Publications
Publications
- September 2020
- HBS Case Collection
&pizza: Leading an ‘Employee-First’ Company During a Period of Societal Challenges
By: Francesca Gino and Jeffrey Huizinga
Abstract
&Pizza is a pizza chain that in the spring of 2020 finds its business completely up-ended by the COVID-19 crisis and shut-down. Many companies in the restaurant and hospitality sector responded to the crisis by shutting down their operations and laying off employees. &Pizza’s leader took a different approach: as the company pivoted mainly to a delivery model, he realized there would be added strain on his employees, and so he decided to not only avoid lay-offs, but to increase wages and provide other benefits to its Tribe (i.e., the employees).
Keywords
Agility; Crisis; Culture; Values; COVID-19 Pandemic; Crisis Management; Leadership; Organizational Culture; Values and Beliefs; Employee Relationship Management
Citation
Gino, Francesca, and Jeffrey Huizinga. "&pizza: Leading an ‘Employee-First’ Company During a Period of Societal Challenges." Harvard Business School Case 921-017, September 2020.