From Cash to Cards to Phones

Over the years, the use of physical cash has declined with the increased use of credit and debit cards.  There are many people who do not even carry cash on them at all simply because they feel that it is too bulky and inconvenient.  The ease and convenience that a debit or credit card brings to a consumer’s shopping experience has grown to be a more appealing way of paying for various items.  Now, though, Google Inc. has attempted to make even this form of payment a thing of the past move on to the next big thing: to complete payments from a smartphone.

Basically, Google has come up with a way to make all of your debit, credit and even brand loyalty cards on your smartphone, which makes making electronic payments even easier.  Instead of fumbling through your wallet to find these various cards, you can simply pull out one card, the Google Wallet Card, and complete any transaction with ease.  The Google Wallet Card that is swiped will simply access the chosen card on the account and access any loyalty or rewards cards attached to the store.  This technology can be used anywhere that debit and credit cards are accepted, which means that it can be used anywhere nowadays.

By releasing such an application and choice to consumers, Google will be taking the lead against its competitors in the market, such as Square and PayPal.  This is especially due to the fact that the Google Wallet App will be available in both the iOS, or Apple, and Windows phone which makes it available to more consumers across both softwares.  With this newer feature and easier payment system, it is believed that Google will be able to attract far more customers than either competitor even if they are able to catch up with the technology in the near future.

Although it is not yet confirmed, it has been rumored that the Google Wallet card service may even surpass PayPal and come out with an card service that is integrated with the app and have secure payment service on the app directly.  This may be on the list of further improvements that Google has decided to make on the service.

Although the concept of the Google Wallet is very appealing and innovative, it is still under speculation by the public.  Personally, as someone who still uses cash from time to time, I am not so sure that I will be able to easily adjust to something like the Google Wallet.  The idea of having access to all of my finances in one place would, for me, be too risky.

gwallet2.jpg

http://www.tapscape.com/physical-google-wallet-card-may-be-coming-soon/

First Time for Everything: NYC Marathon Cancelled

Due to the horrific damage that Hurricane Sandy has done to New York this past week, ING, the marathon’s leading sponsor since 2003, has been forced by the city of New York to cancel the long-awaited marathon that has held over 40,000 runners and 500 sponsors every year since it began. This will be the first time that the marathon has been canceled in over 70 years and has caused outrage among sponsors and consumers alike.

Although ING was originally planning on continuing to have the marathon even with the unbelievable damage that New York has experienced, public outcry about the unethical issues that ING as well as other sponsors are getting themselves into by ignoring the hurricane’s damage and continuing the marathon has been abundant. Because of this, ING has been forced to cancel the marathon and has put itself in a sticky situation when it comes to the revenue and promotion they and other sponsors will be losing because of it.

As we learned in class, the project triangle consists of time, cost, and performance. The time it took to plan a New York City Marathon is over a full year. The cost to get the over 500 sponsors to sponsor the event is over 1 million dollars, and performance is based on how smoothly the marathon runs. With these three contributing factors as well as many others, I understand why ING was hesitant to cancel the NYC marathon, but understand why the public was outraged as well. The amount of money and planning that went into making the NYC marathon what it is every year means that a lot of people are counting on it, and I believe this is why ING was reluctant to cancel it right away.

Furthermore, in a desperate final effort to save themselves from looking unethical, ING decided to donate $500,000 dollars to aid victims of the hurricane, and donate the generators that were going to be set up around the marathon for the runners, to the millions of people who need help in New York. While this was the right decision, thousands of runners, both from the U.S. and internationally, who have been training for this marathon for over a year, are devestated and feel disrepected that they were told about the cancellation last minute. As customers of the marathon for a number of years, the customer expectation for most of the runners is that they would be running no mater what.

Overall, I believe that this was the right decision to make and while people are still so angry at ING for not canceling it right away, I understand why ING didn’t.

How do you think this will affect ING’s future revenue? Do you think ING made the ethical choice to cancel the marathon? What would you do as president of ING to please both the runners and the people of New york that were affected by the storm?

 

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-11-02/as-sponsor-of-new-york-city-marathon-ing-comes-under-fire#r=hpt-ls

Are you ready for Disney Star Wars ?!?

