According to many researches, like Gartner analyst David Gootzit, Portal technology has a bright future. As far as I have been involved with this technology, I have only read reports that provide very positive forecasts in the demand for portal solutions. But still in the past 2 years it’s mostly marketing and not many concrete results, but hopefully things are changing as some really nice consumer portals have been launched. Of course we all know iGoogle where we can add our own widgets out of hundreds available. Personally I think the BBC Portal is really a good representation of a consumer portal. In the Netherlands the portal of the leading telecom provider KPN is a good example.

Intranet, Extranet and Internet portals
Through personal involvement I have had a chance to take a look at portals in the publishing industry, while working on projects for leading international Publishers. The vision about portals can be very different:

• intranet portals with a strong emphasis on collaboration & service functionality
• extranet portals with a strong emphasis on transaction & dashboard functionality
• internet portals with a strong emphasis on content & service functionality

Typically the intranet & extranet portals have a stronger ‘decreasing costs’ focus while the marketeer of internet portals try to increase revenues by attracting & keeping the attention of internet users.

Full service portal concepts
Portal technology is flexible and offers structural architectures to support mashups at Enterprise level. With full service I mean the combination of different ways to increase the value of a portal:

• Content - corporate, product, people, …
• Transactions - e-commerce, damage reports, employee benefits, …
• Service - self service, FAQ, status requests, …
• Personalization - information, offers, contacts, …
• Community - profile, blogs, relations, …

In the long run portals are better off when they can offer so many type of services while at the same time providing the right personalization possibilities. There is a thin line between being a very rich portal and a portal that is to difficult to use.

Europe - smaller markets - high internet usage
Europe has the third highest internet penetration number of the world; 47,7%. Only the North Americas (73,6%) and Australia (59,5%) has higher penetration figures. The average internet penetration all over the world is 20%.

With a population of about 800 MLN, this means that about 380 MLN people have access to internet in Europe. Although this seems to be a reasonable number to do ecommerce, Europe is split into many countries making the target market for internet users a lot smaller:

Top 10 internet countries in Europe, December 2007, Internet World Stats

Smaller markets, smaller internet wallets
As in Europe the markets are small, communities, customer bases often cover only ten thousands people. Only a few successful communities can get above a million members, the total of these portals in Europe can probably be counted on 2 hands. Besides a smaller market Europeans just buy less online than Americans. I think the trust and usage of creditcards play an important role.

US - bigger market - higher online revenues
With a population of 334 MLN and an internet penetration of 71,4%, there are more than 230 MLN internet users, about 5 times bigger than the biggest markets in Europe. US Enterprises usually think big, simple because they can! With such market figures combined with the American consumption way of life and a single language, US Enterprises are quite sure to have an easier success to implement e-commerce than their European counterparts.

In my latest talks with one of the leading suppliers of e-commerce software, Elastic Path, I’ve found out that their American clients are mainly focused on the big online shopping experience and integrated e-commerce applications. Portals where e-commerce plays a role next to content are not yet common in the Northern Americas.

It makes sense, focus until you are forced to be creative
I guess it makes sense, as pure focus on e-commerce still brings enough online revenues with such market figures. So why bother experimenting with combinations value propositions through 1 portal, while the e-commerce value proposition is so strong? I guess community values like Facebook make any e-commerce marketeer see $ signs.

The same is with any other product development I guess, average European entrepreneurs have smaller markets and therefor shorter product cycles. I guess this is the reason why Europeans can be innovative and creative with relatively lesser budgets. I guess Componence is a good example

But be aware, Americans usually have more budget to get what it takes to give innovative ideas a longer lifespan.

After a long struggle of internal discussions and problems at the service provider, last July Componence finally introduced Exchange and Outlook in our Dutch office. Internally some of our technical minds were anti-Microsoft and rather used Google Mail and Calendar. But finally the reasoning to synchronize with our PDA’s won and Exchange became a fact.

Personal doubts at the start
Personally I had doubts because I just loved the search tooling in Gmail, it allowed me to abandon my habit to create ‘folders’. And going back to Outlook meant I would have a lesser search tool. And just within weeks me and another colleague experienced the Calendar crash, making it really bad to use Outlook. But luckily the Web showed me how to use commands like ‘outlook /cleanviews’ and the problem was fixed.

And in the meanwhile the ‘luxury’ to easily create tasks and appointments with colleagues soon proofed that I was making appointments a LOT FASTER! And when you have to do this dozens of times a week, then you really feel that your productivity and response towards your relations goes up. My wife has always been telling how easy and fast she did her work with Outlook and in this case I should have listened to her a long time ago.

