I went to the Suga Sushi in University Village for lunch and ordered a Chicken Katsu Donburi. To my surprise, I found a blue elastic band curled up in my food. The elastic band was so soft I feel like it was already partially melted from the heat in the food. I requested for a free new bowl, thinking it was reasonable compensation. He disagreed and told me that he won’t charge me for the current bowl and that if I wanted to eat something else I’ll still have to purchase the full price. I ended up arguing my way through and eventually, after long contemplations, he gave in and agreed.

As I reflected later on, if he didn’t give me a free bowl, the restaurant could have potentially lost revenue because I’d give negative feedback on the restaurant and tell my friends not to go. This feedback loop would include a negative word of mouth, which would cause them to have fewer customers and decrease profits.  Aside from applying the principles we learned in class to assess how successful a business is, I think basic customer service is just as important and Suga Sushi definitely did not have this.

An organizational culture is important in a company so that there is the same standard of value, belief and expectations across all employees in a company. Google definitely is successful in demonstrating how important establishing an enjoyable working environment can be.  Employees are given the freedom to devote a portion of their work time on personal projects, which is an amazing idea because these periods of time will be an outlet for creativity and innovation. Google also provides snacks and juices for employees to munch on during breaks or while they’re working. These are examples of how Google wants to make sure that their employees are happy so they can be most productive during their work. They have all their employees working on one floor so workers can help each other along the way. This creates an environment that encourages collaboration, which is another important drive of innovation. Google sets a great example in demonstrating the need for companies to establish a working environment where employees are relaxed and happy, and when that is achieved, productivity will automatically come in place. However, it is important for companies to achieve a balance so workers don’t get overly relaxed and become lazy.

Resource: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/16/business/at-google-a-place-to-work-and-play.html?pagewanted=1

Since Twitter’s change to a public company, it has significantly increased its inventory of advertising slots in order to promote growth for its company. Twitter was a social site that connected individuals from all over the world by allowing them to discuss about a common interested topic. Nowadays, as Twitter users refresh the page more frequently – about 230 times a month per person (Goel, 2013) – Twitter takes advantage of this and tries to add a new value proposition to their company by allowing businesses to advertise their product on the site. At the same time, with the cooperation with America Express, users are now able to purchase a product online as long as their credit card accounts are linked with Twitter. This is a key point of difference for Twitter that makes their company unique as it solves a pain killer for customers by saving their time on shopping. This newly added value proposition satisfies users’ needs, as it is more efficient and convenient to purchase something immediately. However, I feel that companies should be more aware that these actions to growth may lead to consequences on the user’s experience as some users may be annoyed by such ads.

Reference

Goel, V. (2013, October 7). What Can Be Sold in 140 Characters? That’s Now the Challenge for Twitter. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/05/technology/what-can-be-sold-in-140-characters-thats-now-the-challenge-for-twitter.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&ref=business