The giant crumbles?
February 4, 2010
One of the largest corporations of the 20th Century, Toyota, is going to be regretting the current debacle with their “accelerator” issue for decades. What could have been a small blip on the radar (surprisingly few instances of the issue have been formally recorded – and even less deaths), will ultimately turn into the worst PR disaster in current automotive history. Toyota has (up till now) been seen as an adaptable, progressive company that employs some of the greatest brains in the automotive industry. Responsible for the implementation of one of the greatest boons of 20th century manufacturing, lean manufacturing, the revolutionary and conquering Scion brands, and even seem to be the preferred supplier of transport to everyone from the UN to Al Qaeda. In the last 50 years no Automotive company has accomplished so much, in fact, few companies have accomplished so much. It seems apparent however, that in the hunt to be the largest producer of the most expensive consumer product currently available, and relieve GM of its mantle that it has held since the dawn of time they seem to have started to make mistakes that seem more GM… than Toyota.
The thing is, GM probably wouldn’t even have made the multitude of mistakes that Toyota has recently.
Toyota has (rightly) held a reputation of being the most reliable vehicles available for sometime. They perhaps single handedly are responsible for the improving the automotive marketplace worldwide and making manufacturers more accountable to build higher quality product for consumers and providing a higher level of service, however as late their reputation seems to have come into question. Growing pains? Poor Structure? Lowering of production cost? Lost focus?
Well – Toyota has always had a very interesting management strategy. Everything comes from the top. Few vehicles of Toyota have ever been developed outside of the Japan, even if it was a vehicle only to be sold in the US market, and even the plants that are built around the world today are carbon copies of their production plants in Japan, any important management decision comes from Japan. It seems in this instance that this reliance on a “top-heavy” style management structure has caused Toyota to perhaps miss the importance (particularly in the US market) of a customer centric approach.
Up till now, the Ford Explorer recall in the 90’s was the most expensive recall to date, with 2billion lost in direct costs, and an estimated further 8billion lost in indirect costs. I would anticipate that this recall will well exceed that.
Internet is the future…
December 26, 2009
I was informed by someone this week, when they inquired as to what I did for employment that “the Internet is the future”.
Pondering the statement, I thought more about it. This individual was in their 20’s, appeared to be reasonably technically savy, but they thought that the Internet is the future?
I find the statement from Sony Pictures CEO, Michael Lynton amusing and relevant;
I’m a guy who doesn’t see anything good having come from the Internet
For reference, Michael Lynton was previously the president of a small company called AOL.
I appreciate that the Internet is the cause of a lot of creative destruction, where all forms of content is pilfered, extrapolated, pirated and just down right abused. Lynton further said
[The internet has] created this notion that anyone can have whatever they want at any given time. It’s as if the stores on Madison Avenue were open 24 hours a day. They feel entitled. They say, ‘Give it to me now,’ and if you don’t give it to them for free, they’ll steal it.
This I could only agree with as well. The Internet espouses not only a sense of entitlement to be able to get what you want, when you want it, and pay nothing for it, but also a sense of anonymity, in that you are entirely removed from the consequences of your own actions. Given one of the theories of road rage evolves from the sense that the physical barrier of your vehicles windows/panels empowers an individual to be much more bold in their actions to other road users than they would be in a normal social setting – and the subsequent “flipping of the bird” and colorful language than ensue – when you are 15, sitting in your bedroom in your underpants, typing out a comment on your favorite youtube video, because some ignorant fool just disgraced your mother and your family heritage, you can see this “social removal” in place.
Same with the downloading of pirated content, very few people see that downloading Batman is essentially putting some very poor movie script writers out of work, and those that do probably don’t care that much.
So, we have discovered that the Internet isn’t always necessarily “good”, but back to our original comment “the future“?
