dominick’s to Domino’s. The same year, Tom decided to quit school to devote more time to the

business.

Aware of his lack of experience in pizza making and operations and management, Tom spent

much of his time visiting many similar pizzerias around the state acquiring advice on operations

and recipes. By the mid 60’s, Tom had restructured the interior of the store, rearranged all areas

and systems, ultimately improving the flow of work in all facets of the operation from order-

taking to delivery. Monaghan’s system was reminiscent of those developed by the managers of

White Castle Hamburger in the 20’s and the McDonald brothers in the 40’s. The implementation

of this system formulized the production process as a unified whole, and included the

standardization of materials, clever and thoughtful placement of equipment, and detailed

division of labor; all geared to achieve the continuous production of its limited product line. By

1967, Domino’s emphasis on uniform quality and rapid delivery proved a successful system for

operating a pizza shop and therefore provided opportunity for expansion through franchising.

The company landed in Malaysia in September 1997. Launched by its founder, Tom Monaghan

himself, Domino’s Pizza became an overnight sensation. It was so well-received that Domino’s

Malaysia’s commissary was recognised in the Annual Domino’s International Audit as the Best

Commissary in Asia Pacific.

Malaysia's bullish food and beverage industry coupled with Domino's promise of quality food

and delivery service was highly accepted and gained new customers nationwide.

As at June 2015, there are 134 stores operating all over Malaysia with 44 in Selangor, 23 in

Wilayah Persekutuan, 3 in Putrajaya, 15 in Johor, 7 in Negeri Sembilan, 9 in Pulau Pinang, 12 in

Perak, 3 in Malacca, 6 in Kedah, 6 in Pahang, 2 in Kelantan, 3 in Terengganu and 1 in Perlis.

With the healthy growth in Malaysia, Domino's extended its presence to neighbouring Singapore

in 2009. There are currently 13 outlets operating in Singapore and growing aggressively.

3.0 DOMINO’S MENU

Domino’s Pizza offered numbers of topping such as Ultimate Hawaiian, 7-Meat Wonders,

Meatasaurus, Prawn Passion, Chicken Perfection and etc. Domino’s Pizza also allowed their

customers to customize their pizza by offering 2 options which is Make Your Own and Half &

Half.

They have 5 unique pizza crusts which is Classic Hand Tossed, Crunchy Thin Crust, Cheese

Burst Double Decker, New York Crust and Extreme Edge.

Besides that, Domino’s Pizza comes with 3 Signature Pizza Sauces such as Domino’s

Signature Sauce, Spicy Sambal Sauce and Top Secret Sauce

Domino’s Pizza also served varieties of side orders such as Chicken Wings BBQ, Spaghetti

Bolognese, Chicken Lasagna, Garlic Twisty Bread, Garlic Cheese Onion Rings, BreadStix,

Banana Kaya Desert, and etc

4.0 THE IMPORTANT OF CULTURE TO DOMINO’S IN MALAYSIA

Attitudes, Beliefs & Value

Every society in each country around the world has their own attitudes, beliefs and values

towards a product which is enter their marketing. Attitude is a learned tendency to respond in a

consistent way to a given object or entity. Attitude also the mental dispositions that people have

towards a product before making decision that results in behaviours. Attitudes are also clusters

of interrelated with beliefs. Belief is an organized pattern of knowledge that an individual

holds to be true about the world. Meanwhile, value can be defined as an enduring belief or

feeling that a specific mode of conduct is personally or socially preferable to another mode of

conduct. Based on Hofstede that notion culture as the collective programming of the mind, this

was make sense to learn about culture by studying the attitudes, beliefs and values shared by a

specific group of consumer which is a group consumer or society that represent their culture.

Domino’s Pizza that came from other country which is United States that entering

Malaysian market need to mix with Malaysian cultures that different with United States cultures.

In order to mix with Malaysian cultures, Domino’s Pizza need change the perception of

Malaysian and indirectly come out the attitude towards Domino’s products. To do so, Domino’s

were done many ways which is represent their product and services. For example, the four

guarantees that Domino’s give to their customers. One of the guarantees that Domino’s give

which is product satisfaction guarantee will make their customers believe in their product and

services. This also changes the Malaysian perception towards Domino’s. Malaysian also think

that Domino’s are provide free delivery and they claim the only pizza company who provide

delivery within 30 minutes from delivery have been made, they can get their pizza in front of

their doors. If they fail to do so, their customers, will get free regular size of pizza. This indicates

that Domino’s are fast, high quality pizza and services.

Next is what Domino’s pizza can do in order to gain belief toward Malaysian’s pizza lovers. They

wanted to create their customers own opinion and feels about their product and services. Either,

their customers happy or sad, satisfied or dissatisfied with their services and products. Each

people in Malaysia, have their own opinion toward certain things. For example, the pizza lover

would tell their opinion about Domino’s pizza. What make the difference is Domino’s customers

that are satisfied or dissatisfied with what Domino’s provide which is having different opinion.

