Japanese Housewives, Trend Setting, Life Changing : Global Recession

It seems that the current global economic recession will be a trend setting one.
Futurists are saying now that the current economic recession will fundamentally change some of our behaviors and world view. Among others, it is predicted that people will become more cynical towards the so called environmentally friendly behaviors that we are supposed to practice. Take for example the little notices that we find in hotel baths asking us to re-use towels purportedly to save the environment by reducing the usage of detergent. But, we all know that whether we use one towel or two will in the final analysis, be of no consequence as everything else about the entire hotel industry is a colossal waste of resources. There will be a sort of back to basics ‘movement’ with home cooked meals and DIY habits once again taking root. People will be less of a consumer and more of a producer-consumer as in the agrarian societies of old.

And, Japanese housewives apparently will have a big say on which way this recession is going to go. Did you know that these gentle ladies of Nippon collectively control such a vast amount of money that if they do actually act in unison, they can move markets? Reminds me of my grandmother and her 'hoard' of cash under her pillow.

Well, trend setting or not, I think some things will never change and some should not. This past week or so, I have been busy delivering workshops and presentations to clients and despite all this doom and gloom, it is heartening to see that there are many consummate professionals out there who have just simply dug in and continue to do what they are supposed to do. I have already come across a couple of HR leaders who are going around doing their duties with utmost professionalism already knowing that they a mere months away from becoming redundant themselves. Yet, they are heroically putting up a confident front for the sake of their colleagues who are already departing the ranks. One even jokingly told me that “Well, you know…..we sink with the ship…”.

Coming back to the so called trend-setting recession as this one is touted to be, I believe that organizations should not allow any aspects of good corporate behavior to be compromised. Take for example, the nightmarish experience that my cousin had with a car dealer recently. After months of agonizing on which model to go for, he finally decided to buy a VW GTi. A truly mean machine and I was all excited for him but the whole experience for him has probably left a bad taste in his mouth. Firstly, barely 2 weeks after he paid his booking fee, the company announced a discount of RM20,000 on this particular model! When my cousin wanted to cancel his booking, the salesman convinced him otherwise by promising some extras which sounded good….if only they were fulfilled. The conclusion of this story is that this salesman used abusive verbal barrage against my cousin who yet again called this guy to get what he was promised! The whole experience turned out to be a bad one. The car is there. But, the buying experience is not there and being a net-generation, I can bet you that my cousin has already shared his experience with others and this particular dealership just dug his own grave : Allowing an un-ethical salesman to be in its midst and not doing anything about it.

I have been thinking about the RM20,000 reduction issue. It is the prerogative of the business owner to do what he needs to do to maintain his business. This is called strategy. But, could this strategy not be executed in a better way? For example, shouldn't the dealership and salesman forewarned buyers that there will be a discount offered soon BUT with some add-ons not being offered. That way, those who really want these add-ons will just buy at the current price as they have their eyes set on these extras while those who look at these as only ‘nice to haves’ may opt to wait for the discount to take effect. But, reducing such a hefty amount with no differentiation on the product will leave a bad taste on the more recent buyers who had to pay the higher price. Do you need an MBA to know this?

There is a reason why the term ‘Economic cycle’ was coined. It is a cycle! The economy will not stay down forever. But by resorting to unethical and unfriendly measures to both customers and employees, companies are just prolonging their troubles as when things get better and as more choices are made available, both consumers and employees will forsake these businesses. Pain lasts longer than most people would like to believe.

I salute those companies and business owners out there who have not changed their ethical ways to make a quick buck..no matter how justified that could have been made out to be.