J.C. Penney has issued a new advertisement apologizing to its customers for the mistakes that the firm made during the past year or so. I have to commend the move. It takes guts to come out with such a commercial, acknowledging serious merchandising/pricing errors. However, customers needed to hear this message. Moreover, the message is strong and effective not simply because of the apology, but because it includes an explicit invitation for customers to return. What else is needed? J.C. Penney needs to follow up this ad by explaining to customers what has changed. What did they learn from these mistakes? How have they rectified past errors? What will be different when customers return? The firm has to answer these questions to overcome the hesitation that some customers will have about returning to the stores.
Showing posts with label apology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label apology. Show all posts
Friday, May 3, 2013
Thursday, July 19, 2012
What Does a Business Apology Mean in Different Cultures?
Posted on 2:21 PM by Unknown
Yesterday, I taught my case on BP and the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill here in Tokyo. We had a very interesting discussion regarding BP's actions both before the accident and in the immediate aftermath. Some Japanese executives felt that BP CEO Tony Hayward should have put forth a clearer, more direct apology immediately. Others were not so sure, pointing out that the US is a highly litigious society.
I brought up a study by Insead's William Maddux which he conducted along with Tetsushi Okumura of Japan's Nagoya City University as well as USC's Peter Kim and Northwestern's Jeanne Brett. They have studied the meaning and function of apologies across cultures. They found a difference between what they call "individual-agency cultures" such as the US and "collective" cultures such as Japan. In the US, an apology means that one is taking the blame for a failure. On the other hand, in Japan, apologies are "general expressions of remorse rather than a means to assign culpability." Perhaps because of this difference in meaning, they found that the Japanese tend to apologize more often, even if they were not at fault for particular actions. The findings definitely resonated with the Japanese executives with whom I discussed the BP case yesterday. They acknowledged that apologies do take on a different meaning in their country. As executives work and do business in different countries, they would be well-served to understand these key differences.
I brought up a study by Insead's William Maddux which he conducted along with Tetsushi Okumura of Japan's Nagoya City University as well as USC's Peter Kim and Northwestern's Jeanne Brett. They have studied the meaning and function of apologies across cultures. They found a difference between what they call "individual-agency cultures" such as the US and "collective" cultures such as Japan. In the US, an apology means that one is taking the blame for a failure. On the other hand, in Japan, apologies are "general expressions of remorse rather than a means to assign culpability." Perhaps because of this difference in meaning, they found that the Japanese tend to apologize more often, even if they were not at fault for particular actions. The findings definitely resonated with the Japanese executives with whom I discussed the BP case yesterday. They acknowledged that apologies do take on a different meaning in their country. As executives work and do business in different countries, they would be well-served to understand these key differences.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Amazon Apologizes for Lady Gaga Error
Posted on 6:11 AM by Unknown
Amazon moved quickly this week to rectify the problem that hindered customers from taking advantage of a terrific deal on the new Lady Gaga album. On Monday, when Amazon offered Lady Gaga's new album for only 99 cents, customers rushed to download it. The incredible demand overwhelmed Amazon's systems. To their credit, Amazon apologized for the error, fixed the problem, and then brought the offer back to its customers on Thursday. The company deserves credit for learning from its less effective response to its cloud service difficulties just a few weeks ago, when it was slow to acknowledge the problem and apologize to customers.
The story offers a few key lessons for managers. First, learning from your stumbles and translating that learning into immediate improvement can have a powerful positive effect. In addition, when you do make a mistake, you have to do three things. First, you have to acknowledge your error publicly. Second, you have to fix the problem. Finally, you have to remedy the situation with your customers when you are sure that you are able to serve them effectively. Too many companies either are too slow to admit their mistakes, or they rush to make it up to customers when they still aren't ready to offer an exceptional service experience. Amazon took a couple days to get the problem ironed out before coming back to its customers with the deal on Thursday.
The story offers a few key lessons for managers. First, learning from your stumbles and translating that learning into immediate improvement can have a powerful positive effect. In addition, when you do make a mistake, you have to do three things. First, you have to acknowledge your error publicly. Second, you have to fix the problem. Finally, you have to remedy the situation with your customers when you are sure that you are able to serve them effectively. Too many companies either are too slow to admit their mistakes, or they rush to make it up to customers when they still aren't ready to offer an exceptional service experience. Amazon took a couple days to get the problem ironed out before coming back to its customers with the deal on Thursday.
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