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Butter them up?

Here are recent media examples:

1. Ramifications of the Japan crisis will continue to be felt around the world as it sinks in that a load of electronic components are sourced there. There is speculation that the iPad 2 might be in short supply as a result, and that the iPhone 5 may be delayed.

There’s a perfectly respectable response that goes “so what, people are dying here and terrified”. This is a financial/business blog, though, so our focus is elsewhere - although the Red Cross will naturally welcome all donations.

Acer has confirmed that it has enough inventory for three months, while other companies are starting to stockpile components where they can.

This will almost certainly lead to shortages of (for example) computer memory, and shortages will inevitably push prices up.

The lack of certain types of memory will hit mobile product manufacturers particularly hard. Apple, because of its importance in the market, is likely to be prioritized as everyone will want to butter up their biggest customer. Others won’t be so lucky so we can expect a series of products expected this year which, in the event, appear a little later and at a higher cost.

- Japan crisis to hit electronics, DailyFinance.co.uk, March 21, 2011.

2. GETTING AHEAD AT WORK: It can take more than business accomplishments to get you a prominent appointment in the corporate world.

Fawning behavior was more likely to help company executives get appointments to a board of directors, according to a recent study. That was particularly true for historically underrepresented groups such as minorities and women, said study author Ithai Stern, a professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.