This is the personal blog of David Dekel elaborating on his daily life as an interim manager in Amsterdam and on his role as the CEO of Endeavour Enterprises N.V. The idea is to illuminate managerial aspects and challenges with a fresh view at daily events, blended with criticism, a little cynicism and some humor.
An old Chinese saying claims that even the longest voyage starts with a simple step forward. Let’s just hope this is a step in the right direction.
Enjoy the ride.
The famous Heineken brewery museum in Amsterdam just gained a new item. So far, the museum was dedicated to beer brewing related issues and the process of making it. About a year ago, the whole building went under constructions and today presenting enhanced audiovisual beer experience.
However, as from last night, there is an unusual additive to the building: the Dutch brewery started brewing browsers… Google Chrome to be exact. Slides of the browsers logo are projected on the outside wall of the Heineken building to be seen by nearly frozen by passers.
The following story would have been amusing if it wasn’t real.
It depicts the growing power social media gained in public opinion, access and usage. Just as much as it can contribute to a firm or individual PR, it can make a nightmare as well.
The story is a simple customer care issue that evolved via social media into an overnight nightmare, goes as follows:
An American guy named Dave Carroll flays United Airlines and in the process his guitar gets damaged in the cargo process. Carroll applies to UA, asks for covering his damage and the company takes few months to reply with a decision. Once they do take the decision it is not other than sorry, but no compensation, in so many words.
Retail bankers are letting consumers down,” said Meglena Kuneva, the European commissioner for consumer policy. This statement is published after a survey done by EU commission exposing that EU banks’ transparency and business conduct is much below expected level and is bordering violation of EU laws.
EU banking basic fees were reported to fluctuate from 27 Euros annual fees in Bulgaria, via 46 Euros in the Netherlands and up to 154 in France and 253 in Italy.
The EU report covers prices of various banking fees of 224 banks, accounting for 81% of the EU market.
I was invited today to the IBC award winning ceremony in Amsterdam. Someone must have thought I’d look good in the crowd. The ceremony was interesting, but first thing first. A little about IBC in general:
We are not strangers to each other. We have met before. It was March 2000 the month marked as the collapse of the Dot.com firms dragging with them the whole ICT industry. At the time I was a Director of Operations in a Dutch software firm with great products but wrong timing.
For those of you that joined the rat race after 2000, I can tell it was an amazing time back then, whereas just anyone could get an investment for any technology idea or a concept for a Dot.Com firm. The new firms were traded in much higher values they represented and a catastrophe was inevitable.
Great service is always appreciated. It is not every day that you run into a good service and I believe most people appreciate good service and remember it.
I for example, as a service oriented professional, am always on the lookout for good service and, always reword it with a letter or email and even write about it as you can see.
The truth is service quality made a giant leap last years’, especially due to the contribution of technology that made it possible to identify individuals, understand their preference, trace behaviour and being able to communicate with them on their own terms and in their own format of communication.
Her name is Susan Boyle, currently unemployed, 47 years old lady from West Lothian. Few days ago she walked on stage at the Britain’s got talent show and made history. She looked a bit out of place and definitely didn’t look like anything promising. After all, many talents are trying their luck on this show and Susan just didn’t look anything special to say the least.
She mentioned she never had a chance in her life to prove herself and chose to sing “I dreamed a dream” from “Les Mirserables” as if there was nothing easier.
It was interesting to view the judges’ and crowd first response to her. It seems as if none took her seriously and when she mentioned her dream to sing like Elaine Page it seems as if this cannot gone worse.
To our regret, about two years ago, the Tax authorities in the Netherlands have taken the decision not speak any language than Dutch while speaking to local taxpayers. The decision includes all communication with taxpayers even and especially if the Tax employee is able to express himself in other language.
This one-sided harsh decision was coming as a surprise to most non Dutch speaking people in the Netherlands and has caused a major frustration among individual as well as companies.
The Netherlands is characterized by hosting hundreds of foreign firms and thousands of expatriates living and working locally. Some governmental authorities such as the NFIA are concentrating their efforts on attracting foreign firms to invest in the Netherlands.
Ironically, the same Tax authority that grants the ruling 30% as an incentive to expatriates, is the very same authority that refuses speaking even English with them. Read the rest of this entry »
I would like to open my blog with a tribute to Captain Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger III and his crew that landed flight 1549 of US Airways into the Hudson River after hitting flock of birds minutes after takeoff. The amazing result was that this crew has saved the life of 150 passengers onboard.
We did not expect that. We expected something in line of the sea crush of the Hijacked Ethiopian Aircraft back in 1996. This was a remarkable landing that was a direct result of high professionalism and a little luck. The air traffic controller who was talking to the pilot, testified later on that when he heard of the captain’s decision to land on the Hudson, he was convinced he is the last person to talk to this flight. Read the rest of this entry »
