A wrong decision secured the princess a place in the dark world of the spirits.

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Imagery like this feeds folktales. If she knew a little about the cost of search, the princess would not have been deceived.

I do remember a folktale about a princess who wanted the best hand in marriage. Well, the court messenger went round the kingdom and beyond to declare the princess’ wishes for the hand of the best male suitor. So, her suitors came. They came with treasures and gold; they came with servants and entreaties – to seek her hand in marriage. One after the other, the best men in the world came for her hand. They all failed.

Eventually, when she thought none of the men was good for her, a spirit being, who listens to the happenings on earth, knowing her weakness, came for her hand. He deceived her, giving her the satisfaction she sought. How did the story end? She left with the spirit being and was never found in the world of men.

Too bad, you might say. Folktales like this exist aplenty. This story is not about looking for morals, it is a classic example of what so many persons know but never knew they did: when we seek satisfaction, if options are presented to us sequentially, that is, one after the other, we do not always have the satisfaction we seek. We always have that angst, that feeling of insecurity, that the next option will be better than the last and the last is not better than the one coming ad infinitum.

Satisfaction comes with making the correct decision or choice.

Have you gone shopping to discover that another model of that shoe you wanted was not on display? You’d think the store was underhanded, right? We all hate uncertainty. It is the reason for the existence of insurance. Most persons are ready to pay a premium to take away uncertainties. Uncertainty creates angst. On the other hand, there are situations in life where all the options for making the correct decision can never be ready at the same time, especially in times of emergency; that will be a subject for another day.

Without mincing words, if you make people take decisions without presenting them with all the options in existence, they will never be satisfied.

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That is the princess’ problem. She always thought another prince was more charming than the last. She hoped for an abstract prince who would satisfy all her dreams of what a crown prince would act and look like.

So, her uncertainty led her to make the wrong decision. She was not satisfied until the spirit being came. Satisfaction is a basic human need. When we are not satisfied, it creates a market for our wants or needs. We are ready to pay extra for satisfaction. The princess was ready to rely on hope; to wait eternally for her prince charming. Have you ever had the same situation? I have and I believe I am not the only one.

The problem of not presenting all the options for a decision rests with the existence of alternatives. If all the options were presented at once, the princess would not have fallen for the spirit being. The deceit would have been discovered. The King was not wise to have realized that. You are fortunate to be reading this blog today; make a note of this.

Search came about because someone was not satisfied.

As I said before, since her prince charming was an alternative, she was ready to think: would the next prince be better than this one? Imagine you are in her shoes. All the princes came with gifts of state; déjà vu! You would tend to think like her, that the next would have something better, and the next and the next, ad infinitum. She might not have taken a decision but for supernatural intervention. We all face that problem daily. While looking for the best prices, we comparison shop. We even spend time and resources online for search. Looking for the best chef or restaurant? We spend time going through magazines and reading reviews. Want the best travel destination? We could make use of services like Orbitz or hipmunk .

It is not easy to have all the options at once. It would be fine if that was possible. Doing so, we could make the best decision, be more satisfied and be more committed to our choices. Our world is inundated with so much options that the search for the best seems eternal. Yet, there is a cost to looking for the best. Our search ends when the cost starts getting higher than the perceived benefits. The spirit being must have realized this in the princess and that was when he made his entrée. This is the human weakness.

Now, after all, everything has a moral. So the moral of the folktale: Look for a wide variety of options presented at the same time if you want to make a satisfying, committing decision. If the King had fixed a date for all the suitors to the princess to present themselves and asked her to make a decision on that date, she surely would have made the best choice of a prince charming.

When next you are thinking of an online shopping store, whether be it amazon, zulily or zappos, keep this in mind for a satisfying, committing choice.

Happy shopping this season.

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Forget it! Your man won’t turn unfaithful from a rush of brain oxytocin.

