WAZE, a social navigation application for your Smartphone is one of Israel’s favorite apps for navigation on-the-go. With user-generated reports, this app helps drivers avoid traffic jams and find more durable roads. And it worked well – with almost no hitches. But then on Valentine’s Day 2012, the company upgraded the Software. While the upgrade should have been seamless, it had several bugs and users soon found themselves directed straight into traffic jams, or off-course by several kilometers. (Imagine you want to take your sweetheart out for a romantic dinner at a new restaurant, and you end up at the cement factory in Ramle instead.)
Anyway, in a recent interview with The Marker, Kfir Pravda, the CEO of Pravda Media Group, explains the implications of this loss of credibility for WAZE : “The greatest challenge for WAZE is to regain the users’ trust. If the problem is localized and the company apologizes and explains, this will ameliorate things. But if malfunctions repeat – that’s another story.”
This is an important lesson for companies everywhere. Mistakes happen. Period. And owning a previous error — accepting responsibility, and taking measures to ensure that these mistakes don’t happen again — is a true sign of leadership.
For the full article in Hebrew, please visit: http://www.themarker.com/hitech/1.1649716
What Happens When A Company Loses Credibility?
March 21, 2012
Sarah Tuttle-Singer
WAZE, a social navigation application for your Smartphone is one of Israel’s favorite apps for navigation on-the-go. With user-generated reports, this app helps drivers avoid traffic jams and find more durable roads. And it worked well – with almost no hitches. But then on Valentine’s Day 2012, the company upgraded the Software. While the upgrade should have been seamless, it had several bugs and users soon found themselves directed straight into traffic jams, or off-course by several kilometers. (Imagine you want to take your sweetheart out for a romantic dinner at a new restaurant, and you end up at the cement factory in Ramle instead.)
Anyway, in a recent interview with The Marker, Kfir Pravda, the CEO of Pravda Media Group, explains the implications of this loss of credibility for WAZE : “The greatest challenge for WAZE is to regain the users’ trust. If the problem is localized and the company apologizes and explains, this will ameliorate things. But if malfunctions repeat – that’s another story.”
This is an important lesson for companies everywhere. Mistakes happen. Period. And owning a previous error — accepting responsibility, and taking measures to ensure that these mistakes don’t happen again — is a true sign of leadership.
For the full article in Hebrew, please visit: http://www.themarker.com/hitech/1.1649716