Lastly is value that Domino’s wanted to show towards Malaysian pizza lovers. The

values that Domino’s wanted to give to their customers are their product and services. For

example, the Great Pizza Services (GPS) Tracker that keeps their customer to keep up to date

from the moment they place their order to the moment their pizza leaves the store. They also

provide coupon to their customers in order to get special price from Domino’s pizza. This shows

that Domino’s always understand Malaysian culture which is like the low prices of any product in

Malaysia. For examples majority of Malaysians like to ask about discount or price cuts when

they spends for shopping. That’s why dominos can provide coupon to their loyal customers and

new customers.

Religion

Religion is the one of the important aspect that must be consider in the culture. It reflects on the

sources of the society’s belief, attitudes, and values. In term of religion, it can be define on a set

of belief which concerning the cause and the purpose of the universe. In addition, it consider as

the creation of the superhuman involving ritual observances towards human affairs.

In Malaysia, there are variety of religion where direct reflection of the diversity of races living

there. However, Islam is the state religion of Malaysia and freedom of religion is guaranteed

based on the Malaysian policy. As related on the religion aspect towards Domino’s Pizza in

Malaysia, all the menu where been provided was been tested by the JAKIM and finally passed

in getting the halal certificate. This describes on to ensure about foods and drinks is safe to eat

for Muslim consumers without feels anxiety about the food’s ingredient. For example, there are

non-halal ingredient or pork where may found on the menu Domino’s Pizza.

Next point is in way to attach with the religion in Malaysia, Domino’s Pizza had done some

promotion by following on the religious observances and example of the promotions are ‘The

Ramadan Take Away Special’. Thus, the promotion also give one extra pizza during that

promotion time. In this situation, it automatically helps on encourage Malaysian to come to the

restaurant at ‘buka puasa’ at the end of each day’s fast. In addition, other festivals also had

been done through the promotion like Christmas promotion and Chinese New Year promotion.

This kind of promotion may help on creating a friendly relationship between the company and

customer.

Aesthetics

The Three Dots

The very first Dominos logo, which was created in the 1960’s, was created for two reasons. First it sought to attract more customers due to the bright and cheerful colors of the logo. The red, white and blue colors were meant to be highly noticeable so as to appeal to the largest amount of people possible. The three dots on the logo symbolize the three original Dominos locations that were open at the time.

The Current Logo

The current Dominos logo was created in early 2012. This logo kept the famous dominos icon,

but removed the word pizza from the slogan, only showing the company name Dominos. This

showed how powerful the Dominos brand has become

Dietary Preference

As an international food company, Domino’s Pizza must concern about each of their target

market. This means that the company should know enough how the culture are apply in certain

country in order to grabs the target market attention. This is important for most food company as

it may affect the purchasing power of consumer.

As for example in Italy, what happen is that Domino’s Pizza has pull out from the country as the

menu is to American. As mention by B. L. Nadeau, she criticized the food where the whole

funny-flavoured, thick chewy-crusted, dripping American-style pizza pie, the idea of anonymous

online home pizza delivery is as foreign here as stuffed cheesy bread. Perhaps it was a fail back

then as they lack of research and development before starting in different country,

As for Malaysia, Domino’s Pizza did at their best in providing various food toping and excluding

non-halal food since most of Malaysian are Muslims. Not only that, they also has spicy sambal

sauce topping which can’t be seen in other country. Then there is also seafood topping which

made out of prawn and anchovies which also can’t be found in American outlet. Not only that,

but they also add a special dessert that adapt with the culture, and it is called Banana Kaya

Dessert. It is mainly made of pizza dough with a pandan kaya, banana slices as a topping, and

a sprinkle of sugar.

As from here, we can see how important it is in identifying the right dietary preference when

doing a global marketing. This is due to a different culture have different dietary that they

adapt , hence the new market to must know enough about the culture, Otherwise, it mind turn

up badly like what happened in Italy.

Language and Communication

Mostly Malaysian tend to use non-verbal communication because it is a part of Malaysian culture. Non-verbal communication are defined as communication without words. It includes apparent behaviors such as facial expressions, eyes, touching, and tone of voice, as well as less obvious messages such as dress, posture and spatial distance between two or more people.

For example, the advertisement above shows that they use the word ‘tapau’ that represent the word ‘take away’. The word ‘Free’ also in their advertisement because they know the culture of Malaysia that like that catchy words when buying something.

High- and Low-Context Culture

Cultures can be conceptualized many ways and one of it focuses on communication. The idea

was suggested by Edward T. in understanding the basic form of communication. It is made of

High and Low messages. Basically the High context message means that it is mostly

internalized by the person, which means it might not deliver a direct message. Usually a country

that rich with its culture will have a high context message as each action have its own meaning.

As for low context message, it would have more direct message to deliver, no hidden meaning

to understand. From here, tit can be develop a high and low context culture to define how the

culture is.