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Lost soul. Credit: Flickr.com/Vince Alongi

Have you heard of the “love hormone?” It is a hormone called oxytocin. It stimulates love, bonding between parents and infants, stimulates breastfeeding and also, orgasm. It’s role in controlling sexual arousal in men and women makes it a potent hormone. Synthetic oxytocin in form of nasal sprays of placebos are now available, although research is still ongoing in this area, particularly the inability of this injected hormone doses to penetrate the blood-brain barrier. On the other hand, a loving hug, a lover’s touch, a simple kiss, all these actions can naturally make oxytocin in your system. The links below are collected from recent studies on oxytocin, the “love hormone.”

Oxytocin’s link to human emotions like love, kindness and fidelity is undeniable.

There is a positive correlation between high oxytocin levels in the blood and increase in human virtues like kindness and love

In a series of experiments, scientists found a high positive correlation between high levels of oxytocin in the blood and generosity. Also, by stimulating increased production of oxytocin, the study found that people became more generosity, and ready to offer more money. It is recommended that to increase your oxytocin levels naturally, you should engage in more positive interactions with others by hugging, complimenting and being generally amenable. Dana Foundation Blog

Want to be faithful? Make sure your oxytocin levels are normal

Social distance is an unwritten distance that people keep when they communicate. Uncomfortableness starts when communication intrudes on that distance. Flirting occurs when that social distance is broken. Research has found that oxytocin, the “love hormone”, was not instrumental in breaking down social distance and then increasing infidelity; the reverse was the case. Oxytocin, when given as a dose or nasal spray, enhanced the ability of virile men to be faithful to their partners. Oxytocin Central.

Related content: Forming blind trust for a pretty face might be influenced by gestures and nonverbal cues

Cheating in relationships could be due to chemical triggers.

The relationship between social and sexual monogamy is believed to be partly chemical. Scientists love to study the prairie vole, a rodent that is socially monogamous but not so sexually to demonstrate this observation. Their studies how that chemical communications between neurons can bias our behavior and make seemingly faithful men resort to infidelity. Slate Magazine

Oxytocin is the social interaction chemical; holds promise for autism and schizophrenia.

Fight less, love more with oxytocin

Fightings between couples could be less troublesome by encouraging cooperation in men and making women behave more approachably if they had adequate levels of oxytocin in their blood. It has also been found to help people read social cues more accurately. What this means is that with the increased research in producing an oxytocin drug, people with socially impairing conditions like autism and schizophrenia could be helped to more interact with others.

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Oxytocin also tunes the stress system to generate the best response in order to reduce conflict. Time: Health & Family

Plasma oxytocin linked to trustworthiness

Using intranasal drug administration, aka “sniffing”, a study found that oxytocin can function as a social hormone facilitating trust and other affiliative behaviors. People with high levels of plasma oxytocin are more likely to be more trusting. PLOS

Father-child bonding is more enhanced by oxytocin nasal sprays

Fathers who received oxytocin nasal sprays or placebo indulged more in baby talk and reciprocal interaction with their infants. Oxytocin has been found to be critical in pruning the brain processes involved in responding to stress and in social interactions. Oxytocin may be a key binding between early nurture or lack thereof. Time: Health & Family

Oxytocin’s ability to promote monogamy rests on social distance.

Oxytocin’s ability to promote monogamy in men may normally depend on the presence of a close positive relationship in the bond with their female partners and close physical proximity between the couple. This means that leaving your man for long periods of time could be allowing him to be prey to other women. Women could increase the faithfulness of their partners by engaging in behaviors that stimulate his oxytocin release, including intimate relations. Time: Health & Family.

Related content: Chose: remind people of money and dominate them, or other values and have their hand of friendship

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[Corporate focus: FedEx] Four weeks of pay for every year restructuring; textbook customer marketing from Youtube happenchance etcetera.

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The Memphis, Tennessee based company FedEx (NYSE: FDX) has been making the headlines. The news includes plans to reduce staff through buyouts, a classic example of how to do customer service after a Youtube video sent customers the wrong message and plans to increase the FedEx Ground distribution centers.

