Petrobas: role modelling the important of safety

At Petrobas the CEO and other top managers "have joined the auditing teams that check the HSE compliance of our business and service units and new projects. Senior, executive, and general managers have participated in more than 1,000 audits, going on field trips to refineries, offshore platforms, and pipelines." [...]

"When I [CEO] step off the helicopter an at offshore platform, it's sort of like the general showing up at the barracks for the morning bed check. But employees know that I'm there because I are about what they're doing, not to catch some indiscretion. This is part of an important formal and informal trickling-down process that drives the cultural change into day-to-day operations."

'The Greening of Petrobras', Jose Sergio Gabrielli de Azevedo [CEO], HBR Mar 09

Performance metrics at Clifford Chance

Law firm Clifford Chance replaced its single metric of billable hours with 7 criteria on which to base bonuses:

• Respect and mentoring
• Quality of work
• Excellence in client service
• Integrity
• Contribution to the community
• Commitment to diversity
• Contribution to the firm as an institution

In 2002 a leaked memo from the firm contended that pressure to deliver billable hours had encouraged padding of billed hours and senior associates doing work that could be done by cheaper junior ones.

'The Five Traps of Performance Measurement', A Likierman, HBR Oct 09

Using CAPTCHAs for free transcription

Luis von Ahn and colleagues at Carnegie Mellon University are using CAPTCHAs to decipher words that have stumped optical readers trying to digitise old books.

Now transcribing 10m words a day, equivalent of 150,000 books a year, equivalent to 37,500 full-time workers.

'The Power of Unwitting Workers', HBR Oct 09

Companies think their customer experience is better than it is

According to Bain survey covering 362 companies
8% of customer described their experience as "superior"
80% of the companies believed the experience they provide is superior

Source: quoted in Understand Customer Experience, Meyer & Schwager, HBR, 2007

Idea for gathering consumer insight

"Shopper critique - Have a consumer follow you around a store while you shop for them. Afterward they critique you and tell you what you did wrong."

Source: www.whatifinnovation.com/SkinnyInnovation/Skinny_Innovation.pdf

Yokmok - customer co-creation of holidays

"A Spanish travel agency called Yokmok develops adventure trip ideas by first holding a beta-version exploratory trip at a reduced price. A group of their customers participate in the trip to help build the idea. This in turn builds loyalty though a key group of brand enthusiasts."

Source: www.whatifinnovation.com/SkinnyInnovation/Skinny_Innovation.pdf

'The Local' blogs from New York Times

Seems like a good ideas: NY Times enters local news market by bringing together relevant bloggers etc.

Looks a bit dull in practise, but then so much local news is.

http://fort-greene.blogs.nytimes.com/

Ritz-Carlton - empowering employees to give good service

After decades of demanding that employees strictly adhere to a 20-point list of customer service basics, the company's management realised that the specific routines weren't adequately addressing the widely ranging expectations of the luxury chain's customers, who had become younger, more diverse, more tech savvy, and more likely to travel with family.

The company's leaders also saw that expanding the list to address every possible situation that an employee might encounter would be futile. As a result, they shifted to a simpler 12-point set of values that allowed employees to use their judgement and improvise.

Tightly defined process dictums (like "always carry a guest's luggage", "escort guests rather than point our directions to another area of the hotel", and "use words like good morning, certainly, I'd be happy to, an it's my pleasure") sometimes felt stuffy and out of place. Management replaced them with loser value statements (such as "I build strong relationships and create Ritz-Carlton guests for life" and "I am empowered to create unique, memorable, and personal experiences for our guests"). The change encouraged employees to sense customers' needs and act accordingly. Customer satisfaction improved.

Source: "When Should a Process Be Art, Not Science?", J.M. Hall & M.E. Johnson, HBR, Mar '09.

From my time at What If (whatifinnovation.com) I also know that they backed up these values statements with actions that let people know they were really meant, like giving employees discretion to spend up to $2k to put right problems without prior authorisation. And they used stories of how other staff around the world put the values into practise by sharing stories at the daily 'line-up'.

Perfume spritzing at Hollister flagship store, New York

We've all gotten over being shocked by Abercrombie & Fitch stores by now. The Hollister flagship in SoHo, New York pulls most of the same tricks. Half-naked models, loud music, clothes in no discernible order. Yet somehow it's still an amazing, intense experience.

A few reasons:
- It's incredibly dark, breaking the fundamental rule of retail that people actually have to be able to see the product.
- The fit-out, as somewhere between an opulent beach house and a pier, is to an unbelievable level even by today's flagship store-meets-Disneyland standards.

Perfume spritzing - I also happened to be when someone walked around spritzing everything with perfume. That'll be why a nice smell wafts out when you just walk past. And when you get the clothes home I bet the smell has a sub-conscious effect on satisfaction.

Bored models are a problem - a few models were dancing, laughing and enjoying themselves. It worked - you wanted to be part of their gang. But many, understandably, looked bored. This totally breaks the spell.

Emotional Compatibility (brand mergers and acquisitions)

When 2 brands are merged into one, or 1 brand is rebranded as another, 'emotional compatibility' needs to be considered.

For example, if one brand is seen as adventurous and another is seen as safe they are not emotionally compatible in this respect and this contradiction needs to be managed carefully. They may be emotionally compatible on other dimensions, e.g. both seen as clear. And they may or may not be functionally identical in terms of what they actually offer - that's a separate consideration.