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”
Category Archives: Leadership and Management
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”
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””
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”
Website Re-Design: do not remove old content if you want your audience to find you
All manner of organizations seem to get tired of the look and feel of their advertising and communication material. Consequently billions are spent worldwide on re-launch, re-branding, re-design just because the audience is "supposed" to have got tired of the "old" design. If you notice only the biggest brands (like Coca Cola and McDonald's )Continue reading “Website Re-Design: do not remove old content if you want your audience to find you”
Dow over 12,000: Globalization can work on the governance side as six Central Banks Co-ordinate.
That the Dow closed over 12,000 today is great news.The European debt crisis had cast a pall of gloom across stock markets worldwide and in the US things looked bleak till the news that six Central Banks of the world had come together to enhance financial liquidity in their respective markets. If the "Occupy Movement"Continue reading “Dow over 12,000: Globalization can work on the governance side as six Central Banks Co-ordinate.”
Customer Service: what organizations do not seem to know
Nothing like a tight economy to have consumers try and get that little extra value for their money. And sure enough the customer service arms of most organizations do not know their customer FAQ's or have not been able to prepare their front-line employees to deal with a customer's typical problem. As a result weContinue reading “Customer Service: what organizations do not seem to know”
What an 80 year old workforce means for organizations and innovation opportunities
Working till you are 80 years old is not a happy thought, particularly if you want to retire at 65 or 67. But 25% Americans think that they might have no other alternative. From an older worker's point of view not being able to retire is hard as is dealing with the stereotype of beingContinue reading “What an 80 year old workforce means for organizations and innovation opportunities”
Without execution leadership is meaningless
Peter Drucker is credited with having said: Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things. The emphasis on doing is from this blog post because for reasons unknown the world of organizations (whether for-profit,non-profit or government) seem to worship "leadership" and treat execution as mundane and "tactical." Somehow beneath the dignity ofContinue reading “Without execution leadership is meaningless”
Halloween snowstorm and the power outage
On Saturday night the north east USA was hit by a snow storm. Halloween was on Monday evening and there was no power, snow on the ground and a chill in every home and dark streets. Truly scary and towns advised that the festival which involves children going house to house to "trick or treat"Continue reading “Halloween snowstorm and the power outage”