Positioned as the second largest package carrier in the market

FedEx (NYSE: FDX), founded by its CEO, Fred Smith, provides a broad array of services including e-commerce, transportation and business services as it competes to seamlessly deliver packages without delays. The company operates through four major segments – FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight and FedEx Services. It is now placed at #109 on the S&P500 which position Bank of New York Mellon Corp (NYSE: BK) lost on November, 29^th, 2012.

The company employs roughly 146,000 persons worldwide, with two-thirds in the U.S and is placed second worldwide, after USPS, in the market for package shipping, whether online or offline. Due to the dynamics of the market situation, where it is necessary for FedEx to move towards easier means of reaching the customer, it has had to partner with several companies which include Planet Soho, an ecosystem for small businesses to flourish. In partnership with Planet Soho, it offers customers discount rates that are close to 30%, online and at more than 1,900 FedEx Office retail locations across the U.S and Canada when a customer makes use of the Planet Soho Membership Card. In partnership with American Express, FedEx is also re-launching the invite-only My FedEx Rewards and My FedEx Office rewards programs. These two programs are powered by LoyaltyEdge from American Express. The LoyaltyEdge service will help FedEx enhance and expand its customer loyalty service programs.

Although along with UPS, it intends increasing its shipping rates starting January 7, 2013 for ground and home delivery, by an average of 4.9%, these increase is reflected in the major distribution center expansions that are being undertaken across the U.S especially in Roseville, California and Hagerstown, Washington county, Maryland. It proposes building a new 200,000-square-foot distribution center at Roseville in order to boost its package volume capacity and increase speed and service capabilities of the FedEx Ground network.

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FedEx employees work extremely hard to make sure packages arrive on time. The company has forecasted that a record high of 280 million shipments will move through the global FedEx networks during the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. On “Green Monday”, December 10, an estimated 10 million packages must have been delivered by FedEx.

Service delivery doesn’t come without some drama.

American football is at the heart of the American Sports scene. FedEx is also part of the action. She is the Official Delivery Service Sponsor of the NFL, Super Bowl and Pro Bowl, FedEx is proud to sponsor the 10th annual Air & Ground NFL Players of the Week program. FedEx also hosts a Golf tournament, the PGA Tour FedEx cup championship. FedEx is on record at the American Red Cross site to be amongst the Fortune500 companies that actively supported the Red Cross during rescue operations post-Hurricane Sandy that rocked the East coast states of America.

According www.sfist.com, a Redwood City man was accused of a failed attempt to ship three kilos of methamphetamine and 100 grams of cocaine through a FedEx store in Redwood City, both packages worth around $250, 000. Although the man pleaded not guilty, the case is amongst many that underscore the challenges package shippers face in their line of business. Theft is also an ill wind that afflicts package delivery such that it is often wise for households to be alert for when a package will be delivered to their homes. It is often the case that packages delivered on the front steps can be taken in a matter of seconds. Whose fault is it? Package delivery companies do all they can not to be sued for carelessness or missing packages. According to www.sfgate.com, Ismail Aliyev, a former FedEx driver in Utah was fired for federal trucking violations, that an Iowa court had found him guilty. Ismail sued FedEx though because he claimed his sack was because of his “Russian accent.”

How would a company amongst the Fortune500 handle a Youtube video of a FedEx courier tossing a customer’s package over a fence?

This video which initially caused a public uproar eventually was used by FedEx for excellent customer service and crisis management.

FedEx handling of the Youtube video event was a textbook example of crisis management. The handling of the public uproar over the video made it to emerge as one of the most admired companies in the U.S in a survey conducted by Forbes.

To cap the corporate focus, starting next year, FedEx (NYSE: FDX) will be offering its employees the opportunity of up to two years’ pay to leave the company. Employees who volunteer for the program will receive four weeks of pay for every year of service. This is part of a restructuring effort to cut down operating expenses through staff restructuring. After the restructuring announcement, it was reported that company shares rose 65 cents to $88.78 in afternoon trading of that day.

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