The New York Times' website has a number of interesting blog discussions going on at any one time, but over the weekend Dick Cavett and David Brooks posted a back-and-forth discussion on the erosion of trust in our society - speaking about what Brooks suggested might be a lack of "social trust" that could account for people's lack of support for any positive solution to our country's current problems (like overspending).

Cavett referred to Martha's and my book Rules to Break & Laws to Follow, pointing out that Chapter 7 was all about trust, and doing a very serviceable job of linking this problem to the political issues involved. He even surmised that our advice to Toyota, at this time of stress, would be "to do more to re-woo disaffected customers than just customary apologies and reform -- to do something 'extra' and original. Something like five years of free maintenance, a paid vacation, school tuition? Maybe fun-designed safety helmets?"

Continue reading "Trust - A Political Role as Well as a Business Role" »

Posted by Don Peppers | Permalink | Comments (0)

My first job out of the Air Force was as an economist for an independent oil company. We were based in New York City at 50 Rockefeller Plaza, which is the building that backs up onto Radio City Music Hall. I spent a little over a year in a shared office on the fourteenth floor at 50 Rock, before being promoted and transferred to Houston. Our office had a great view over the roof of Radio City, and we became a prime destination for lunchtime meetings and get-togethers during spring and summer, because on clear days we could usually spot several of the Rockettes out on the roof, tanning their legs.

For the last two days I've been sitting inside Radio City, observing and recording my impressions of HSM's World Business Forum as a member of the IBM-sponsored "Bloggers Hub." Radio City's atmosphere is electric, its setting majestic, and its historical pedigree authenticated by rows of now pointless public phone booths in the washrooms. But no sunning Rockettes were spotted. Instead, for the last two days we have been shining the light on business ethics, strategies, corporate culture, innovation, and employment practices.

Continue reading "No Rockettes at Radio City This Week" »

Posted by Don Peppers | Permalink | Comments (2)

Should you or shouldn't you let your own customers review your products and services on your own website? Only about 50% of online retailers currently do. This is the question we'll explore in this post.

In Part One of this story, we pointed out how deceitful Nero Software is in the way it cons money out of unsuspecting customers. My feeling is that making money off of customer mistakes or customer naivete is never a very good business strategy, in terms of creating long-term shareholder value, and I predict that as long as Nero follows this strategy, we'll never see it amount to much more than a non-US-based peripheral player in this category.

Continue reading "Trustability and its Opposite - Part Two" »

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