Introduction
The definition of a good business stretches far and wide to almost all elements of business management. Precisely, a good business is not defined by its success or ability to sustain profits year after year. In defining a good company, the key aspects which include customers, associates, owners and business partners must be put into consideration (Gerstel, 2002).
Most inventors in the corporate world focus on profitability at the expense of ethical and sustainable practices. Moreover, some business owners go to an extent of compromising quality in order to increase their profits. A good business is defined by what it does beyond making money. The ability of a business to impact on to the society adds value to its existence. A company first accounts for its success when the employees, customers, suppliers and all other stakeholders are satisfied and content about the services and the work environment.
1: Characteristics of a Good Business
Ambition and Risk Taking
Ambition is the force that keeps a person or a group focused towards achieving something. This desire is geared by certain elements such as power, honor, distinction, fame, wealth or an achievement. In the business context, ambition is the desire to meet a certain goal or target aimed at improving the company. There is a clear distinction between ambition and greed. Greed is mainly focused on personal benefit while ambition is meant for developmental purposes or improvement of the company (Gerstel, 2002).
For instance Dell Company, in its 2020 legacy of good plan, states that its main objective by the year 2020 focuses on the community, people and the environment. (Mendelson, 2005). The company looks forward to providing technology that allows growth for companies and ensures that its clients thrive in ultimate connectivity. This indicates that the company is not only after making profit, but is also ambitious to improve the lives of its clients.
Inspiration
Investors neglect their employees by developing an attitude that classifies employees as mere service providers. Successful investors will agree to the fact that a demoralized work force channels a company or organization to ultimate failure. A good company invests its time and money in ensuring that the entire work force is adequately inspired to work toward the same goal or objective. Simple things such as rewards and complementing positive progress are some of the things that increase the morale of employees.
The management must also demonstrate determination towards achieving the set goals in order to inspire the employees to work towards the same. Dell Company’s management employs different techniques of inspiring its workforce. First the employees are actively involved in decision making. Therefore, they own the developmental project which motivates them to work towards achieving them. The greatest inspiration in the company is drawn from the attitude and determination of the company’s founder and current CEO to the company (Mendelson, 2005).
Attitude and Ethics
Developing a positive attitude among employees and stakeholders in a company marks the initial step towards success. A good company must acknowledge ethical business conduct among all the stakeholders and associates not forgetting employees and the management. Ensuring a positive attitude among employees ensure cohesion as they work together and makes it easy to achieve the set goals since everyone plays his/her role effectively.
Ethical practice is essential as it protects the long term integrity of the company. Dell Company believes is a winning culture which defines how employees relate to customers as well as the management (Mendelson, 2005). Employees always aim high which leaves them yearning for greater achievements. Employees maintain high conduct and positive relationship within the organization. As a result, the company focuses all its energy and expertise in ensuring customer satisfaction and keeping up with the competition instead of dealing with internal conflicts.
Employee Appraisal
Employee appraisal refers to developmental improvement of employees skills such as offering training through conferences and allowing employees some time to further their studies. Regardless of how qualified employees might be, the rapid changes in technology and the field of business require advancement of skills and knowledge. Training employees assures the company of long term benefit from the skills and experience of an employee. At Dell Company employees are paid for performance and not presence.
This implies that only productive employees work and receive rewards at Dell Company. The company has various programs for employee appraisal such as base compensation, incentives bonus and well at dell benefits. In every decision that the company makes, it strives hard to ensure balance between what works for the company and what is best for its employees.
2: Case Study on Companies
Dell
Dell is among the most successful companies in the world. This rating is not on the basis of the profit made every year. Actually, the company incurs losses and also experiences hardships in its operations. According to the company’s founder Michael dell, the beginning of a company’s success is establishing strong internal relations and taking control over the internal factors (Mendelson, 2005).
Strong internal ties among employees and their employers have been of the companies strongholds. Employees deliver good results, not because of supervision, but because they are part of the larger dell company. In the last decade dell rose to the top of the computer market owing to the continued to its persistent focus on achieving optimum customer satisfaction. Through venturing into internet marketing the company has managed to increase
In addition to a well motivated workforce, the company sets aside some of its revenue for employee training. The company has an internal training tool where employees receive up to date training of marketing strategies.
Managerial staff receive management course to enhance their leadership skills. Subordinate staff receives technical training on how to operate and manage the electronics and machine. Dell believes in empowering all employees regardless of their position in the company. Investing on its employees has yielded great results for the company. This is because the knowledge earned during training is implemented within the company.
Apple Inc
Good leadership is an important feature that propels apple Inc to thrive in the field of computing. Starting with the founder of the company Steve jobs, the company has since then followed in his steps of ambition and determination. The employees at apple Inc draw their inspiration from leaders within the company.