But after having used Outlook for just over a month, the waiting for search results really started to become annoying. It doesn’t only take a long time search, but the search results also appear very slow. Slowly I was remembering the times again for good old Gmail, that I still use to search through old archives …

Will Xobni save me my Outlook experience?

Xobni user interface - on th left the analytics, on the right the search results of mails to my brother Hai

A week ago I was discussing some things with a good client of mine behind his desk. And as he was mailing and I saw this strange vertical toolbar in his Outlook, it was Xobni, the reverse of Inbox. This program has a lot to offer for Outlook user:

• better & faster search
• results per conctact person
• analytics about your email activity
• Linked Integration getting some basic Linked data

I like the fact that it analyzes how your mailing activities are, who bothers you the most, how many emails you get / send, who you mail most with. Having such numbers and being able to view them through different reports allows me to think how to manage my mailing activities.

About 3 months ago Stefan Schrader and Kristofer Eriksson, friends of mine from Germany, were helping me out at Componence to find new technologies for our new product developments. When it came to front end technology they told my team and me for the first time about Wicket, a cool components oriented web development framework where HTML is mapped to components and every component has a model that represents an object.

It’s simplicity allows developers to no longer hassle with HTML and allows designers to work with practically no conflicts with developers. And compared with framework like JSF, you no longer need to have lots of XML configuration files. And purely the fact that it’s a component oriented framework makes it match so well to the philosophy of Componence. After hearing about Wicket my enthusiasm has only grown since, as Componence and I have the chance to work with a lot of very smart and nice people. I have no regrets of pushing my developers into this direction.

Lots of Dutch developers in Wicket
As I started to learn more about Wicket it was Eelco Hillenius who started to help me out with questions and helped me to make the choice for Wicket. I contacted Eelco directly through LinkedIn after seeing his name on dozens of comments on various blogs about web development frameworks. It was maybe a coincidence that Eelco, one core developers of WIcket and development group, was Dutch and had found a new start in Seattle through his involvement in Wicket. He’s also the author of the Wicket book ‘Wicket in Action‘, together with Martijn Dashorst. Martijn is the leader of the Wicket development group and still lives in Holland. I have also had the chance to speak with Martijn and it’s good to see that there are still pure and enthusiastic developers around in Holland, even if they might be expected to become a manager or something like that. Probably there are a lot more cool Dutch Wicket developers, I’ll try to meet more of them when there is a Wicket gathering again in Holland.

Impressive minds in the US
Since Eelco was living in Seattle it was by chance that he was a friend of Jonathan Locke, the founder of Wicket. And by chance Jonathan was introduced to by just weeks after I had made the decision to go forward with Wicket for our new Vanadium product line at Componence. And chance provided me the opportunity to interest Jonathan into working with us in Holland, as he was quitting his job at the time. And from then on I guess it was luck that Jonathan was interested in our idea to link Wicket ot Portal technology. A deal was made quite fast and easy to work together in Holland.

So Jonathan came to Holland last June and I’ve had some nice talks with him about all kinds of matters in life, also a lot about his worries about the way US is running their finances and how a vacuum tunnel could really generate ‘high speed trains’. With an IQ well above 130 Jonathan has been able to put matters in great abstraction, probably how he founded Wicket. And during the discussions of the issues related to the Wicket and JSR-286 bridge (portlets 2.0), it was Jonathan came up with the ‘Gizmo layer’ concept for Vanadium. Yes, I really enjoyed working with Jonathan, as beside beside being smart he also introduced me to Miko Matsumura. After a 5 hours drive to Frankfurt it was definitely worth to have Miko challenge some ideas that we have at Componence.

And now two months later Jonathan has also put me in contact with Tim Budreau, the NetBeans specialist. And again I’m lucky enough that Tim is interested in our project and will be working with Jonathan further in Seattle to make the Gizmo layer more concrete. Currently I’m very excited to see their results, as the conceptual documentation should be ready in about 2 weeks.

