Just had a quick look at your website — interesting food for thought. I am currently embarking on a PhD research program on the link between business culture and service quality with reference to privatisation of government owned organisations.

Peter

Thanks for the kind words.

Groeten

There’s an enormous amount of research in business academia about this topic. Leadership is one of the most studied (and over-studied) areas in management research. Even though I was only exposed to a small amount of that research in business school, your article still covered some pretty well-understood ground and not in a particularly novel (or accurate) way. I don’t mean to be critical, because it really is hard to know what has been studied and what hasn’t. I succumb to the same problem frequently as a writer.

It is true that ENTJs are much more predisposed to becoming executives, but there are some variables that are difficult to isolate. Is the person on the extreme end of the E, N, T, and J spectra? Is the person the autonomous head of the company like Steve Jobs or just an administrator and liaison to investors? Is the company’s success attributable to that executive, a combination of executives, or past executives?

There’s no way to say whether an ENTJ is better at being an executive, but it has been well-proven that they are more likely to want to be and be capable of becoming an executive, just because of the structure of the business world.

For objective, well-supported research on gender in business, I strongly recommend you look up Dr. Pat Heim. Here’s an intro: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPZ6pFJ1D-c

The main conclusion is that, due to both physiology and the training society gives her, the AVERAGE woman is less likely to want to become an executive and less likely to be comfortable with the actions required to get there. Of course, most human characteristics are spectra, and there are women who have both the ambition and predisposition to becoming executives. Research that actually measures the performance of female managers (not necessarily executives) vs male managers shows that females are more successful, so a female personality could certainly be an advantage for the women who do climb up the corporate ladder.

Any advertising campaign that is purely spin will only be able to win customers in the very short term. having said this, there is no such thing as objective measurement of flavour. Research has shown that contextual variable influence the taste experience — type of cup (Krishna & Morrin 2008), background noise and of course brand perception. If you believe it tastes good, it will taste good.

P.S. The service-recovery paradox requires a separate blog post one day. My favourite services marketing topic.

Peter

Who says their new recipe is smoother and how as this been objectively measured? Perhaps they changed to a cheaper supplier and are dressing up the flavour change as an improvement.

Of course they retrain their barristas — Gen Y teens with the attention span of a gnat would need constant reprogramming. They never look as though they are enjoying their duties when I see them in Maccas. Training on how to smile might help — but I’m sure you’ve touched on emotional labour before.

What the advt is really trying to sell is a satisfaction guarantee. They’re not the first company to offer that. But what percentage of customers complain when they get a distasteful coffee anyway? It’s a bit hard if you’ve taken it away.

For from being a mea culpa (mea cuppa?) I reckon it’s just another angle to get into the minds of consumers.

For a real mea culpa, I liked the Coca-Cola re-launch of Mother.

Laziness as a driving motivator for consumerism is an interesting concept. The great philosopher Epicurus called this ataraxia — a state of homeostasis that we are all naturally motivated to achieve. Consumerism is driven psychologically and not culturally. Americanisation is not equal to consumerism as this is driven by psychology. Consumerism exists wher and whenever there is surpluses money. Americanisation is about how that consumption is shaped.