In an effort to bring a real-world perspective to students—School of Management students in particular—on Feb. 12, the Global Management major of the School of Management and the Bucknell Student Lectureship Committee hosted three employees from Domino’s, the world’s leading pizza chain, to speak with students about supply chain management and entrepreneurship.

These employers, each one representing a different entity within the company, led the lunch-based discussion. Giovani Jara, a local franchise area leader, is involved in managing the franchises in Pennsylvania and New York. Russell Gibson, director of the supply chain center in Maryland, described the daily operations of supplying goods to hundreds of franchises. His territory spans across various parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Washington D.C., and Virginia. Khushminder Bhullar spoke of pulling himself up by his bootstraps. He spoke of moving up the ranks of the Domino’s franchise, from working as a delivery man to owning and operating a dozen franchises across the state. 

With such an array of experiences represented in the panel, students expressed curiosity about the inspection and safety procedures conducted at each level of the company. For example, discussion turned to the recent events regarding the Chipotle chain restaurant, food contamination, and E. coli. 

Bhullar provided a more in-depth perspective of Domino’s multilevel and multi-faceted process for food inspection and informed the audience how the company inspects and cleans all food products before they reach the customer.

Gibson described the extremely thorough inspections the company administers at the supply chain level, along with the new and upcoming technology they use to check on distributors. When asked by a student about how new and upcoming technology was able to benefit business, Gibson explained the many “bells and whistles” the supply chain center has incorporated into its process, including GPS receivers with increased location accuracy, allowing restaurants to identify the exact date and time they are due to receive shipments.

Bhullar concluded with remarks about how he reached his professional goals and spoke of Domino’s culture. He explained that even though he had a vision for his leadership potential, his goals were much easier to achieve because of the tight nature of the Domino’s family. 90 percent of employees in the franchisees were, at one point, drivers or entry-level workers, he said.

Intimacy and understanding is what makes Domino’s a successful business. “It’s not blood but sauce that’s in [employees’] veins,” Bhullar said.