Is it easy to get experts on board?
So it all started with a new interest and from there on the tools we now have today on the internet just bring us together. I think easy because we talk about bringing developers together as their interests usually is in new technology concepts. I think at Componence we have cool ideas for our software developments, making it more easy for us to have great technical minds to work together with us. And of course the luck factor always needs to be around the corner …

3,5 weeks for me was maybe slightly to long to take a vacation, but I for my honenymoon it was really great. This is something we in the Netherlands, and in other European countries, are lucky enough to be able to do. Yeah, in Holland the standard minimum is to get 25 vacation days a year based on 40 hours work per week, as many sick days as you need to be really sick and some companies add 5 - 10 more days for their most dedicated team members. And some companies also register overwork, making it possible to even have 5-6 weeks of vacation. I guess the amount of vacation days also shows a certain level of prosperity. The Dutch governmental bodies have all this and to top it they have a standard 36 hour workweek. I’m not sure how long they can keep this up though, as also in Holland it’s hard for the working class to pay for all the elders who have their pensions.

‘Old Europe’ knows how to care and relax, but have forgotten how to be strong …
In generally I believe in a good work / private balance where we work hard and have enough time to enjoy life. The latter is something I think the Europeans do best, compared with all other continents. In America and Canada, both strong economies, you start with having approximately 10 vacation days. There you really see that people ‘live to work’ where in the Netherlands and the richer countries of Europe people ‘work to live’. I do believe that we should work to live, but I think that because of prosperity many people in the old Europe take things for granted and forget that sometimes suffering and sacrifices are needed to keep the things we value. But imho this attitude is induced by decades of social governments, who rightfully wanted to get the whole country out of the ashes of WOII. The result are ‘care-states’ that have rules and regulations to sustain all the weak and poor, while strong people are stimulate NOT to make LOTS of money (60% taxes over the higher incomes). This is leading to a trend where many stronger professionals and enterpreneurs are moving abroad to countries like Canada, Asia, Australia, America where hard work is still appreciated. How to change it, I don’t think it’s easy. I think it’s about time Old Europe has to become ‘poor’ again to really learn how to be ’strong’ again.

‘New Europe’ will save Europe’s position in the world
I personally think Old Europe is blessed with the new Europeans as these new economies will eventually keep the whole of Europe strong! We should not be afraid to take more new countries like Ukraine and Turkey into the EU. The ‘Old Europeans’ are just to short-sighted when they complain about how the EU is investing millions into these new EU members. But Europe MUST invest, to preserve their position in the world. These new Europeans have the background that Europe is old and great (remember the great empires of the past), but because of lack of democracy have been kept ‘asleep’ for such a long while. Now with democracy into their lives again, they can see and take chances again. And here in Old Europe we are just lucky enough that they remember the old times when Europe was the strongest in the world.

Americans are used to fall and climb, but they might fall too far …
I guess the Americans possess the spirit to sacrifice more to get more, as it’s quite normal to see elder people (60+) still at work and to see how many people have 2 or 3 jobs at the same time. But then again their confidence of their capacity to continuously work more to get more, makes it less necessary for them to manage everything to have a steady foundation and a good balance. This is quite obvious now with the extreme situations related to the credit crisis, where banks that were just not managed decently are now saved by the governments at any cause. A new American acquaintance of mine, Jonathan Locke, is very worried about the current situation and is now asking questions about the American financial system that he has never thought to ask before. Although I love the ‘American way’, I do hope that this time they will not fall too far this time. But maybe America need this freefall now, to make them really change their self centered policy to have more and more for themselves …

Dutch advisors for America and American advisors for the Netherlands
I believe in situational management, different leadership for different situations. And as America is trying to have more financial stability and a more decent financial policy for the next decades, I think they should ask former Minister of Finance Mr. Gerrit Zalm for advice. The Dutch have always delivered good managers who are well known for their ability to achieve consensus and to save money for bad times. I think America would really benefit from such management styles to build a stronger foundation. Maybe then they can build new GM’s that will STAY THE BIGGEST for more centuries.

But vice versa, as the Netherlands are saying they want to stimulate and support entrepreneurship, they might have a better chance of really doing it when they take in real BIG entrepreneurs like Donald Trump as advisors. Hmm, maybe it’s just better to swap the Ministry of Finance and Economics between countries for a few years :). Then the Dutch might really have a chance to still be a country that counts in the world. Maybe then we can build new ABN AMRO’s or Corporate Expresses again and keep Unilever and Heineken from falling in foreign hands.

It’s good to balance, Australia is doing a good thing here …
In Australia the trend is that everything is going faster and faster, the economy is becoming more like ‘America’. It was actually quite a surprise for me to see the vast amount of American fastfood chains in Australia and how stores are open untill really late. I think on average Australian professionals work at least 50 hours per week. But then again, they have 20 days vacation each year and they can easily travel to nice places like Whitsunday Islands or Daintree to really relax and enjoy the real beaties of mother nature. A comforting thought for me was also to see that Australians value their entrepreneurs and really give different benefits for self-made people, probably something they also have taken from America.

