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June 30, 2005

It's an eBay World After All

If the volume of business on eBay is any indication, then the old saw "one man's trash is another man's treasure" seems to have global resonance. Among the many fascinating tidbits in last night's CNBC special on the company was this staggering statistic: with 135 million customers, eBay would qualify as the ninth most populous nation in the world. This year alone, all those sellers will list 1.8 billion items for auction, making it the mother of all yard sales. Last year, the company sold $40 billion worth of junk.

Continue reading "It's an eBay World After All"

Posted by Linda Tischler at 4:00 PM | 4 Comments

The $2 Billion Fire

At the end of 2000, Ericsson announced a $2.34 billion loss in its mobile phone division, a huge number that was the wholly unintended result of a tiny event--a small fire at a chipmaking plant owned by Ericsson supplier Philips NV. The damage to Philips, however, only totalled about $40 million in lost revenue.

How a small problem at just one end of your supply chain can morph into a devastating loss if you're not careful is the subject of a interesting new book called Resilient Enterprise: Overcoming Vulnerability for Competitive Advantage, by Yossi Sheffi, an MIT professor who directs the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics. His premise is that a company's success depends more on what its executives do before a crisis than how they act during that crisis.

Continue reading "The $2 Billion Fire"

Posted by Jennifer Reingold at 3:53 PM | 5 Comments

A Total Lack of Customer Service

We've begun to survey Fast Company readers for this year's Customers First Awards, and my early afternoon lunch run made me think of customer service in a slightly different light.

I love Pret a Manger. The food is so good and so fresh -- but slightly expensive. What I like even more is the retail experience. For that's what it is. Sans the counter staff, Pret is the automat of the 2K's. You walk in, you pick your food, you pay.

Pret is a food service first -- staff are needed to make the food fresh every day -- and a retail operation second -- staff are needed to take your money. But the experience at the checkout is akin to dropping coins in a slot. I hardly exchanged two words with the checkout girl, and I'm curious: Were Pret just a tad less expensive -- and they brought back an automat to the corner of 42nd and 3rd -- would I eat there every day? I well might.

What other businesses seem to be entirely free of customer service?

Posted by Heath Row at 2:43 PM | 6 Comments

Reinventing the Cell Phone

A couple of years ago, Fast Company contributor Scott Kirsner took cell phone makers to task for offering products that were overly feature rich -- when all he wanted to do was make a simple phone call.

PC World's Grace Aquino recently offered her top 10 cell phone wish list. While Mike Masnick's commentary on the article in the Feature digs a little deeper, one point is clear: Cell phones could learn a lot from PCs.

That said, one thing frustrated me about both items. With cell phones, people want to be able to do things. They don't necessarily care how those things are done or what acronyms make it all possible. Ditch the tech speak and focus on use. The technology should be transparent.

Posted by Heath Row at 1:51 PM | Add Comment

Well Worth It?

Buckingham Palace released their annual report estimating that the royal family costs each person in Britain 60p per year. An expense debated by the British people every year.

The annual justification is that the royal family generates more in tourist revenue than they cost taxpayers. Their roles are largely ceremonial, and it can be argued that the constant photo ops and travel generate buzz for their product. Otherwise they don't really do anything except generate expenses like a £5 million for travel including a helicopter to take Prince Charles 20 miles from his home in Gloucester to Highgrove. Dennis Kozlowski and other self-professed "ceremonial CEOs" could rack up £5 million for travel in a mere afternoon.

I doubt the the Royal Family would invoke the celebrity spokespeople defense if they were really in fear of losing their jobs. Are they worth the money? Would you be willing to pay the equivalent in taxes for a ceremonial head of state?

Posted by Kerry-Ann Austin at 1:05 PM | 1 Comment

Logo, Going, Gone

Graphic Design USA has published its analysis of Logo Trends 2005, and the results are insightful. Among this past year's trends:

• folly stars
• amalgams
• cmyk
• flames
• wicker balls
• puffies
• line dots
• swirlys

Alone, none of the example logos look particularly egregious, but when you group four new logos, all which use leaves as part of their design, the consistency can become overwhelming. How cliched is your company's logo?

