The Costa Concordia Cruise tragedy is horrendous. That the captain might have wanted to please the head waiter , who comes from Giglio, by going too near the shore is inexplicable. Particularly for the hapless passengers on the cruise. It's one thing, if you are on a small boat alone, its entirely different if thereContinue reading “Project starts and signoffs: lessons from the Costa Concordia cruise tragedy”
Author Archives: StratoServe
Doctor private practices are caught up in $1 Trillion health insurance B2B negotiations
Call it the mother of all high value B2B negotiations– estimated at $1 Trillion and 40% of total health-care spending in the US. This from research by Robin Lee of NYU who made a great presentation of his work at Yale School of Management, last month. When you hear of doctors going broke with privateContinue reading “Doctor private practices are caught up in $1 Trillion health insurance B2B negotiations”
AT&T wireless improves service quality 25% – but still considered “neutral” carrier
AT&T wireless got poor consumer satisfaction ratings from Consumer Reports and was not allowed to buy T-Mobile as Government regulators and the public were skeptical. Well the good news is that AT&T dropped call rates have improved by 25%. This is a massive improvement – and yet the customer perception ratings have gotten to only"neutral.Continue reading “AT&T wireless improves service quality 25% – but still considered “neutral” carrier”
Kodak bankruptcy: when digital technology overtakes brilliant marketing
It was just a few years ago that you dropped off your Kodak film roll at Walmart or numerous Kodak processors and they would have prints ready for you with the negatives. With the Kodak bankruptcy news one is not entirely sure whether Walmart photo centers offer film processing at all today! The website doesContinue reading “Kodak bankruptcy: when digital technology overtakes brilliant marketing”
Starbucks:raises prices promotes “Create jobs for USA”
What is the price of a small (called tall for that upbeat feel) Starbucks regular coffee ? Well, the Pike Place Roast does does come under $1.60 but it doesn't matter as most people order something much grander and spent over $6 on average per visit in 2008. Starbucks re-organized under founder Howard Schultz andContinue reading “Starbucks:raises prices promotes “Create jobs for USA””
As the economy turns around in 2012: re-training opportunities in the healthcare value chain
As 2011 winds down there is positive news in the quarterly jobless numbers,in real estate and the stock market. 2012 should be better than the last four years of the recession. OK it may not be boom time but there does appear to be the right signals for at least modestly better economic times aheadContinue reading “As the economy turns around in 2012: re-training opportunities in the healthcare value chain”
Nike Air Jordan frenzy,Payroll Tax deal and the iPhone 4S Santa’s Christmas assistant Siri: is the economy turning around?
The 1Billion $ + Air Jordan brand of Nike shoes had frenzied crowds buying the Black and White Jordans that went on sale at mid-night Thursday. People lined up in thousands all over the US and needed police protection as they walked back to the parking lot with the $180 shoes. Many were put upContinue reading “Nike Air Jordan frenzy,Payroll Tax deal and the iPhone 4S Santa’s Christmas assistant Siri: is the economy turning around?”
College Text Book Rentals: Chegg is like Netflix for the supply chain- but a social cause marketer at the front end
Ask any US college student and they’ll tell you how expensive college books are. To come up with a working textbook rental model for this $10 billion segment of the book market is just brilliant for Chegg.com. At the back end Chegg.com has a Netflix type model for logistics. It even has former Netflix Chief Operating Officer Tom Dillon to manage the logistics and distribution (as of January 4, 2011) .
AT&T and T-Mobile merger off: when upstream supply chain consolidation alarms consumers
Supply chain consolidation is a huge mantra in supply management. When you consolidate supplies with fewer suppliers, things become easier to manage . And this is exactly what At&T was trying to do by buying up T-Mobile so that all that wireless bandwidth became available to feed the zooming demand for wireless data via mobileContinue reading “AT&T and T-Mobile merger off: when upstream supply chain consolidation alarms consumers”
Where did medical transcription, tax preparation, legal documents work get outsourced? To self-service technology
Just a few years ago if you traveled in small town India you would see billboards offering medical transcription training. Students would be put through rigorous training to learn medical terms and also go through intense training to understand the American physician's accent on each of these highly technical medical terms. For the assurance wasContinue reading “Where did medical transcription, tax preparation, legal documents work get outsourced? To self-service technology”