I guess it’s logic as the whole continent only has 22 mln people, only 40% than in the Netherlands, while they have hundreds of times more space. So there is still enough space for Australians to develop, I just hope they are strong enough to preserve their beautiful landscapes like the Daintree rainforest. Especially with the rising level of seawater endangering a lot of natural wildlife habitats, where there is a delicate balance between fresh and salt water.

Componence is blessed, we get the chance to really mix
At Componence we are lucky to have Old (Dutch, German, Swedish), New Europeans (Polish, Romanian, Ukrainian), Asian (India, Vietnamese) and Americans in our network. We have the ability to mix and match:

• Dutch for Ukrainians -> Decent management, where we try to create awareness for ‘long-term’ development;
• Dutch for Indians -> Fair leadership, where we see that India needs new opportunities from us so that they will return the favor in 5-10 years from now;
• Ukrainian for Dutch -> Boldness and strength, where we see that young people always think they can do a lot more than just standard;
• Indian for Ukraine -> Willingness to learn and do any job, where we see that young people are thankful for any opportunity of work and appreciate the chance to learn;
• Indian for Dutch -> Obedience and dedication, where we see that team members will listen and follow their leaders with practically no hesitation;
• American & German for Dutch, Ukrainian & Indian -> Inspiration and confidence, where we see that expert architects show us the way to realize the technologies and solutions we want to deliver in our Enterprise vision;

For me personally, having 30 vacation days a year would be cool when you combine it with an average working week between 50-60 hours. I think I more support the ideas behind the book ‘The Seven-Day Weekend: Changing the Way Work Works‘ by Ricardo Semler.

My wedding day, June 7th 2008, has definitely been the most beautiful day of my life so far. Many people say that the most beautiful day of a person’s life is the day that you have your child born into this world. Well, I’m hoping that this second ‘most beautfil day of my life’ will not keep me waiting too long.

My ‘Sifu’ uncle told me that it makes you a real man, when you can take care of your family. Well, that’s one challenge I will not hide away from. So for me June 7th 2008 was a very beautiful the beginning of the next phase of my life where I will take care of my family. If you want to recapture that day, the just click on the picture below …

WARNING: The story is quite long and the links will lead you to albums with hundreds of pictures …

The second day at the Aleenta Resort in Hua Hin was all about RELAXING. We woke up after 9-10 hours of sleep and from then it was all about enjoying this relaxing resort at Hua Hin. A easy going breakfast, sunbathing & napping combined, a wonderful Spa experience, full relaxation in our garden … to end off with the most romantic and delicious seafood barbecue we’ve ever had.

Ultimate relaxation in the morning …

After-Spa in our own beach front garden

Preparations for a wonderful barbecue

The delicious seafood platter

Romance in the air

Enjoying our barbecue

The last bites

To end with romantic night bubbles

After today we just don’t have any doubts, Aleenta Resort at Hua Hin is just a perfect place to start your honeymoon! Hmm … if you love seafood that is

As our honeymoon started exactly on Friday June 13th, 8:45 PM, we had to miss the match between The Netherlands and France. The trade-off was definitely worth it as we arrived today at the Aleenta Resort in Hua Hin Thailand and Holland beat the French with 4-1. At the Aleenta we will be enjoying a room on the beach front, with our own garden, our own jacuzzi overlooking the ocean. The first impression was just wonderfull, a private just for 2 welcome, kind and polite staff, wonderful room, roseleaves and hearts and a iPod with some nice lounge / romantic tunes …

And as soon as the staff, 2 bellboys and 1 hostess, leave us to it we just cannot wait to get into the Jacuzzi. The setting is just marvelous, never have I been in such a romantic bedroom before. Despite of the lack of sun, BT and I didn’t hesitate to take a quick shower and to get outside.

And after the surreal enjoyment of this extreme romantic location we both let the thoughts of ordinary life flow away and we start to just enjoy and relax. And then we of course just let our creativity lead to further actions and relaxations

I guess many would expect me to write a blog about my wedding, but alas … The Netherlands beat Italy in the European Championships with 3-0!!! Italy has rarely been beaten this hard on any big Championship. Congratulations Holland!!!!

Arrogant Italians
Italy, as the World champions were I guess too cocky / arrogant and really expected they would win. Just before the match I saw some interviews of Italians by the Dutch News, predicting outcomes from 2-0 to 4-0 for in favor of Italy. They were talking about how good their players were, how they had the best team. The Sport Gazeta also confidently expressed their vision about how the Dutch team still had to find themselves. But I guess it’s logic that the Italians are arrogant as they do indeed have some of the best football (soccer) players in the world and of course they are the World Champions of 2006.