Posted by Heath Row at 12:56 PM | 1 Comment

Irony of the Day

One of the leading telemarketing firms in the UK is called the Listening Company.

A special calibre of call handler is required for this market with strong objection handling skills to get across the key sales messages and deal with complex business issues. ... We employ a very high calibre of caller in our B2B units who are capable of getting through to, engaging and handling objections from senior managers and directors.

I guess it depends on what you mean by "listening."

[Thanks, John!]

Posted by Heath Row at 12:48 PM | 1 Comment

June 29, 2005

Open for Business

The Open Business Guide is a Creative Commons project supported by George Soros' Open Society Institute that aims to collect a wide range of case studies and business strategies. The organizers hope to "share, mix and facilitate the spread of innovative business ideas" in a wiki-like setting.

One example already populating the business strategy section is the idea of making the original cheaper than a copy. As this resource is used by more innovative leaders around the world, I'm sure it'll become quite the useful tool.

[Thanks, Peter!]

Posted by Heath Row at 5:31 PM | 2 Comments

Intern BlogOff: Marketing to the Military (Con)

Congress finally did something this week about the predatory lending practices that have been taking advantage of military personnel for years.

Why do they need protection? Because they are essentially a captive audience.

Corporations know this -- and are in a perfect position to exploit those who don't really have a choice. Faced with deployment and military pay that may be below available civilian jobs, young service men and women turn to "payday" loans to pay their bills.

Continue reading "Intern BlogOff: Marketing to the Military (Con)"

Posted by Kerry-Ann Austin at 4:28 PM | Add Comment

Intern BlogOff: Marketing to the Military (Pro)

The House bill to limit marketing to the military is a good safeguard from unfair products or services, but the notion of marketing to a captive audience shouldn't be discounted. Some may argue that such direct marketing -- soldiers and officers are a captive audience in some ways -- is unfair. Why? It's a good practice to speak directly to your target group or demographic. That's a basic precept of advertising, sales, and marketing.

Continue reading "Intern BlogOff: Marketing to the Military (Pro)"

Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 4:19 PM | 2 Comments

Intern BlogOff

We'd like to introduce a new FC New feature today: the Intern BlogOff. About once a week, we'll pick a business news item or development and ask our Web interns -- Kevin Ohannessian and Kerry-Ann Austin -- to take opposing viewpoints on the issue or challenge.

Tune in later today for the first installment. The interns... blog off!

Posted by Heath Row at 4:15 PM | 1 Comment

Tracking the Hackers

I've ducked in quickly to the Where 2.0 Conference in San Francisco today, to see a couple sessions.

Tim O'Reilly, founder of the publishing and event company O'Reilly, which organized the conference, is making the case for observing what hackers, technophiles, and hobbyists are working on, if you care about where the next opportunities lie in high-tech. (He's using the positive definition of the term "hacker," meaning someone who plays with new technologies to explore the possibilities, much like Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak did in creating the first personal computer.)

Continue reading "Tracking the Hackers"

Posted by Scott Kirsner at 3:22 PM | 2 Comments

How (Not) to Hire

Today's London Times has a great story about a very strange job application, the six-page "minefield" form for wannabe British "Apprentice" stars.

Writer Andrew Ellson suggests that, right or wrong, unconventional answers like admitting to backstabbing in pressure-filled situations (potential worst quality) may get you hired for the no-holds-barred circus of a job under Amstrad's Sir Alan Sugar.

Continue reading "How (Not) to Hire"

Posted by Melissa Korn at 3:20 PM | Add Comment

How to Be Idle? II

Following on John's post, it seems laziness has become the new management fad in France. (Of course some might argue that in the land of mandated 35-hour work weeks French sloth is hardly a new concept.)

