MGT 406
Case Study
Papa John International 2007

Identification of competencies
The 4 different competences of Papa John’s International include its focus on providing high quality products, operating system, marketing and franchise system.
Providing High Quality Products
Firstly, Papa Johns’ focus on providing pizzas of superior quality to its customers has laid down the foundation for its success in the long run. Unlike its competitors who focused on cost reduction, Papa Johns focused on differentiating its pizzas. In fact, they were also able to prove in court that they used fresh and better ingredients in comparison to its competitors. This allowed Papa Johns to be rated number one in terms of customer satisfaction among all pizza chains in USA. Applying the VRIO framework, it can be said that this focus provided value to the company owing to its many benefits. Although a restaurant chain selling pizzas was not rare, selling pizzas of such high quality was not common. At the same time, this is not easily imitable by companies because focusing on higher quality will need a major shift from their current procedures and marketing strategies. Furthermore, Papa Johns has been extremely organized in exploiting this competence to its benefit. Hence, as this competence fulfills all the criteria of the VRIO framework, it is both a core and a distinctive competence.
Operating System
Papa Johns’ efficient operating system is also considered to be one of the competences as it provides value to the company by reducing restaurant operating costs, improving the food quality and promoting superior customer service. The most significant aspect of its operating system is its commissary system or its domestic QC Center system which benefits from bulk purchasing of food and supplies, and also provides efficiencies of scale in the production of fresh dough. This kind of a