Dutch underdogs
The Dutch on the contrary were pessimistic and already counting on a loss and were talking how we could still be 2nd in the pool. In the course to this Championship the coaches Marco van Basten and John van ‘t Schip were very much criticized for their mediocre play. And even after the match, while I’m writing this blog, the Dutch players are still very modest and are keeping their faces controlled in front of the camera’s. Yes, the Dutch ‘managing expectations’ is well in play.

Arrogance can only fall hard
But I guess we showed them!! The match tonight showed a very strong Orange team with great team play and strong counters. The results just speak for themselves. But arrogancy can always happen as I have seen how the Dutch people also showed arrogancy in 1992, 4 years after they had won the European Championship in 1988. Before the match against Denmark, Dutch people easily predicted courageous victories in front of National television, only to see afterwards that they would lose to the European Champions of 1992 who were the underdog in that year. I hope this similarity will continue to fulfill itself

Tomorrow will be a wonderfull day, sun is shining, 25 degrees Celsius, my beautiful bride and about 160 guests from The Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Switserland, Canada, America, Ukraine, Italy and India!

As I often was bored and annoyed not to understand foreign ceremonies that I attended myself, I arranged translations in Vietnamese and English. This way I trust everyone can understand what beautiful things the civil official will be saying about mine and BT’s wedding.

Here is the English translation for anyone who is interested to in the official ceremony:

June 7^th 2008, Wedding ceremony of Ha and Bach-Ton
Translation of the words held by Mrs. Adriana Oskam, civil official for the Berheze Municipal

Welcome dear sweet bride and groom and guests to these unique historic grounds.

————————–History Castle Heeswijk——————————

The history of Castle Heeswijk goes back before 1080. The first build was the so called ‘Motte-Toren’ (Motte-Tour). In 1629 the half brother of Frederik Hendrik to capture Castle Heeswijk and soon after ’s Hertogenbosch. The history of the castle is characterized with decay and rebuilding in grandeure. Around 1670 the castle must have been a very comfortable environment as even the French king Louis the 4^th lived on the premises.

Baron Andrè van de Bogaarde van Terbrugge repurchased the castle in 1830. Through him and his family many historical artifacts were gathered, making the castle too small. In 1835 the castle wing was added and soon after the chamber of arms was built in 1870. This place today functions as a museum and the location for wedding ceremonies.

———————- Introduction of today’s special people ————————

The parents of Bach-Ton, yes dear lady, if we go back 27 years you have taken all the care to write history as Bach-Ton came into this world as a healthy baby girl. Bach-Ton and Ha talk about her parents as they are very caring for their children. Ha was born in Vietnam and in the beginning the relations were very hard to keep, as religion and politics played a role between the families. It is nice to see that today we all can be here in peace for the beautiful couple.

The direct relatives:

- Hai, the twin brother of Ha

- Binh, the oldest brother of Bach-Ton and also her witness. Bach-Ton tells that you have always cared and protected your younger borther and sisters

- Luan, the second brother of Bach-Ton

- Thu-Ha and Thanh Thuy, the sisters of Bach-Ton

The other witnesses:

- Yuk Chi, Bach-Ton’s best friend, where she always can be herself. You understand how she feels and thinks. Your connection is very close

- Eduard, Ha’s friend, you are efficient in your work, doing your work in as less time as possible. You live nearby the bride and groom and see them often.

- Koen, Ha’s best friend, Ha talks of you as someone who is always looking to get ahead, for a better carreer, for a better life. You have a positive look at life and want to get all you can out of yourself. Ha, Eduard and you have known each other from the University and have always kept a close bond.

As friends know you well, they can also tell many things about you that I do not know and cannot tell. The witnesses are invited to hold their speeches …

————————- Exchanging vows ————————–

Then the time has come that I will officially declare you husband and wife for our laws. Yes Ha, on the airplane you could not propose to her like you wanted to, but on a romantic shore in California you certainly succeeded. And to hear the answer of Bach-Ton again I ask you to stand up and to take each other’s hands. Before I announce the wedding vows I first want to speak your vows to each other …

————————- The official part ————————–

Official part taken by the special cival official, Adriana Oskam

Hong Ha Vo, will you take as your lawful wife, Thi Bach-Ton Nguyen and do you promise to be faithful to fulfill all duties that are bounded by law to marital state? What is your answer on this? …

Thi Bach-Ton Nguyen, will you take as your lawful husband, Hong Ha Vo and do you promise to be faithful to fulfill all duties that are bounded by law to marital state? What is your answer on this? …

Then I, as civil official of the municipal of Bernheze, in the name of the law, announce that the wedding between Hong Ha Vo and Thi Bach Ton hereby is fulfilled for the greater part.

