What Peter Drucker Would Be Reading

Recent selections from around the web that, we think, would have caught Peter Drucker’s eye:

1.   Why Samsung Paid $5 Million to Give Away the New Jay-Z Album: If you’re willing to go any length to obtain Jay-Z’s new album, “Magna Carta Holy Grail,” three days before anyone else does, then perhaps you should purchase a Samsung Galaxy phone (assuming you haven’t already). Samsung has paid $5 million for the privilege of making Jay-Z’s album available to its Galaxy phone users a few days early. But, explains Bloomberg Businessweek’s Joshua Brustein, Samsung isn’t expecting to gain a lot of phone sales, much less earn a profit, with this offering: “Instead, it’s hoping that the next time someone’s contract is up, she’ll remember that Jay-Z exclusives are the kind of thing she can expect to hold over her iPhone-toting friends if she buys a Galaxy phone.”

2.   Wal-Mart’s Everyday Hiring Strategy: Add More Temps: You can get a six-month job at Wal-Mart, and then you can get another six-month job at Wal-Mart. What you may not be able to get, however, is a full-time position. Reuters has a thought about the likely effects: “It also could set an example for some other companies as they look for ways to cushion themselves from a potential rise in healthcare costs next year as a result of President Barack Obama’s health care reforms.”

3.  European Countries Lead World in Distrust of Banks: Well, the headline gives it away, but the polls are striking. Europeans and Americans do not trust their banks. Canadians and Asians do. Gallup notes, “Even in the EU’s largest funder of the eurozone bailouts, Germany, fewer than four in 10 (38%) expressed confidence in their country’s financial institutions.” What does it all mean for consumer confidence—and for trust in general?

4.  Dx Comment of the Week: Last week, when we asked which companies have the best customer service, reader Michael Leddy wrote with the following answer:

Though it may be stating the obvious: Apple. I’ve had nothing but good experiences in stores and the two times (in six years) I’ve had to call tech support. . . .The support person’s willingness to confer with a higher-up to resolve the hardware problem (a battery, properly maintained but long out of warranty) was impressive. Apple’s follow-up e-mail request for feedback — with “thank you” printed in more than two dozen languages — is lovely.

 

A less obvious choice: almost any Greek diner. Mediterranean hospitality is a beautiful thing.