Lines and Queues

I remember reading this quote in a book:

"If McDonald's don't shorten their lines (queues); their customers will do it for them."

So I went to the local post office here in Taiwan to collect a registered letter. In I went, and there was no queue. "Great. I'll be out of here in no time." The man behind the counter had different ideas, though: I was going to have to wait until he was finished what he was doing before he would serve me. In a word, the service sucks at this state-owned organization. My father used to say, "This place needs a rocket." I now totally understand what he meant by this.

The same kind of behaviour used to happen in the banks here in Taiwan before the government opened the local market to foreign banks. Boom! An instant sense of urgency followed by a frenzy of innovations. And thanks to this, everybody gets served quicker than ever.

Some of the local banks here have decided that mergers and acquisitions will help them avoid the increased competition, which has also resulted in pickier customers.

Problem is, mergers have a terrible track record. And which boss will take a back seat in the newly merged bank? For one of them, it's a step down.