I wish you, that the strength will be given to you to keep your promise to these vows until till the end of days.

The rings will be put on each other’s hands …

Closure of the official part

————————- Short speech of Adriana ————————–

I have asked the bride and groom how they viewed each other, what made them so special towards the other.

Ha said, Bach-Ton is very sweet, with a very strong opinion. I am very happy to have chosen for here. She is always near, on the couch during the late hours when I work at home.

Bach-Ton, Ha is very sweet for you and tries to arrange everything well for you. Though he always has the risks of an entrepreneur, he always tries to make sure that you’re safe. You said, I have seen Ha grow from a student to an entrepreneur with a strong vision. And as yourself, you work as a management assistant, even for Ha.

Ha, you have for own IT company, a dynamic company where young people work. Thinking of internet strategies for big companies, mainly big publishing houses. You both enjoy travel and the international aspect of work and life. Every year you take a long break to go afar. Also city trips can often be found on your todo list.

Ha, you said: “I am very happy when it is weekend”. Then you enjoy the charms of the small things in normal life. Doing your groceries together, taking a nap or a quick bite at the fish-cart, just when nothing is a must. And when you come back from your trips abroad, you still find the pleasure and luxury that Bach-Ton is around to pick you up.

Keep it this way, this feeling. You happily spend your time with friends and family, so I will end with some truths about THE TIME.

————————- TAKE THE TIME ————————–

Take the time to play,
that is the secret of eternal youth.

Take the time to love and to be loved,
that is a mercy on this earth.

Take the time to read,
that is the source of knowing.

Take the time to make friends,
that is the voice of happiness.

Take the time to laugh,
that is the music of the mind.

Take the time to thing,
that is the source of action.

Take the time to give,
life is too short to be an egoïst.

Take the time to work,
that is the price of success.

Dear bride and groom, I wish you all and all your loved ones a wonderful day on this unique location, castle Heeswijk and of your own civil official ….

ALL THE LUCK OF THE WORLD.

Heeswijk, June 7^th 2008
Adriana Oskam

In my many travels around the world I’m always curious to see how I will be treated in a restaurant. I think if you go to enough eateries and try to see the common aspects of the service, you can tell a lot about the service mindset of the local people. In this blog I will discuss the differences that I have experienced in my quest to understand ‘Why are clients treated that way?’ in the The Netherlands, United States and Ukraine. I hope the blog will also help managers to deal better with issues related to offshoring units in the Ukraine. At the same time I hope that Dutch politicians will see my worries for the Dutch society. Btw, the blog is long, sorry for that.

NL: the client must be treated well, but is definitely not king
Dutch people understand really the art how to trade, how to work in a decent way with people and how to create consensus. I think this is why Dutch people relatively get high ranking posts in international organizations, businesses, NGO’s and governmental organizations. The reason why I say relatively is because The Netherlands only has 16 MLN people. It’s a small country, but very well organized. Some say that it’s too organized. Besides this the country has a strong tourism industry, as they receive over 10 MLN foreign visitors in official hotel accommodations every year, equal to 62,5% of their own population.

The way they usually do business is firstly to care for quality of their product. If we look at a restaurant, then usually the combination of decoration, quality of food and price is accordingly with the environment and pricing. This way they know that they can serve their customers a good product, so probably the customer will not complain too much as the customer will agree to the product / price combination.

And when a customer complaints, then it should be reasonable. This means that a client should not raise their voice too much, should just accept situations / facts that happened beyond their control, should not think that a getting a discount or an upgrade is a normal thing.

I guess the reason why servants can handle in such a way is because they usually have a good feeling about the value of their proposition. And besides this they are paid normally and do not highly depend on tips to get around. So I might say they depend less on customers who do not fit them, but at the same time try to make the fit as good as possible.

This is why many foreigners often are disappointed when they think a complaint will help to get more discount or an upgrade. It’s rather the other way around, the friendlier / decent a customer is the better the service is. But I’m quite sure that comments of customers are well appreciated and will be used to improve the service or the product, as this is what they care for. A benefit is that you will usually get the same pricing rules for the same product, who ever you are. And usually you will be satisfied because the Dutch understand that a clients expectation should be managed.