This statement I think could be correct, if it was made about 15years ago. We saw a stratospheric rise in the Internet business in the late nineties, followed by one of the most cataclysmic collapses in stock market history. From here however, the Internet industry has evolved and developed and it has captivated our attention: Time on internet doubled in last 10 years
Within 15 years it has caused the downfall (if not the demise) of conventional media streams.
So, while the Internet isn’t necessarily good, its hardly the future.
How to cook a good steak
December 25, 2009
Having grown up with our “own” beef, and spending some time working for BBQ’s Galore, I have been fortunate enough to have quite some practice at cooking steak.
People are often fooled into automatically thinking that a “nicer” type of steak will be better, this isn’t always the case.
As a general rule, lighter shades of meat indicate the animal had a less stressful time at slaughter and subsequently the acids released by its body in a state of “calmness” (as opposed to stress) after slaughter will equal a more tender (and flavorsome) steak.
Be careful to check the “best before” date however – as steaks age, its color becomes lighter, you do not want to mistake a cut of steak from an animal that wasn’t stressed for a steak that is actually well past its use-by date!
Other things to look for is fat “marbling” through the steak, this is small speckles/lines of fat (unless, of course, your looking at lean cuts such as tenderloin, flank steak, skirt steak, etc. which will have little if any marbling in the interior of the muscle).
Do NOT mistake gristle for marbling however!
Lastly, make sure you choose a good thickness of a steak to ensure that the steak will cook well. Around 1″ (2.5cm) works well for pretty much all steaks (except skirt/flank which will be much thinner)
First rule is that the steak should be at room temperature all the way through before cooking (this means leaving it out, but covered, for around 1hr prior to cooking).
If you have a good cut of steak, it is a waste to utilize marinades, just pat a bit of salt and pepper into all the sides of the steak will suffice, and you will get the flavor from the marbling in the steak.
If you do elect to use a marinade, make it light.
Skirt and Flank steaks work well with marinades however (make sure it is kept at least 12hrs in refrigeration with the marinade!)
Make sure the pan is very hot. Distribute a bit of oil over the pan, wait till you see a small bit of smoke coming from the oil, and gently place the steak on the plate. You are now going to “sear” the steak.
Leave on one side for around 90s and turn. Leave on the 2nd side for around 90s.
If the steak is 1″+ in thickness, also sear each edge of the steak for around 30s a side.
Turn down to medium heat.
Now you are going to “cook” the steak to your liking.
You are going to aim (for a 1″ steak) 6minutes total cooking time (this includes the time to sear the meat) for rare up to around 12 minutes for a well done steak.
Let the steak sit for around 6 minutes to allow the fluids and heat to equalize throughout the meat.
If your steak is extra thick (1.5″+), pre-slice it at a 45deg angle before serving.
Enjoy!
Users are your customers
December 13, 2009
In the age of social media and e-commerce eyeballs are the customers walking in your door.
Sounds simple.
Sounds common sense.
It is easily (and often) overlooked.
Whatever your intent is in creating a website, be it for profit, for enjoyment, for expression or just because its a Tuesday evening and you have nothing better to do with your time, take a step back for a second and examine how you can improve the end users experience, even if this is initially at the expense of your initial goal.
You have seconds to grasp a customer and a minute chance of keeping them.
Engage and captivate.
A website is often seen as a one way conversation, a site giving the end user what they seek, a marketing tool and also as I have (scaringly!) heard, the future!
A website should be like a good restaurant.
You should have people outside greeting the potential customers, engaging them, showing them where there are tables available; they came here to eat, right? A waiter should arrive promptly with water and menus and inform the customers of the evening specials. Whenever there is an expression of interest in a dish, he should describe the meal in greater detail. He should provide the customers with an enjoyable experience.
Likewise, a website should invite a user in, it should have a smile (and hopefully a laugh!), it should captivate them, it should provide them with the knowledge they need and not overwhelm them with what they don’t.
IOTA has a great presentation on some of the great rules of building a website for your customers:
Above all else, build a website that you would want to visit.
Travel, cooking and web 2.0+ 