Walt Disney was first introduced on October 16, 1923 by brothers Walt and Roy Disney as an animation studio. It later has developed to one of the major Hollywood studios, and owner of eleven theme parks and several televisions. Recently, the Company had agreed to purchase Lucas film from its founder, George Lucas, for $4.05 billion in stock and cash. Yes, we will be seeing more “Star Wars” movie soon. Disney plans to release new “Star Wars” movies every two or three years beginning in 2015 with “Star Wars Episode 7,” Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger said. If you can remember, Disney already purchased Pixar Animation Studios for $7.4 billion in 2006 and Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion in 2009. As such, Disney owns all the Disney characters, all the Pixar characters, all the Marvel characters, and now all the Star Wars characters? Disney is now owns almost every famous characters.

Why is this company so successful? As we know, customers expect certain things when they walk into a business, and every company should know how to identify those expectations in order to meet them to the customer’s satisfaction. Disney obviously uses these strategies as a foundation of the business. As one of their principal: “make the dream come true.” In order to make the dream come true, they should know what people dream about when they think about Disney. First thing came up to my mind when I think about Disney is that it is a place where kids can be kids, and adults can feel like kids again. Disney Themes Park and Resorts, for instance, are designed to bring pleasure by providing the finest in entertainment for people of all ages, everywhere. Each theme park creates different atmosphere. Disney continuously creates goods and services that are valued by customers and society.  Disney did everything they can to make sure that their customers have a positive experience and leave happy. Clearly, Disney is one of the worlds’ leading producers and providers of entertainment, using it portfolio of brands to differentiate its content, services and consumer products.

All in all, the Disney management principles have over time proven themselves true to the success of the organization. I believe that Disney has a huge potential to make a Star Wars movies. They will surely make “Star Wars” live on and flourish for many generations.

 

What do you think of Disney’s acquisition of Star War? Do you think that the new movie will come out the same as it’s used to be?

Source:

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/30/disney-buying-lucas-films-for-4-billion/#postComment

http://money.cnn.com/2012/10/30/technology/disney-buys-lucasfilm/index.html

 

How powerful is a customer?

If you’ve worked in a line of business which requires interacting with customers and providing adequate service in order to maintain customers and gain them, I’m sure you might have heard the “The customer is always right,” line. In efforts to keep a business alive and prosperous, managers and employees want to see and keep customers happy whether it be with excusing a fine, allowing specific purchase/return, or simply agreeing with them when expressing an opinion, despite how right or wrong it may be. As frustrating as it can be knowing a customer is wrong, what’s best for the company always comes first, even if it means swallowing one’s pride. These sort of situations determine the true “power” of a customer within a company. Managers of all sorts of lines of business are forced to place their focus on what will attract customers of all demographics. After all, that’s the purpose of a business: seek profits.

Netflix is an example of a company whose main focus is the satisfaction of a customer. With the services it provides, Netflix has been known to be extremely successful for many years now. Not only does it service costumers through the internet, but right at their door, too, with the DVD rentals. For a long time, Netflix had a set monthly fee of $9.99 for streaming rentals and unlimited DVD, until they decided to raise the price to $15.98 in 2011. News of this didn’t sit well with costumers who had been long time users. At that point users threatened with canceling their subscription and turn to options like Redbox or Hulu Plus.

As it states in the article “How Netflix’s New Prices Causes a Customer-Service Uproar,” written by Andrew Hampp and published in July 2011, costumer service representatives didn’t how to response to such threats, as they “did not appear to have a strategy for addressing customer complaints.” In a situation like this one, it is not the responsibility of the customer service representative to come up with a “strategy” to adress this sort of issue. Companies may expect changes in their customer turnout, but not all companies foresee threats to cancel services due to a price change. At this point of complaints, higher level management is responsible for providing scripts or options for customers to decrease the intensity of their complaint. When customers influence such price changes, we start to see the power they truly have on such decisions. If the customer is unhappy, management finds a way to change their minds in order to maintain their loyalty to a company.

In October 2011, Netflix reached a point at which it could no longer afford to lose any more customers and investors, so in efforts to avoid this, Netflix sent out an email to all customers admitting to being right about an issue that had been ongoing. Many times companies have no other option than to admit to their customers that they are right, no matter how wrong they may be.

 

So what are you thoughts? Must a company always put their customer first, no matter how wrong they may be? Is that the only way to keep a customer?

 

http://adage.com/article/media/netflix-s-prices-caused-a-customer-service-uproar/228704/ 

http://seekingalpha.com/article/299927-netflix-admits-once-again-that-the-customer-is-always-right

 

Any Gift Ideas This year? A Few.

iPhone 5
iPad Mini
Nook HD
ChromeBook
Microsoft Surface
Galaxy Note II

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year is an awesome tech year, if you like that kind of stuff.  Instead launching one or two big gadgets just in time for the holidays, there have and will be a barrage of gadgets that will fit under the tree, and they are big competitors too.