Corinne Maier, an economist for France's state-run electric utility, has penned a new treatise called Bonjour Paresse (Hello Laziness) on the virtues of laziness (we call it relaxation here in the States) that has swept the country faster than you can say, "French women don't get fat." Among her "10 commandments for the idle" comes this bon conseil: "It's pointless to try to change the system. Opposing it simply makes it stronger." Mais oui!

Posted by Ryan Underwood at 2:41 PM | Add Comment

Rant or Rave About Your Best and Worst Customer Experiences

It's time again for our annual Customers First Awards, where we honor the companies who get the customer experience right--and more importantly, tell you how they do it.

As part of our selection process, we'd like to tap the collective power of Fast Company's readers in voting for our finalists. Let us know what you think by taking our survey here. Complete the survey, and you'll be entered to win a 30GB iPod photo and Bose speaker system to go with it!

To learn about last year's winners, click here.

Posted by Jena McGregor at 2:36 PM | Add Comment

I Scream, You Scream

Starbucks is offering free ice cream today at 6,000 of its stores (I'm not sure how popular the giveaway is going to be at this one) as a way to drive sales at grocery stores.

Curiously enough, though, the company doesn't sell the ice cream, which it's been selling since 1995, at its retail stores. While this will surely be a nice little treat on a sultry afternoon throughout much of the country, how effective do you think it will be if you can't return to one of their ubiquitous stores for a scoop later on this summer? More importantly, what flavor to get?

Posted by Michael Prospero at 12:41 PM | 1 Comment

What I Did This Summer: Started an Airline

Plan to stay up for Letterman tomorrow night or at least set your Tivo. Not just to hear the infectious smoothness of the Eels, but to see Martin Halstead.

Following the flight paths of Sir Richard Branson and David Neeleman, the 18-year-old Brit is launching his own airline, alphaOne airways. Halstead, whose first business -- at 16 -- was designing flight simulation software, has partnered with a plane operator in his hometown of Oxford to provide service between Oxford and Cambridge. It's a common route for academics that isn't connected by rail service and hasn't had regular flights since the 1930s.

If the airline takes off -- no small if, of course -- maybe Halstead will get around to what most teenagers his age consider a major accomplishment: flying the coop. "My parents were gobsmacked at first, but now they see it's a serious business propsition, not just a whim," he told the BBC.

I confess, I'm a little gobsmacked myself.

Posted by Chuck Salter at 11:19 AM | 1 Comment

Apple Tunes in to Podcasting

With iTunes 4.9, Apple is endorsing podcasting. They are featuring 3000 podcasts, all subject to content approval. That raises flags in my view. No rants against Steve Jobs for sure. I do like the automatic episode updating and the concept of radio stations.

Some are saying that this may be the push which brings podcasting to the mainstream. Do you think podcasts will become the new 'thing'? And what are your favorite podcasts?

Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 11:16 AM | 2 Comments

June 28, 2005

How to Be Idle?

There's a new and curious book on work--or more specifically non-work--that was reviewed in The New York Times Book Review this past Sunday: "How to be Idle" by Tom Hodgkinson, founder of a British magazine called The Idler. Hodgkinson's view is that the chief problem with modern life is not work itself. It is jobs.

Now that's a counter-intuitive idea for us at Fast Company. We think work gives meaning to life and is a reflection of one's true self. Or at least that's the promise and expectation of what a meaningful job and a career provides a person. Hodgkinson puts it very differently:

Continue reading "How to Be Idle?"

Posted by Editor in Chief at 10:58 PM | 6 Comments

Best Business Blogs

What are your favorite company-run blogs? Internal-yet-authentic blogs that show what it's really like to work for a fast company?

Tell us.

Posted by Heath Row at 5:32 PM | 9 Comments

Fast Company... on the Air!

Fast Company team member Michael Prospero will discuss the products featured in the July issue's summer gadget guide (access code required) on ABC World News This Morning next week Wednesday, July 6, at 4:40 a.m.

Until then, check out our SlideShow of designer-approved products.

