For all the MiM regulars...

[Chromatix]

...here's an article describing how "typical" management policies don't work, with a real-life example.

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/10...hort-7-months/

[lordlundar]

Oddly enough, this almost mirrors my last retail experience. When I came in we had a store manager that cared for the employees, worked with them and fostered not only service over sales, but cooperation amongst all staff. The store ran smoothly and made a good chunk of money.

Then he got promoted and we got a SM who I worked with before who was a cheapass bean counter. Sales were king, screw good customer service and the more cutthroat you were, the better. I lasted 3 months under his "command" such as it was and never did get a good reason for being forced to resign apart from my personal sales numbers weren't high enough for him despite solid profits in the department.

Turns out he lasted until just after the holiday season before he got sacked himself but when I got turfed, the store was in pretty bad shape.

[MoonCat]

The core of this is in the part that tells about him cutting hours, training and even the cleaning budget. All for more profits. What's behind this? GREED.

As if Apple doesn't already make more money than God.

[Chromatix]

Here's the thing. At a place like Dixons most of the major items are under heavy price competition, so margins are very thin. This leads to the pressure to minimise staffing costs and push high-margin accessories and extended warranties. Shame on Apple for not *verifying* the customer experience at Dixons before hiring from there, but that's where it comes from.

By contrast, Apple's major items are *high* margin, and infamously so - the latest iPhones sell for 2-3 times the cost of making them, for example. This means that they can afford to provide a premium customer experience and the staff necessary to provide it. That accessories and warranties are also high-margin just means that staff should recommend them when appropriate, rather than pushing them hard.

I should note that AppleCare is one of the best-value extended warranties going, at least when applied to a complete computer - I only wish it was available for 5 years instead of only 3, since a Mac tends to last a long time if not abused to hell. For example, I'm typing this on a MacBook Pro that is already 6 years old, and which I don't feel any particular need to upgrade from.

The happy ending here is that the CEO has seen how bad the new policies are, identified the root cause, and removed it - hopefully before the brand image is too badly affected. I hope he will be more careful about picking his replacement.