Week 5 Blog Post #4 Chapter 11 Page 356

Phone Rage

The topic of phone rage is discussed in Chapter 11 and I found this topic very interesting because I can definitely relate to this topic on a day to day level. Phone rage is very unwanted and unnecessary in that you are affecting the person on the other end of the phone whether you mean to or not and possibly ruining their day. I know that I have to make numerous phone calls a day and sometimes the people I come across just seem to be flat out angry people. I don't understand how this could happen because this is your job and you are supposed to be professional so how can they treat me this way when first of all they don't even know me, and second, the reason for my call is business. When people are rude to me or angry with me on the phone I know I shouldn't take it personally but it can sometimes get to me and change my mood that day. Also personal issues discussed over the phone are never necessary. For example I once had a lady tell me that her husband had just passed unexpectedly and she went on for about five minutes explaining this to me and why she couldn't get something to me right away. It was very depressing and though I understand she probably needed someone to talk to, it made me feel uncomfortable and guilty for even asking something of her.

Week 5 Blog Post #3 Chapter 10 Page 312

Differentiation

Chapter 10 discusses how organizations use the strategy of differentiation to stand out among competition. A great example that is brought up is Nordstrom. Though there are other department stores that sell the same product as Nordstrom, for some reason this particular company stands out compared to its competitors. I know that people think that Nordstrom is higher end than its competitors and I know that people would rather shop at Nordstrom rather than the other stores even though they sell the same exact products. I feel much more comfortable shopping at Nordstrom than I would shopping at Macy's because I feel the surroundings are more organized and cleaner and the customer service is excellent. There is a huge difference in the atmosphere in these two stores even though if you compared the two the sell almost the same items and even the same brands, with only a few differences. And this is how Nordstrom has effectively used differentiation to separate itself from the others and come out as the number one department store.