Posted by Heath Row at 5:13 PM | Add Comment

Consultants to Fraud

In a report to the Senate Finance Commitee the GAO revealed that states are using consultants who work on a contingency fee basis to increase their Federal Medicaid reimbursements. One consultant received $82 million after helping Georgia increase its federal contribution by $1.5 billion. All hail the contingency fee! Enriching lawyers and scoundrels everywhere.

Don't get me wrong: Contingency fees aren't inherently bad. Without them, low income litigants might never file suit. That said, it's important to note that many countries limit their use or prohibit them all together. People probably work harder if they know their salary is contingent on performance. Or do they? Does a possible $82 million dollar payday make you work harder at your job -- or does it incite greed when you can't keep up?

Posted by Kerry-Ann Austin at 1:05 PM | 2 Comments

Eye on the Price

Google's share price continues to rise.

How high do you think it will go? Take the Fast Company poll.

Posted by Heath Row at 11:15 AM | Add Comment

Competition in Legalese

It was bound to happen: AMD is suing Intel. This is an antitrust lawsuit alleging that Intel coerced PC-makers like Dell and Gateway, and national retailers like Best Buy and Circuit City, to boycott AMD processors. After Microsoft was bombarded with antitrust cases, it was just a matter of time before the second half of the 'wintel' equation was addressed.

From what I can tell, AMD has a decent case. We will have to await further details to form educated opinions. In the mean time, I worry that this could start a new trend. Is a competitor trouncing you? Sue him. Do you feel your product is underperforming due to unfair opposition? Take your rival to court. It does seem at times that America is a nation built on litigation, but capitalism is about competition. Such lawsuits should make competition more fair, and not replace it altogether. Let us hope the next year proves this to be the case.

Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 11:14 AM | Add Comment

Leading Ideas: Raw Emotion

"Sometimes a scream is better than a thesis." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American author, minister, & activist

A few weeks ago a client asked for my advice on how to deal with a staff member. The guy had jeopardized a major account because of thoughtless behavior. My client then reprimanded him. However, he still felt the guy didn't grasp how serious the situation was. I told my client, "You're so rational and calm that the guy doesn't know how angry you are. Support him, but really let him have it." He did that this week...and the guy got it.

Continue reading "Leading Ideas: Raw Emotion"

Posted by Doug Sundheim at 9:50 AM | 1 Comment

Charles Fishman: Loeb Award Winner

Great news for fans of Fast Company: We won the most prestigious honor in all of business journalism last night, the Loeb Award. Our senior writer, Charles Fishman, who has been a finalist in three of the of the last four years for Fast Company stories, won for his brilliant and highly original story, "The Toll of a New Machine," which appeared in the May, 2004 issue. Charles' story is a classic piece of sophisticated analytical magazine writing: He takes something utterly familiar--self-service kiosks in airports--and shows the technology in an utterly unexpected light. He accomplishes this with deft writing, counter-intuitive insights, and a surprising look back and over the horizon of how a technology-driven innovation impacts the world of work.

Continue reading "Charles Fishman: Loeb Award Winner"

Posted by Editor in Chief at 1:28 AM | 1 Comment

June 27, 2005

Sticking it to the Boss

It's no fun being the boss when everyone is out to get you. Just ask Phillip Purcell, embattled CEO of Morgan Stanley.

A consortium of former executives announce to the world via an ad taken out in The Wall Street Journal and interviews on CNBC that you're not doing your job well. Passed over and disgruntled executives leave en masse, about 30 all told. That put Purcell on even shakier ground; several of the executives were top producers. A mass exodus is a great way of showing solidarity and airing displeasure with current management without violating those pesky confidentiality agreements.

But what if it doesn't end happily? As previously mentioned, the July issue of New York Magazine tells the story of the power struggle at ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi, where 17 executives resigned and were all hired by a rival firm. A law suit is pending.

When is jumping ship not the wise thing to do? Would you organize mass resignation like this to stick it to management?

