Month: October 2010

As shown in this post,

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/08/AR2010100806687.html

BP was far more worried about cost cutting measures than the safety and integrity of their oil rig and employees.  As stated in the article, of 13 employee evaluations reviewed by investigators, 12 had documented ways they had saved the company huge sums of money.  This can be a cause for concern when dealing with something as potentially hazardous such as an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. 

It goes on to show that they had brought in a contracted team to look at the oil rig and run some tests in order to ensure its safety.  They would have had to be paid approx. 190,000 so BP decided to forgo the tests and sent Schlumber away only 11 hours before the explosion causing the devastating oil spill. 

If BP can get away with this to such an extent even after such a major catastrophe, I only wonder what other companies continually cut corners with regards to safety.  I guess its only a matter of time before the next major disaster due to overlooked safety measures.

Now we’ve all heard in the last while that Blockbuster has filed for bankruptcy in the United States.  They are planning on doing this as a temporary move in order to reform their business strategy and become a positive player in the movie market again.  The incredible jumps in technology in recent years, however, has had an increasingly large effect on video stores such as blockbuster. It is increasingly easy to find large selections of movies (legally or illigally) in large online data bases.  In today’s world, it seams almost archaic to have to drive to a movie store, just to pick a movie to watch.  Only then to have to drive all the way back to the store to return it before incuring any extra fees.  Compare this to something such as Shaw on Demand in which you can order a movie using your remote controle, having the movie on your screen in seconds. No late fees, no distance to travel, just convinience at your fingertips. The future of movie renting will leave Blockbuster in it’s dust.  It really is only a matter of time.

I recently purchased a foam mattress topper from a company in Kelowna named Sleepy’s. I had to special order the mattress but was told it would be ready for pickup before my departure to UBC.  A full month later, I have still not received my mattress. This ongoing struggle with the company to get my mattress along with the recent discussion in class about social media had me thinking about just how quickly word of mouth can be accessed by an exorbitant amount of people.  Word of mouth has always been an extremely useful means for consumers to gain knowledge about products and services businesses provide.  It has been shown that trust peer evaluations and reviews more than 50% more than traditional advertising.  This goes to show that negative customer service issues can lead to major problems for a company as information regarding the customer’s experiences can easily be spread to many other potential consumers through social media on the internet.  This shows that customer experiences, especially those on the negative end, can have consequential effects on a companies performance making it increasingly important for companies to maintain a strong image among the consumers.

http://www.webdesignerwall.com/general/word-of-mouth-marketing/

Despite being an active member of various social media portals, I was blown away by some of the figures shown in this movie.  It never ceases to amaze me just how quickly the technological advancements of today’s world effect us immediately in so many ways.   With the rapid expansion of social media in recent years, it has really changed the way businesses can communicate with potential customers.  A portion of the video that stood out most to me was how we no longer have to look for news items that are relevant to ourselves as they now easily find their way to us through various social media portals.  This is a drastic shift from previous generations that relied almost entirely on print and television based news.  In today’s world we are updated instantly of current events and news with non-stop feeds of information delivered right to us wherever we are.  The video then looks to the future describing a time where we no longer look for products and services as we once did with the news, but they will find their way to us through today and tomorrow’s technology. That future is right around the corner and I am very interested to see how the business world reacts.