Just like a movie release doesn’t want to be outshined by another big movie, neither does a tech company. Companies will push back or move forward their release dates and some will even go as far as to move because they want to reach consumers faster than competitors. This month, tech announcements all landed within about a week with announcements for Windows 8, Microsoft Surface, The iPad Mini, Google Chromebook, Nook HD, Windows Phone 8, A 10-inch Samsung tablet, a new Google phone and many more. Differentiation is “distinguishing the offerings of an organization, in a way that the customer perceives as adding value”(36, Heizer and Render). Do any of the companies really have this differentiation, or doesn’t this affect attitudes toward a new product? I would have to say that Apple set itself ahead of other competitors a few years back when it introduced the touch screens before anybody else, but now it seems there is a lot of copy cat gadgets, where its hard for them to get that differentiation anymore.

I think that it will be a good benchmark after the holidays to see who really has the biggest competitive advantage in the market this year. Will the competitive advantage be more geared at price or polish?

We already talked about forecasting in our operations management class, but how can each company have an accurate forecast with so many competitors in the market, dropping some pretty cool additions to the tech world?

On a side note, does the color of one gadget to the next bring up a concern in the selection process?

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/01/technology/personaltech/presenting-the-nook-hd-ipad-mini-and-windows-phone-8-review.html?pagewanted=all

 

Six Sigma is SO 2007.

 

This is an article that focuses on Six Sigma and the fact that many companies view it as an outdated certification. While there are some very credible benefits in being Six Sigma certified, there are some major costs as well. According to the article it was a way to improve quality, but the major reason it gained so much popularity was because of its ability to cut costs and increase profitability. However, there were two standout problems with Six Sigma.

First, having such a process oriented company reduced morale. Employees were being evaluated so much on process that they were not being recognized for their hard work or outstanding customer service. Their employee results were just based on numbers. The second problem was that customer sentiment dropped. As a process focused company, the bottom line is to produce as much as possible with as little defects as possible. This may be great for a manufacturing plant, but for a company that works in customer service, it is ignoring a very important factor, the customers. Often times how a customer is treated will weigh more heavily on their decision to come back than the speed of their purchase.

Furthermore, the article goes on to state process is key, but they also need to focus on things such as innovation and creativity to keep a company moving forward. A company can be an outstanding process performer but if they are behind the times with their products or customer service, then having an excellent process doesn’t mean a lot.

In fact, Home Depot, which was a company mentioned in the article, dropped from first to worst among major retailers on the American Customer Satisfaction Index in 2005. This was a company that was Six Sigma certified and had a CEO who placed a very high value and emphasis on Six Sigma. Another example, which was meant to be an example supporting Six Sigma certification, was the desire by financial institutions to be Six Sigma certified. One of the banks mentioned was Bank of America, and we all know what has been happening with them in the recent news…

In conclusion, as we learned in our class, Six Sigma is an outstanding certification to have. It shows that a company is operating at a capacity with an extremely low rate of defect. However, in my opinion, in the case of the article, it sights that there may be more to a company’s success than excellence process. I tend to go with the belief similar to one mentioned in the article, that Process management is a good thing but it must be leavened a bit with a focus on innovation and customer relationships.

 

With the article in mind, I have a couple of questions I’d like to open up to the class.

First, would you go out of your way to be a customer of a Six Sigma company?

Second, what is more important to you, a customer connection or Six Sigma certification?

 

Article Site: http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2007-06-10/six-sigma-so-yesterday

Shopping with a Pal

With the holidays just around the corner, PayPal has recently announced that they will be price matching, offering free shipping on returns and financing products for 6 months either online or in store up until the end of December.  Doesn’t this sound pretty good? You don’t have to stress about paying those outrageous shipping charges and can return anything without hassle.  Also, you can get the best deal that is out there easily.

PayPal is going one step further when consumers purchase a product within  30 days and a different store has the same item for cheaper they will give the consumer the difference in the price back. All the consumer has to do is fill out a form  and write which store has the product and the price and PayPal will take care of the rest.  Each PayPal user can get up to $1,000 in matching up until the end of December.

