Category: Corporate Culture

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Jul 1 2010

Pointless Pollution: The Chlorine Whitewash

Paper mills dump tons of dioxins - byproducts of the chlorine bleaching process - into American streams and rivers. Dioxins accumulate in fat cells, and have been implicated in higher cancer rates, as well as reproductive and developmental harm in both animals and humans. If paper mills only had to bleach a very few premium products, how much less dioxin would be released into the environment?

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Categories: Corporate Culture | Leadership | Environment | Optimism

2 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 9:56 AM

Apr 22 2010

Firing People is Easy

Many supervisors feel tremendous angst when they must fire a coworker. But there are two groups for whom the termination process is easy: bad supervisors and great supervisors.

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Categories: Corporate Culture | Management Skills | Leadership

2 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 9:38 AM

Apr 9 2010

Other People's Money at the Game

I've written in the past about Manhattan's opulent restaurants, crowded to capacity at lunchtime as executives treat each other to lunch on the shareholder's dime. I also find it outrageous that people brag about their $2,500 Lakers tickets. Companies purchase expensive tickets because they are tax deductible - those fancy skyboxes are taxpayer-subsidized entertainment.

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Categories: Corporate Culture | Economics | Ethics

1 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 2:07 PM

Apr 2 2010

Are People The Biggest Impediment to Customer Service?

Online retailers Overstock.com, Zappos.com, and Amazon.com came in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in the 2009 NRF Foundation/American Express Customers' Choice survey, right behind 1st place winner L.L. Bean, the catalog-retailing giant. Television shopping channel QVC came in fifth, which means that none of the top five retailers in this customer service survey is known for face-to-face service. 

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Categories: Corporate Culture | Customer Service | Competitive Advantage

4 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 4:29 PM

Mar 25 2010

Customer Service Heroes: Veterans Health Administration

Did you know that the Veterans Health Administration is the largest single medical system in the country? It is also one of the most efficient, and, according to numerous independent surveys, provides the highest quality of care.

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Categories: Corporate Culture | Customer Service | Leadership

1 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 7:22 PM

Feb 25 2010

Customer Service Hero: Trader Joe's

When was the last time an anonymous customer wrote a song and produced a music video praising your company? This YouTube video, called "If I Made a Commercial for Trader Joe's," has been viewed over half a million times.

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Categories: Corporate Culture | Creativity | Customer Service | Leadership | Competitive Advantage

4 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 6:17 PM

Feb 23 2010

The Getty Gets the Art of Customer Service

Historically, arts and education organizations have not focused on customer service, perhaps because they did not see themselves competing with other attractions. But they do compete for discretionary spending, and some have begun to recognize the value in providing an excellent visitor experience. Excellent customer service helps turn visitors into donors.

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Categories: Corporate Culture | Customer Service | Philanthropy | Education

2 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 12:49 AM

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