‘Undercover Boss’ Analysis of Episode 3: CEO Joseph DePinto of 7-Eleven
Name: Joseph DePinto
Title: President & CEO of 7-Eleven
Headquarters: Dallas, TX
Product or Service: Convenience store chain famous for its “Slurpee” and “Big Gulp”
Brief Overview:
In this week’s episode of “Undercover Boss”, Joseph DePinto, the CEO and President of 7-Eleven, discovers what it’s like to work in the front lines of a 7-11 convenience store, as a line worker in one of the bakery plants, and even as a delivery truck driver, under alias “Danny”.
Analysis
Damnit - Who set the coffee maker to "Super Big Gulp"?
Damnit - Who set the coffee maker to "Super Big Gulp"?
Position 1: Convenience Store Clerk
Overview: “Danny” works for manager Delores performing basic duties, mainly consisting of manning the coffee makers.
Result: DePinto is moved by Delores’ need for an organ donor.
How he made amends: DePinto informs Delores that 7-Eleven will initiate a new donor foundation program, and drops $150,000 in to start.
What he should have done: Donated his own actual kidney to Delores. Obviously, I’m kidding.
Doughnut Man - able to fill a cop's belly in a single helping!
Doughnut Man - able to fill a cop's belly in a single helping!
Position 2: Bakery Line Worker
Overview: “Danny” works the doughnut assembly lines alongside Phil, who draws pictures of donuts in his spare time.
Result: DePinto thinks Phil’s skills are ill. Yep, it rhymes.
How he made amends: Phil was given an artistic role with the marketing team.
What he should have done: Paid for Phil to go back to school for Marketing. I’m not saying Phil is not a good artist – I’m just saying hiring someone with minimal marketing experience is a recipe for disaster (Quizno’s Rats ring a bell?).
DePinto, sure you can let Phil take a crack at an advertisement or two, but please don’t let him take the reigns of the Marketing division. The world is not ready for Doughnut Man.
Sorry, Haiti. Too soon?
Sorry, Haiti. Too soon?
Position 3: Convenience Store Clerk during the Graveyard Shift
Overview: “Danny” works the graveyard shift with Waqas, and spends time throwing away food that no one purchased.
Result: DePinto is angered because the wasted food should have gone to charity. He’s also upset that Waqas views his role as a dead-end job.
How he made amends: He upgrades Waqas to a consultant position, and makes a few empty promises about ensuring that each 7-Eleven follows its waste food policies.
What he should have done: The whole “upgrading Waqas” was well-played, but DePinto didn’t bring much to the table in terms of solving the wasted food issue. He was vague in his response, and really what he should have done is just have a concrete definitive plan to attack the issue.
Anything at all really would have been an improvement. A new corporate position to monitor the wasted food of each store? A partnership with a charity organization to arrange for the pickup of wasted food? Asking Phil to draw up some cartoons of doughnuts in trashcans and distribute them internally? Seriously, anything.
"Red Fox to Grey Squirrel: The eagle has landed....you know, the eagle...Damnit Steve, just send the repairman."
"Red Fox to Grey Squirrel: The eagle has landed....you know, the eagle...Damnit Steve, just send the repairman."
Position 4: Convenience Store Clerk at a Store in Bad Shape
Overview: “Danny” is paired with manager Lori performing basic cleaning duties in a poorly lit facility.
Result: They make a call to 7-Eleven HQ to alert them to a number of non-working lights in the store. Because it is considered lowest priority level, they give him an estimate of 30 days before a repair is made.
How he made amends: DePinto gets in touch with his CEO-side, and makes a call to his COO, placing the store’s repair request in the express lane — 10 item maximum.
What he should have done: Sure, DePinto played Superman to this store, but what about the other thousands of stores serving slurpees in the dark? DePinto didn’t address the priority system his company incorporates to determine the speed at which each store is serviced. Lights out in the store aisles? That’s an accident waiting to happen, my friend, and everyone knows (read: McDonalds) accidents can be dangerous and expensive.
Our advice would be to bump up any repair request that concerns the safety of your customers to top level priority, just under “currently being robbed at gunpoint”.
"Wanna hear the most annoying sound in the world?"
"Wanna hear the most annoying sound in the world?"
Position 5: Delivery Service
Overview: “Danny” is assigned to deliver merchandise with Igor, an employee from Kazakhstan. No relation to Borat – I googled it.
Result: DePinto learns that Igor came to America, unable to speak English, with only $50 in his pocket, to live the American dream.
How he made amends: DePinto gives Igor a week vacation for him and his wife. Oh ya, and HIS OWN 7-ELEVEN STORE.
What he should have done: DePinto nailed this one – (in Borat voice) Very Niiiice!
Grade:
Thank you, come again.
We found DePinto to exemplify the American Dream. Plus, he’s the first CEO who wasn’t fired from one of his own entry level positions.
I have to admit, I may be somewhat bias seeing as I love Slurpees. Like a lot.
Don’t like our grade? Drop us a rebuttal, and leave a comment below.
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This episode was much improved and so was the CEO. Finally, we got a boss who doesn’t come across as completely incompetent. I agree with McFly that the one major problem is that issues weren’t permanently resolved. I blame the show. I know they need to have the personalized reality show touch by helping the specific people/stores, but it would also be nice to capture the process changes for those of us who understand that you need to fix the system too. Finally, my biggest complaint, NO STORE ROBBERY! That would have been a show!
Brac – Agreed. He would have received an “A” if he had gone the extra mile and thwarted an armed robbery during his graveyard shift. Ratings would have been through the roof.