As a country that full of ethnic and culture, Malaysia is one of the high context culture. This

means that Malaysians are more likely to rely on implicit communication rather than explicit

messages. For most Malaysians, there will always be a hidden message behind what is actually

said directly. In Malaysia, meaning is usually communicated indirectly. As a result, Malaysians it

is hard to hear a Malaysian to say no when ask for a help. It is just being part of the culture in

respecting other when in need.

In other perspective, we can see that how giving a present symbolize or give a new meaning as

Malaysia is full of different races. As for example, from the article Wrong Gift May Trick off

Potential Trading Partners by Philipidis (1999). In the article we see how Chinese have an

understanding when giving a clock as a gift will symbolize in wishing the receiver for a short life,

but as for Malay it shows a good friendship. Just only in Malaysia we can see how different

culture have a high context culture in communication, which may give a wrong perception if not

study properly.

Hofstede’s Cultural Typology

Power DistanceThis dimension deals with the fact that all individuals in societies are not equal – it expresses

the attitude of the culture towards these inequalities amongst us. Power Distance is defined

as the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a

country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally.

Malaysia scores very high on this dimension (score of 100) which means that people accept a

hierarchical order in which everybody has a place and which needs no further justification.

Hierarchy in an organization is seen as reflecting inherent inequalities, centralization is popular,

subordinates expect to be told what to do and the ideal boss is a benevolent autocrat.

Challenges to the leadership are not well-received.

IndividualismThe fundamental issue addressed by this dimension is the degree of interdependence a society

maintains among its members. It has to do with whether people´s self-image is defined in terms

of “I” or “We”. In Individualist societies people are supposed to look after themselves and their

direct family only. In Collectivist societies people belong to ‘in groups’ that take care of them in

exchange for loyalty.

Malaysia, with a score of 26 is a collectivistic society. This is manifest in a close long-term

commitment to the “member” group, be that a family, extended family or extended relationships.

Loyalty in a collectivist culture is paramount and overrides most other societal rules and

regulations. Such a society fosters strong relationships, where everyone takes responsibility for

fellow members of their group. In collectivistic societies, offence leads to shame and loss of

face. Employer/employee relationships are perceived in moral terms (like a family link), hiring

and promotion take account of the employee’s in-group. Management is the management of

groups.

MasculinityA high score (Masculine) on this dimension indicates that the society will be driven by

competition, achievement and success, with success being defined by the winner/best in field –

a value system that starts in school and continues throughout organizational life.

A low score (Feminine) on the dimension means that the dominant values in society are caring

for others and quality of life. A Feminine society is one where quality of life is the sign of

success and standing out from the crowd is not admirable. The fundamental issue here is what

motivates people, wanting to be the best (Masculine) or liking what you do (Feminine). With an

intermediate score of 50, a preference for this dimension cannot be determined

Uncertainty AvoidanceThe dimension Uncertainty Avoidance has to do with the way that a society deals with the fact

that the future can never be known: should we try to control the future or just let it happen? This

ambiguity brings with it anxiety and different cultures have learnt to deal with this anxiety in

different ways.  The extent to which the members of a culture feel threatened by ambiguous or

unknown situations and have created beliefs and institutions that try to avoid these is reflected

in the score on Uncertainty Avoidance.

Malaysia scores 36 on this dimension and thus has a low preference for avoiding

uncertainty. Low UAI societies maintain a more relaxed attitude in which practice counts more

than principles and deviance from the norm is more easily tolerated. In societies exhibiting low

UAI, people believe there should be no more rules than are necessary and if they are

ambiguous or do not work, they should be abolished or changed. Schedules are flexible, hard

work is undertaken when necessary but not for its own sake. Precision and punctuality do not

come naturally, innovation is not seen as threatening.

Long Term OrientationThis dimension describes how every society has to maintain some links with its own past while

dealing with the challenges of the present and future, and societies prioritize these two

existential goals differently. Normative societies. which score low on this dimension, for

example, prefer to maintain time-honored traditions and norms while viewing societal change

with suspicion. Those with a culture which scores high, on the other hand, take a more

pragmatic approach: they encourage thrift and efforts in modern education as a way to prepare

for the future.

The low score of 41 in this dimension means that Malaysia has a normative culture. People in

such societies have a strong concern with establishing the absolute Truth; they are normative in

their thinking. They exhibit great respect for traditions, a relatively small propensity to save for

the future, and a focus on achieving quick results.

Indulgence

One challenge that confronts humanity, now and in the past, is the degree to which small

children are socialized. Without socialization we do not become “human”. This dimension is

defined as the extent to which people try to control their desires and impulses, based on the

way they were raised. Relatively weak control is called “Indulgence” and relatively strong control

is called “Restraint”. Cultures can, therefore, be described as Indulgent or Restrained.

Malaysia's high score of 57 indicates that the culture is one of Indulgence. People in societies

classified by a high score in Indulgence generally exhibit a willingness to realize their impulses

and desires with regard to enjoying life and having fun. They possess a positive attitude and

have a tendency towards optimism. In addition, they place a higher degree of importance on

leisure time, act as they please and spend money as they wish.