With PayPal’s free shipping policy, they are allowing customers to return any item for free providing them with free shipping labels or they customer can pay for their shipping and they will be reimburse the cost to their PayPal accounts. There are limits though on how much money you must spend to receive free shipping. For the promotion there is an $100 limit. On top of that they are providing free financing for 6 months on any purchases over $99. This is a great deal for people who may not have all the money up front and if they know they can pay it off before the 6 months, they will not be charged any interest. For people who know they cannot afford to pay a product off in 6 months or less should not finance because they will be charged interest which will accumulate over time.

These are holiday specials that PayPal is offering and is not something that will be long term. However, I think that if the company is able to generate enough customers to take advantage of these promotions I think they should keep them as long term, rather than short term. Especially having so many competitors out there such as Amazon, who offers free shipping on $25 dollars or more, PayPal would benefit from offering these services. I also think that they can potentially boost their sales because as a consumer I always look for free shipping and places that will match prices of other competitors.

I think that PayPal is heading in the right direction and if this holiday season turns out to be a success for the company, I predict more offers and deals to come. What do you all think about PayPal offering these holiday specials?

 

You can read about this article at the site below:

http://gigaom.com/2012/11/01/paypal-offers-price-matching-free-return-shipping-for-the-holidays/

http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1517&bih=693&tbm=isch&tbnid=uCzaKyrUMHt5qM:&imgrefurl=http://www.chinahighlights.com/aboutus/member/paypal.htm&docid=MhTlTmRHriscNM&imgurl=http://www.chinahighlights.com/image/aboutus/member/paypal-big.jpg&w=458&h=480&ei=VC-UUL3uKYHSygHx7oCAAQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=173&vpy=166&dur=1834&hovh=230&hovw=218&tx=104&ty=144&sig=113221418617351852125&page=1&tbnh=130&tbnw=124&start=0&ndsp=17&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i:138

 

Watching success spiral into failure! Why six sigma doesn’t yield long term results…

Recently in class we have been discussing various types of ways to improve processes and quality, within management operations systems, these include the Baldridge, Six Sigma, and ISO 9000 models. In class we have looked at the different ways that these models can improve quality and productivity, however the article I found talks about some of the downsides of these models, in this case, Six Sigma. The article from the Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703298004574457471313938130.html specifically talks about an aerospace company that implemented Six sigma, but then what also happens after the new processes were put into place.

The comparison that was used to describe the Six Sigma process was compared to a spring, initially when the process is implemented employees stretch out to accommodate the new work processes and work load that has been implemented, this phase appropriately named the “stretching phrase” which is when data is collected on how best the process will be implemented and which departments issues are most critical to address. However the problem is that when you become so focused on the process improvement initiatives you often begin to relegate some of the normal responsibilities in each department.

The next phase described in the article is the “yielding phase” where the “spring” is still being stretched, and as described will become permanently deformed. Meaning that now management and improvement experts believe the issue has been resolved they more onto more pressing issues, the problem though is that these newly renovated departments now struggle to hold onto the gains in improvements they’ve made without any further direction from Six Sigma advisors. Without having the leadership that guided them on the initial improvements many departments begin going back to their old familiar ways resulting in a process that once again is not meeting its full potential.

The last stage described in the failure of Six Sigma is appropriately named the “failing stage” where essentially the “spring breaks apart” meaning without further direction the departments lose motivation to keep pursuing their earlier successes. A main reason for this is the success or failure of these is that the employees personal reviews have little or nothing to do with these projects so it really holds little for them to gain or lose, in turn causing no one to step forward as a leader to continue the improvements they had made early on.

With these three stages identified the articles also points out four key points that can be learned from the failure of a Six Sigma initiative. The first being that if success is to be permanent, a long term SixSigma advisor should be appointed. Second employee performance appraisals need to be tied to success or failure of initiative put into place. Third have small focused groups for initiatives so those involved knowing exactly what their goals are. Last Management should be directly involved in all aspects to know exactly what is taking place.

What else do you think should be done to improve upon these processes other than the four stated “lessons learned”? Can you think of different ways to improve the processes that were described in the article?

Groupon To Replace Jobs!?

Since it’s introduction in Chicago exactly four years ago, Groupon has spread across the U.S. to Boston, New York City, and Toronto as well. Although it benefits consumers by saving them money daily on local products and services, many have debated the implications it has for local businesses. Whether it actually increases their returning customer base is just one of the issues many businesses have to face when considering offering a Groupon.