US: We appreciate your business!
In my last trip to Las Vegas I heard the CEO of Continental Airlines expressing the words ‘We appreciate your business’ in the promotion movie. And this message was consistently used at the beginning and ending of the flight. I guess that’s what Americans really understand well, do do business. The US is the country where dreams can become true, where a nobody can become a somebody, where you can really live it large, where you are respected if you are successful. This is the country where having 5-15 vacation days a year is very normal, where you have to pay then thousands of dollars each year to get a good education, where having 2 or 3 jobs at the same time is normal. Americans have this mentality to really do BUSINESS. I guess this is a reason why in comparison with the Anglo-Saxon economy, relatively a lot more companies get IPO in the US. In the US you have to take care of your own! If you’re not a millionaire, having no work is NOT an option. This is why they have such a low unemployment rate (4,8 % in Feb. 2008 ) for such a big country, EU-7,1% / FR-7,9% / NL-4,1% / UK - 5,2% / China-4,2%.

In the US MBA students must write business plans that forecasts hundreds of millions of turnover, preferably billions of turnover. And if you do decide to turn in a business plan with only tens of millions of turnover, be prepared to be not taken seriously. Doing business in America is about taking huge risks and getting big profits. Such mentality can lead to big great wealth, but doesn’t favor stability as the credit crisis has shown so painfully.

So when you get to a diner or restaurant in the US, waitresses / waiters understand very clearly that they have to get your business. It’s very common that approximately (or should I say at least) 15% should be paid for gratuity. This means that waiters / waitresses still heavily depend on tips to get a decent salary. This concept is communicated quite clear and my friends in the US always make sure that I leave 15% on the table. Only when I’m really dissatisfied, I can leave 10%.

So it’s logic that you will encounter a very friendly waiter or waitress. They are usually very informative and usually don’t keep you waiting for a long time to get you the first drinks. At the same time they’re quite sure when you’ve finished diner, as they usually automatically present you the bill after the last round of coffee. And in between you can be quite sure that will they check up on you to see how your drinks are and when you have a soft-drink you’ll usually get a refill.

This kind of mentality does give space for discounts and upgrades when a service or a product was not as good as it should have been. Complaining and asking for a persons name does help to get better treatment. As for the value of your complaint, I guess it also depends on whether you’re a regular or not, whether you bring back more business or not.

UA: what does the client do for me?
Ukraine is one of those former Soviet countries that is rising. But as they were dominated for so long by a communist regime you can still feel the ‘Russian mentality’ where people complain and do not trust the government. Paying taxes is a bad thing, as it usually and still goes into the pocket of politicians. And without taxes and politicians who know how to handle money to care for the people, infrastructure and society people really have to take care of their own. This is why paying a bribe to a police officer is so normal in Ukraine, because then the question ‘What’s in it for me?’ is answered very clearly; less paper work and hassle with the government. So its quite logically for Ukrainians to be skeptic about what the other people do for them (their government) before they do something back (pay taxes). But once a Ukrainian understand ‘What’s in it for me’, then a great potential can be unleashed.

The difference between rich and poor is HUGE when you compare the contrast between the big city of Kiev with it’s decadent center and the people who live 50 kms outside of Kiev and have to live with less than 200 dollars a month. But people with guts, dedication and willing to take huge risks have a big chance to achieve greatness. Even between different working class the difference is already too big, an average waitress in a restaurant earns 200 - 400 dollars, an average IT worker earns between 1000 - 3000 dollars (nett). And even with these kind of salaries, the average IT worker switches very easily for a better paycheck.

In the Ukraine it’s quite common that in an average restaurant you will have to wait long before you get your order and usually it doesn’t come at the same time. The logistics in the Ukrainian kitchen is usually not developed enough to have all table guests enjoy the same course at the same time. With the increasing business presence it is improving, but in general Ukrainians do not really care about it. Even in Japanese restaurants you can easily get your hot dishes before you get your maki roll. As for the waitresses in a normal Ukrainian restaurant, they’ll serve you but not often with a smile. This is different when you go in the expensive places where an average night out / diner will cost you the same as in Europe and will cost you definitely more than in the US. But don’t be surprised if your tip should be at least 10 dollars.

Complaining, discounts, you’ll probably won’t have any luck in getting a decent discussion about it. For just a few hundreds dollars a month, how much should they care for your business? Probably the bosses get most of the money and 50% of profits, but the average waitress who serves doesn’t. And complaining or asking for discount in the expensive places only works if you’ve spent big bucks, but then you will get it always. In one of the more expensive places you will get automatic discount cards for 10% or even 15% when your bill exceeded a few hundred dollars. In the best clubs your bill has to exceed 800 or 1000 dollars to get that card.

