Donato's Case: Finding The New Pizza

Donato’s Case Study Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Donato’s Case Study 1 Map the research design used by Donato’s for new product development. Donato used various steps to develop the new “No Dough Pizza” product. However, before coming to the idea development process, the organization had to answer questions for the new product. To answer these questions the company used an ethnographic research design. First, it reviewed the tremendous amounts of research Americans’ eating habits. A recent report by HealthFocus Trend Report reported that 26% of the American eaters were carb free. Secondly, Krouse who was following the Atkins diet noticed that during company meetings, the employees left behind “little piles” of pizza which were served as a refreshment. However, they later realized that nothing was wrong with the crusts, only that the employees were avoiding the carbs that were present in every pizza grain at that time. It is through this design that the answer to the question “Is the low-carb diet a flash fad or a trend-and should we respond? was established. It was no fad and the company embarked on the new product development process. 2 Evaluate the Wassup meetings as an exploratory methodology to help define the research question. The Wassup meetings were conducted on a monthly basis where each employee had to bring knowledge of a certain culture and demonstrate the effect it will have on the organization. It is through these meetings that Donato had enough information about the feelings and diet of a certain culture to provide an opportunity for Donato to develop a new product. It was essential since it enabled the organization to gather important information that was to help in determining how the final decision will not only affect the public, but also people from other groups. This enabled the company to reach on a conclusion that consumers are moving into low carb diet e...