Posted by Kerry-Ann Austin at 5:28 PM | 1 Comment

What Decade Do They Think This Is?

If the market economy worked exactly as advertised, then American business would have realized by now that millions of women keep their names when they marry these days. Apparently the people who run the airline industry have yet to grasp this fact.

My wife and I discovered this when she had to take a domestic flight while I remained home. I tried to give her some of my frequent-flyer miles so she could upgrade from coach to business class, which the major airline was supposed to allow.

But because we have different last names--shocking, no?--they wouldn't believe that we are actually married. She offered to fax them a copy of our marriage license, but they wouldn't accept that. They insisted that I go with her to the check-in counter at the airport and vouch that she's my wife.

Talk about maintaining a reputation for bad customer service.

Posted by Alan Deutschman at 3:05 PM | 1 Comment

Wanted: A Few Good Foul Mouths

The WSJ had a story today about how local radio stations are scrambling to fill the morning drive-time void that will be left by Howard Stern when he trades in terrestrial radio for satellite at the end of this year. While apparently there are plenty of foulmouthed jerks out there, it seems nobody has quite mastered Stern's uncanny ability to pair just the right fart joke with curse-laden sexually explicit banter. And even if they have, nobody has built a national following that can be used, like Stern's, to pay the FCC fines and still make a handsome profit.

That got me to thinking that perhaps it wasn't Stern's ribaldry, per se, that made him the self-proclaimed "king of all media." Maybe (if Stern's hagiographic paean, Private Parts is to be believed) he got to where he is because when he started he was totally fresh, totally original, and totally un-tune-outable. All of which suggests that these radio stations are wasting their time looking for the next Howard Stern. How can someone like that be topped? He can't. Love him or hate him, he's an original. And that's what radio stations should be on the hunt for: somebody that totally upends radio's conventional wisdom. How do you think local stations should cope?

Posted by Ryan Underwood at 2:44 PM | 4 Comments

Mission Eyrie

Last month, Keith Hammonds shared some insight on a recent Fast Company mission statement revision session. The work built on earlier thinking from a couple of years ago, and with the recent news, we can continue to reinvent and refine the magazine.

Yesterday, FC Now reader "JLP" turned us onto his blog-based collection of mission statements. Man on a Mission compiles mission statements from organizations such as Albertson's, Barnes & Noble, Dow Chemical, and P&G. It's an interesting assemblage of what may be best-practice mission statements, and as the collection grows, it'll be even more intriguing.

What are the best mission statements you've ever encountered?

Posted by Heath Row at 12:02 PM | 1 Comment

June 26, 2005

If Your Job Ended Tomorrow...

For the past 33 days the entire Fast Company staff has been enduring what we call "purgatory." The space of utter limbo in which you don't know if every day at work will be your last. You know your company is up for sale, you know the chances of survival are slim, and yet you have to keep on working creatively to put out the best magazine you possibly can. Every minute is a personal battle of trying to focus on the micro when the macro is the subtext of your every move.

The thing is, at Fast Company, we all love our jobs. We have the unique 360 degrees of satisfaction: our work is meaningful, we deeply admire and respect our coworkers, we love the product we put out and all the people who are part of the process. So the thought of losing this amazing reality was heartbreaking for all of us. But, the interesting thing it did do was force each one of us to really think about, if our dream job came to an end, what would we do next? While none of us wanted to even contemplate that scenario it was a reality we had to consider.

Continue reading "If Your Job Ended Tomorrow..."

Posted by Danielle Sacks at 1:38 PM | 13 Comments

June 25, 2005

The Future of Fast Company: Part II

"The light which puts out our eyes is darkness to us.
Only that day dawns to which we are awake.
There is more day to dawn.
The sun is but a morning star."

So wrote Henry David Thoreau in Walden some 150 years ago. And with today's news that Fast Company and Inc. have been purchased by a quintessential entrepreneur, I find those lines as inspiring and fitting as ever. They are the four sentences that end Thoreau's classic reflection in the woods, the words that inspired our new owner, Joe Mansueto, to name his own company, Morningstar, 21 years ago.