So in the Ukraine I guess it depends on who you’re dealing with:

• the person that still has to survive with a few hundreds of dollars a month, who logically doesn’t see the clear benefits of a better product or a better service.
• the person who is in reach of at least 1000 dollars a month and understand that there is more to get, who usually also thinks it’s also easy to get to 2000 or even more.

The first group is still struggling to survive and has not yet had the chance to get a decent salary and thus has less time to think about the well being of their clients. The last group is probably earning 3-4 times more than their parents were earning at their ages and unrealistically thinks it’s easy to earn 10 times more. So find the young and hard working Ukrainians, but be aware that they are very opportunistic.

The pros and cons

The Dutch way to manage things properly
Personally I like the decent approach from the Dutch, where over the long term things will steadily improve and are properly managed. The product is good and gets better, but the client’s perception will also improve. The better you manage the expectation of the client, the less work you have to fix your product to get their satisfaction. This is why Dutch banks weren’t making big bucks a few years ago, but with the current credit crisis can easily keep on going without having to sack thousands of people. Even when Dutch experts were contracted to rebuild dams for New Orleans after Catharina, the Americans wanted everything fast and to last 10 - 15 years. In the Netherlands they take more time to build the dams, but then again they want everything to last 100 - 150 years.

But the negative side effect of this controlled way can take the edge out of things and can make people feel too safe and care less about the product. This is the reason why in The Netherlands many people just don’t care to work, because the employment and social legislation will take care of them. That’s why talented people, who pay 50-60% of income tax, either think that they should not work a lot harder or think they should move to another country to work harder. This combination worries me, because the increasing wealth of the Dutch society makes people feel more safe and more lazy. In The Netherlands people find it normal work 32 or 36 hours a week and to get 25 or even 30 vacation days. Imho this is too much on the relaxing side of life.

The American entrepreneurial spirit
I would like to see more combination with the American spirit where people who have success are more appreciated and where bankruptcy is considered as a valuable learning lesson. A good entrepreneurial spirit will benefit any society. This is now becoming more visible in The Netherlands as more and more professionals are becoming a freelancer, a move that in my opinion will benefit society. If only the banks, insurance companies and the government would just really appreciate this group of people who are willing to take more risks and to work harder. They usually depend less on the checkbook of the state. Personally I faced a bankruptcy in The Netherlands and the government only made it more difficult for me to take a big share in Componence. I’m happy I found a way to circumvent it.

But with the riches and great chances in the US there are so many people have to work 80 - 100 hours a week in America, to just pay the basics of life. Why should we work so hard to have so little time to enjoy life? Having 5-10 days of vacation days is just not good enough to enjoy life. And why can the richest country in the world have such cheap food prices, but at the same time so many homeless people who cannot afford a daily meal? What’s the worth of a society when Veterans are treated in the cheapest hospitals?

The bold Ukrainian mentality
In the Ukraine you can find many young dedicated people who really want to work hard to please you. But don’t expect they will just say ‘Yes, we will’, but will give a good discussion to find out what the best way is. The only question is if you as client can handle such criticism and understand that you can get better results through it. The fact that many Ukrainians think they can achieve so much can be good for the productivity and development of any company. It’s definitely refreshing when you compare it sometimes with the average Dutch mentality of workers who are just satisfied with the way things are and are comfortable with the 9-5 working hours.

But you first have to get there with the people, this means that you have to get them to a decent level of salary. And when you get there, as soon as possible let them see that getting more money is not that easy. Let them understand who the client is, how hard it is to control the satisfaction of a client, how valuable a client is. And when they get it and the your person is ambitious, you can be quite sure that you will get the right support to get things done. Just make sure that you are aware the risk assessment capacities of the person in question, they tend to overrate themselves. So do not be afraid to invest into an ambitious Ukrainian, just make sure that the performance requirements are set, evaluated and met. And if possible try to make them care for others, for their society, as this is the biggest challenge of Ukraine. Just imagine what all the wealth of the richest Ukrainians and the boldness of all Ukrainians can do for their society …

But all in all I believe in the statement in Covey’s book of 7 habits: “Treat your people like you want them to treat your best clients“. This way you can get any person of any culture to understand how you want them to treat your clients.

PS: I didn’t include a comparison of Indians in here, because I simply know that the Indian culture is very diverse and I need to visit India a lot more to even try to make some conclusions.