Anthony Raso, though, has found a way for Groupon to better organize and increase his customer base. The owner of a car maintenance garage in Toronto, Raso decided to advertise a rustproofing deal on Groupon to increase his local customer base. He soon found himself with too many people calling in for his services, but not enough employees to actually organize and book all of the potential customers. Not being able to increase his customer base as much as he could have drove Raso to eventually take advantage of Groupon Scheduler, a service which allows customers to book their own appointments online. He could also use this service to book clients who called in. The appointments are automatically stored in an online calendar, allowing Raso to focus on providing his excellent services instead of worrying about booking customers.

Raso considered his previous appointment booking technique too time consuming, and called it the bottleneck of his business. Running into problems like double booking and forgetting appointments was slowing down his service time and caused him to not service as many customers as he could. With the help of Groupon Scheduler, he can now maximize his profits by leaving the scheduling of appointments to Groupon, allowing him to focus on what he does best.

Similar to what the paper puppet activity showed us, bottlenecks are constraints that limit the output of production. Throughput gets caught in the bottleneck and takes longer to complete than in any other stage of the product cycle, thereby reducing maximum output. A bottleneck can severely harm a business by preventing it from performing at its fullest potential. Raso was able his solve his bottleneck process by introducing a digital method of booking appointments for his business so that it would no longer take away from him being able to work on his customer’s cars. Eliminating this bottleneck will allow Raso to increase his customer base and his overall profits.

What do you think of this scheduling service that Groupon now offers to businesses? Do you think it is essentially reducing the need for employees whose job it may be to book appointments? Can you foresee any problems that businesses utilizing this service may run into?

http://www.itbusiness.ca/it/client/en/home/News.asp?id=69214

Which Japanese company should I analyze for quality management, Atlas Copco or Mr. Sparkle?

Even though I am a big Simpsons fan, I will have to choose Atlas Copco. I will analyze an Atlas Copco’s Japanese division’s emphasis on quality, which in turn is related to how the factory addresses prevention cost.

My primary source for this post is this two and a half minute video, entitled “A career at Atlas Copco: Quality Control engineer.” The interviewee’s name is Shinpei Muto and he works in an Atlas Copco surface drilling factory in Japan.

A career at Atlas Copco: Quality Control engineer

As the 34 second mark shows, Atlas Copco’s first priority is customer satisfaction. Furthermore, at the 39 second mark, the mission of this factory “is to provide world-class safety and top quality, as well as an environmentally friendly product and service” (AtlasCopcoGroup). One way the factory addresses customer satisfaction, and thus their mission, is through quality control. As the quality control engineer, Mr. Muto’s duties include inspecting the “incoming parts[,] as well as the final check on the product before shipping” (AtlasCopcoGroup).

Mr. Muto’s job is important because in order for the customer to be satisfied, the customer must receive a fully functioning, Atlas Copco drill. The customers presumably have high expectations as they are expecting a top quality drill equipped with world class safety. As our book’s pages 190-191 discusses, quality improves reputation and reduces the risk of product liability. At the bare minimum, Atlas Copco wants to maintain its reputation as a world class company. At the 1:16 mark, Mr. Muto raises the concern that a product with a loose bolt could be a serious problem. The serious problem is of course costly litigation that will most likely involve the international courts. Mr. Muto wants to prevent this because product liability lawsuits will hurt the Atlas Copco image, as well as cost him his job.

At 1:38, we learn that Atlas Copco provides the opportunity for employees to take 40 hours of training per year. From this fact, I assume Atlas Copco as a whole does this and not solely Mr. Muto’s factory. By offering training, Atlas Copco is addressing one of the four major categories of costs that are associated with quality; prevention cost. Prevention costs are costs that are “associated with reducing the potential for defective parts or services” (Heizer and Render 192). By offering training, Atlas Copco is reducing the likelihood for defective parts, and thus live up to their mission.

Questions

How can you compare Atlas Copco’s emphasis on quality with that of your job?

Does your workplace account for any of the four major categories of costs associated with quality? (Prevention costs, appraisal costs, internal failure, and external costs).

 

Works Cited

AtlasCopcoGroup. “A Career at Atlas Copco: Quality Control Engineer.” YouTube. YouTube, 02 May 2012. Web. 31 Oct. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDp2SDhzMmQ>.

Heizer, Jay H., and Barry Render. “Managing Quality.” Principles of Operations Management. 8th ed. Boston: Pearson Education, 2011. 207. Print.