Thursday, October 7, 2010

Contingency fee for professionals [2]

Should Singapore allow lawyers to charge contingency fee, i.e. they will get paid only on successful outcome of a legal case? Should this system be applied to medical specialists for expensive treatment that has a low chance of success?

Read the results of a survey in www.tankinlian.com/latest.aspx

http://tankinlian.com/admin/file.aspx?id=232

How to improve customer service

How can a company improve its customer service?
I have written a few articles on this topic.
Go to www.tankinlian.com/latest.aspx and search for "customer service".
You will get a few articles.
If you like the ideas, please pass them to the companies that you are a customer.

Customer Service - how to lose customers

Read this article
http://blog.getsatisfaction.com/2010/10/04/fastest-way-to-lose-customers/

My view
Many companies adopt the wrong strategy, causing a lot of pain for their customers. These companies apply technology in a bad way. A common sense approach and the ability to provide service from the perspective of the customer can make a lot of difference.Here are  my suggestions to improve customer service.

Explanation of Exchange Traded Funds

Read this article.

It is a good article to explain the difference between an ETF and a mutual fund.

Global penetration of the internet

Read this article

My view
The Internet has changed the world significantly. It has the potential to make further changes, to improve efficiency. But, the world economy has to be restructured to allow the benefits of the productivity improvement to lead to a better quality of life. Although the internet penetration is less than 30%, this figure is already very significant. Those without the internet connection can get the help of family members or neighbors to access the services through the internet. But, government and business entities need to learn how to use the power of the internet.

You can read my "Story of Bright Town" to understand how the Internet can improve efficiency in e-government services. The soft copy is available free. The hard copy can be bought here.

There is a prototype portal based on this book, which can be accessed here.

Hot money

Read this article
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69511I20101006

My views
The developed economies have reduced the interest rate to near zero. They are printing a lot of money. These money are moving into the emerging economies causing their currency to appreciate and asset bubbles. It is how messy the globalised world has now become.

Currency wars threaten global recovery

Read this article:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11484532

My view
Here is another example of the failure of the current global system. There is no point in having a global economy, if it causes the types of economic problems that have to be addressed through "currency manipulation". It is better to allow countries to have some form of protectionism to preserve their national identity and interest, rather than have a globalised economy that serves the interest of the large global companies.

Read my view on "restructure the global economy" in www.tankinlian.com/latest.aspx.