This is beneficial to the company as it acts as a gearing force towards the achievement of set goals regardless of the economic state in the world. Like all good companies apple Inc upholds ethical behaviour, production of quality products and good customer relationship.
Sony
Over the years, Sony has been known for the production of quality household electronics. To the company’s management, quality was the greatest offer it would give to its customers. No matter how much discounts customers receive, the quality of products is a major attributes that can never be neglected by any manufacturer (Hoskisson & Ireland, 2013).
In addition to production of quality products the company maintains strong ties between its employees and employers which allow coordination within the company. There is effective communication between the various departments. These among other qualities make Sony a legendary among companies that exist in the world.
Hewlett Packard
The Hewlett Packard Company operates on a vision to enhance the productivity of the society at large. This implies that the company’s vision is not restricted to profit making but extends to the overall benefit to the community. Under the leadership of Meg Whitman, the chief executive officer to the company, the company acts as a change agent in the computing industry (Verlag, Top of Form
2003). The company takes part in various projects that target the improvement of life. There are a number of reasons as to why the company is very devoted to improving the lives of its customers and the community around its offices. The main reason is because the company believes that better lives for their client’s increases their purchasing power.
This is a long term strategy that focuses on increasing sales. The strategy allows the potential customers to benefit first before the company makes profit. Hewlett puckered is not a good company because of the profit it gets from the sale of its electronic devices but for the impact it creates on the people.
3: Relevance of Marginal Concepts to Performance
Dell
Dell Company is known for the production of computers at very customer friendly prices since its establishment. Marginal concepts apply in responding to the question of how much to produce and what to produce. The decision on how much computers to product is directly dictated by the customers.
Dell has an advantage of having direct customer relationship, which enables the company to make tailor made products depending on the customer’s specification. Up to 90% of the personal computers produced by dell are sold directly to the customers either by internet or in their physical outlets (Mendelson, 2005). The marginal rate of substitution of one product to another is on the basis of the demand and customer response and not market forecast like in other companies.
Hewlett Packard
The application of marginal concepts at Hewlett Packard is visible through a number of decisions on production of certain products. Specifically, this refers to the production of hardware devices for webOS, which went on for only 18 months after a major merger with palm. HP had adopted palm and the production of smart phones that made use of webOS because it appeared as a promising venture that would unlock the market (Verlag, Top of Form
2003). However, they dropped the idea after realising that the products did not sell as they expected. By this the company used the marginal rate of substitution to eliminate a product that would have led to loss rather than profit.
Sony
Sony Company deals with the production of household electronics. The company is based in Japan but its products are used in almost every country in the world. Sony relies on market trends in order to determine what products to invest on and how many more electronics it should produce at a certain period.
According to the CEO Sony, the marginal rate of consumption decreases with the time that a product spends in retail stores (Hoskisson & Ireland, 2013). As a result, the company has to come up with an improvement or a better product in order to counter competition from the other manufacturers.
Apple Inc
Apple Company thrives in the expertise of its employees and its manufacturing advantage over its competitors. As a result the company is able to sell its products at a lower price than its competitors or even the same price. Apple applies the concept of marginal benefit and marginal cost in setting up its sales. Precisely, the company sets a high price for a new product and since the company upholds quality and strategy in identifying market, it is able to realise its marginal benefit within a short time. This allows the company control the market and counter its competitors.
4: Marginal Concepts as Strategies for Conservation as Opposed to Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is the inability to pay for company debts with the current revenue. This forces the company to liquate and sell its assets in order to settle the existing debts. On the other hand, marginal concepts help in weighing the benefit or cost involved by increasing or decreasing production of a certain product.
Severally, companies find themselves in a predicament when they are unable to clear the available stock. Such companies end up having a huge amount of dead stock that slows down development. With the use of marginal concepts a company is able to increase products that will record higher sales and reduce others by marginal substitution.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it is clear that no single element is sufficient in identifying a good company. The four companies, Sony, apple Inc, Hewlett Packard and dell demonstrate features of good company.
These features include ambition, employee welfare, good relationship with customers and a positive attitude towards the community where the companies are located. Each of these companies has been or is running a project, not for its own profitability, but for the good of the community and the world at large. This is the ultimate definition of a good company.
References
Gerstel, D. U. (2002). Running a successful construction company. Newtown, CT: Taunton Press.
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Hoskisson, R. E., & Ireland, R. D. (2013). Strategic management: Competitiveness & globalization : cases. Mason, OH: South-Western, Cengage Learning.
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Verlag. G Top of Form
.(2003) Hewlett packard: any chance to beat its global competitors. S.l.Bottom of Form Mendelson.H. (2005). Dell direct case study: Graduate School of Business. Stanford University, Stanford
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