The glacier moves

[Ukridge]

Ah, I see that the glacier that is the airline industry has over the past few days shifted three or four Angstroms. What movement! It is really an avalanche now! By this time next year it may have even moved a millimeter.
I am starting to realize that watching anything that has to do with the airline industry is very much like watching Japanese theater in that so much of the action seems to be taking place out of sight of the viewer. For example, why in the blazes must these executives bleat out mutterings of “the customer will be served?â€￾ Do any of them really think about this before they say it?
I would maintain that in any amoral capitalistic undertaking that there exists two complete opposites that must be fused together. The prime motive is of course to return the investor’s investment and in this undertaking the customer simultaneously plays both a vital and yet an oblique roll. Vital in that the customer must purchase the product or service for the firm to succeed, and yet oblique in that his happiness and satisfaction is not the true intent of investing money in an enterprise – otherwise it would be charity or a non-profit. A balance must be struck.
So the question I pose is thus: Why do executives and marketing departments even go through the charade of touting “increased customer efficiencies?â€￾ Yes, they very well may indeed result and everyone benefits but it at the very heart of the matter is not the true intent. Why pretend that it is. Is it the "oil" that smooths such transactions?
Perhaps I am looking at this backward and must realize that this is similar to the member from Lansdowne standing to respond to the remarks of the member from Breezedale. He will preface his statement by calling the member the Rt. Honorable Gentleman even though he may think Breezedale has spawned the greatest cad and bounder ever to draw air. Maybe this is just the the palvum that needs to accompany these business press conferences?
Thoughts?

 

[novaqt]

Ah, I see that the glacier that is the airline industry has over the past few days shifted three or four Angstroms. What movement! It is really an avalanche now! By this time next year it may have even moved a millimeter.
I am starting to realize that watching anything that has to do with the airline industry is very much like watching Japanese theater in that so much of the action seems to be taking place out of sight of the viewer. For example, why in the blazes must these executives bleat out mutterings of “the customer will be served?â€￾ Do any of them really think about this before they say it?
I would maintain that in any amoral capitalistic undertaking that there exists two complete opposites that must be fused together. The prime motive is of course to return the investor’s investment and in this undertaking the customer simultaneously plays both a vital and yet an oblique roll. Vital in that the customer must purchase the product or service for the firm to succeed, and yet oblique in that his happiness and satisfaction is not the true intent of investing money in an enterprise – otherwise it would be charity or a non-profit. A balance must be struck.
So the question I pose is thus: Why do executives and marketing departments even go through the charade of touting “increased customer efficiencies?â€￾ Yes, they very well may indeed result and everyone benefits but it at the very heart of the matter is not the true intent. Why pretend that it is. Is it the "oil" that smooths such transactions?
Perhaps I am looking at this backward and must realize that this is similar to the member from Lansdowne standing to respond to the remarks of the member from Breezedale. He will preface his statement by calling the member the Rt. Honorable Gentleman even though he may think Breezedale has spawned the greatest cad and bounder ever to draw air. Maybe this is just the the palvum that needs to accompany these business press conferences?
Thoughts?

Ukridge...God Luv Ya!!!

The answer is...it sounds and looks good in the media! Wall Street only cares about ROI. The CFO is responsible for the ROI and in order to keep increasing ROI quarter after quarter, he recommends that the company outsource the jobs of our good frontline employees here in favor of lost cost hard to understand vendors in India. Good customer service??? Not. However, the company makes money on the errors the vendors make. Now, in order to try keep customers loyalty during these trying times, the airline CEO and the CFO give press conferences touting the measures and/or new plans to be enacted for customer service excellence. The latest and greatest models right out of Booze Allen or Baker and McKenzie or Goldman Sachs. 🙄

 

[casual rat]

The CFO and CEO are distanced so far away from the front-line, that they depend on someone else's picture of what truly transpires. All that execs want is lower costs than the competition. The fallacy that they believe in, is that all the numbers (aka employees) are the same in terms of performance. In the real world, people will strive and spend more energy on trying to get out of their responsibilities. Other people simply strive to do their best for the customer. On paper, BOTH are the same. So executive views are biased, which makes them appear to be stupid. Trouble is, UA hasn't hired a Management team who can tell the difference between the performers and non performers. Unions protect the non performers, because they pay the same dues as the performers. Until UA gets away from their numerology to describe human behavior, the customer will pay in the way of disservice.