Luddites get left behind in a changing world
ICATCH up with local events when I’m in my car and listening with half an ear to the radio. The other day I listened to an interview with one of the office-bearers of the Metered Taxi Association who was apparently enraged by the fact that a number of Uber taxi operators had been granted operating licences.
The interview went something like this: “The Uber taxis are operating unfairly,” the taxi man claimed. “Why is it unfair?” asked the interviewer. “Because we have set rates and the Uber taxis can change their rates as they like.”
“Well, what’s to stop you changing your rates to compete with them?” asked the interviewer.
“We publish our rates and display them on our vehicles. The Uber people increase their rates when there’s a big demand, like when there’s a big event happening.” “Can’t you change your association rules so you can vary your rates like the Uber taxis do?” “That would be chaotic. We need to have standard rates.” “But the Uber taxis seem to be doing very well with their system. They don’t appear to be unusually chaotic.” “They use technology to advise their customers of their rates.”
“So is there anything to stop you using the same technology?” “That’s not the way we operate.”
The interview seemed to be going nowhere. The old-style taxi chap was just angry because somebody had come along with a new system that seemed to work better than his old system. No amount of discussion would persuade him to change his mind.
I think that may be rather typical of the South African way of doing business. If somebody comes along with a rival company and starts taking away your customers, there are several ways you, as a true South African, will react.
You may try to buy out the newcomer, fire the directors and incorporate it into you own inefficient company. You could apply to the Competitions Board for protection, thus preventing the newcomer from doing business. You might hire a hit man to kill the owner of the new company. You might even rent a crowd and tell them the newcomer is a foreigner who is taking away your jobs and should have his premises burned and looted.
The very last thing a true South African businessman will think of doing is studying the newcomer’s methods of operating, seeing why they are more successful than your own, and then adapting your own business to compete on equal terms.
Goodness me, what a daft idea! What planet do you come from?
Last Laugh
A top English-speaking salesman was sent to the Middle East where he was given the job of selling a new brand of cold drink in Arab countries. After a few months, he returned most disheartened and confessed he had not sold a single bottle of the drink. “What went wrong?” asked the sales manager. “I don’t know,” said the salesman. “I designed three pictures and had them published in every Arab newspaper and magazine. The first showed a man dying of thirst in the desert. The second showed the man being offered a bottle of our drink and the third one showed him smiling and happy.” “Well, that should have worked,” said the manager. “I wonder what went wrong.”
The office cleaner, an Egyptian, interrupted: “Sir, I think I can answer your question.” “What do you know about salesmanship?” asked the boss. “Nothing, sir, but I do know Arabs read from right to left.”