Continue reading "The Future of Fast Company: Part II"

Posted by Editor in Chief at 9:12 AM | 18 Comments

June 24, 2005

Cubicle Dweller Humor

An amusing little book just came across my desk: "Fire me, please! 101 Ways to Get Fired from Your Miserable Job." Written by David Cordell, whose daydreaming during business meetings produced these musings, the book's premise is a riot even if it reflects a bit of sick humor. As for Cordell, he has been fired once and in his "about the author" section it's noted that he loves crispy bacon.

His Top Ten ways to get fired?

Continue reading "Cubicle Dweller Humor"

Posted by Editor in Chief at 11:29 PM | 8 Comments

The Value of Water Cooler Talk

Ever since G&J USA Publishing, our corporate parent, announced it put up for sale both Fast Company and Inc. 32 days ago, there has been plenty of unsourced news stories and lots of gossip. Living inside the swirl of it, waiting for an official company announcement, has the feel of being in a hostage drama. Yet it's not all that unusual: a new survey finds that employees are more likely to hear about changes to their workplace at the proverbial water cooler rather than straight from their bosses.

In fact, 63% of employees in the U.S. say they usually hear about important business matters first through rumor, according to research just published by consulting firm ISR. The firm found that rumors prevail because many business leaders are poor communicators. The end result: employees feel left out of decision making and less inclined to put in the extra effort needed to make their organization a success.

Continue reading "The Value of Water Cooler Talk"

Posted by Editor in Chief at 7:22 PM | 2 Comments

The Bagel Test

Are the people you work with honest? Take the bagel test.

One leader brought bagels into the office every week and set out a basket to solicit contributions to help cover the costs. The pay-up rate? 95%. But when he left that job to start a business delivering bagels to other companies and offices, the rate fell to 80%.

Is your workplace ripe for white-collar crime? Take the bagel test and see what happens.

[Thanks, Peter!]

Posted by Heath Row at 4:37 PM | 3 Comments

Keeping Customers, Creatively

Concerned about losing your customers? Maybe you need to find a new way to work with people and teams who've grown beyond your existing products and services. Ebay has done just that.

Rather than lose experience, high-volume vendors to their own online storefronts -- fancy that -- Ebay has found a way to keep working with vendors, even as they go independent. The plan? Ebay will provide a suite of online commerce tools and charge users between $6.95 and $249.95 a month depending on the depth of the tool set.

It's important to keep working with former employees. How do you keep working with former customers?

Posted by Heath Row at 12:42 PM | 1 Comment

Racism is Alive and Well and Its Home is in Retail

Oprah Winfrey not being allowed into an Hermes boutique in Paris is by no means the worst thing that has happened to a black person. But it is typical.

They didn't recognize the most powerful person in television so they treated her the way they probably normally treat their minority customers. These boutiques have an etiquette all their own and usually includes complete indifference if not outright rudeness by the sales people.

Continue reading "Racism is Alive and Well and Its Home is in Retail"

Posted by Kerry-Ann Austin at 11:53 AM | 47 Comments

June 23, 2005

BBC Adopts Tortoise as Official Mascot

In the wake of scandal and bad press, the BBC has unveiled a new set of editorial guidelines - set to take effect July 25 - stressing accuracy over speed. (Read the BBC reporting on the BBC here. AP story here.)

The big news concerns a time delay editors will use during particularly traumatic video feeds, but the subplot here is that BBC stories in general - on the web and on TV - will now be held to a new level of rigorous ethical standards. Or, as the new code reads, reporting "must be clearly editorially justified." Nice thinking, but as blogs continue to redefine the pace of news, can a slow-and-steady model work for a major news outlet?

In journalism, getting the truth and getting the "scoop" generally come hand in hand. After all, the scoop isn't much of a scoop if it turns out there's nothing behind it...

Continue reading "BBC Adopts Tortoise as Official Mascot"