The last chapter in my book “Beyond Price” focuses on culture change as a key mechanism for realizing the growth potential of new business models. Business model specialist Patrick Stahler also emphasizes values and the culture they create. Chicago-area’s Tasty Catering provides an excellent demonstration of our arguments. Tasty Catering has an ambitious goal: being one of the best-known and most highly regarded companies in their industry. The Chicago-based company, which employs over 70 full-time and 150 part-time seasonal workers, is well on its way to realizing that vision. Inc. Magazine Best Top Workplaces, Wall Street Journal Best Small Workplaces, and Catering Magazine awards, among others, cover one wall. The secret of Tasty Catering’s success lies in the company’s culture of individual excellence and initiative, aligned around a shared aim of customer delight. Sound business practices with a customer focus Brothers Tom, Kevin…
Best experience business models drive customer expectations
I did not see my name on the Hertz’s Gold Car screen at Washington, DC’s Reagan International Airport on Saturday morning, the day before Mother’s Day. Securing a car quickly was one of the linchpins of my 950-miles-in-a-morning trip that I needed to make in order to catch my godson’s exhibit at Maryland College of the Arts (an hour drive away), have lunch with him, and still make it to my mom’s house (another 4.5 hours drive away) in time for dinner. Yes, the scheduling was tight with crazy connections, but the airlines came through and I could have arrived to dinner right on time had Hertz delivered on its promise of a “no frustration” car rental. With Hertz unprepared for my arrival and offering a route recommendation that unnecessarily added an hour to my driving time, my trip assumptions (and timeline) were…
A search for “the whole truth”
I used to love Meet the Press, the Sunday morning TV show where I’d gain new insights into a pressing public issue. Today the show feels more like a platform for propaganda from different sides of the political debate. For example, when guest Rachael Maddow tried to dig into the “fundamental disagreement about the facts” between Democrat’s and the GOP’s view on women’s economic issues, it could have been an opportunity for host David Gregory to add, “Might both arguments be true?” We, the audience, could have discovered how the issue is far more complex than the simplistic explanations offered by the propagandists. But it wasn’t understanding that increased, just the volume from each side spouting its pre-planned comments and incomplete solutions. The demise of what I (and many others) valued in Meet the Press is symptomatic of a larger trend in our…