On a lighter note: service levels of a papa during the World Cup

You can apply the business concept of service levels to personal relationships. In a family relationship, for example, there are stated and unstated rules about who is responsible for which chores or who does which activities. During the FIFA World Cup*, these rules are thrown off balance. Service levels of papas (and mamas if they are football fans) decline significantly. So do also the service levels of at least one blogger. 

Speaking of the World Cup in Germany, there is an interesting discussion going on in Germany about Jürgen Klinsmann, the German football coach. Only a month ago most of the press was complaining about his coaching methods and wished for a coach change. Now that the German team played much better than expected and created so much positive energy for Germany, the same press considers Klinsmann a hero asking him to stay on as the German football coach.  

Klinsmann, however, is taking his time to make the decision. He lives with his family in California and considers life there easier than in Germany. Is some of that ease driven by better customer service in the US, where unlike in Germany, good service levels are the rule, not the exception?  

Easier life abroad may, by the way, reinforce the trend in Germany of the “brain drain” where many professionals move abroad, especially to the US, according to an OECD study. 

* For my US friends, FIFA World Cup is the sports event where the best soccer teams from all over the world compete every four years for the world championship, so “World” covers here more than US and Canada. ;-)