We live in a world where business is a very vital part of living. On a daily basis, we exchange commodity for another. We buy and we sale even though we are not profound business men.
It is the goals and dreams of many people to own their own business. The rate of which many people are going into business these days is quite alarming. Competitions here and there. Sometimes i do ask myself, if we all become sellers, who will now buy from us? lol.
I have lots of people around me that want to do business. I can't enjoy my friends whatsapp status like i used to because, nowadays, the only thing they post is business. Crazy enough, all of them have one business. Its either they sale clothes online, or they sale wig. A few sale snacks online.
It is one thing to enter into the world of business and become successful, but it is another thing to have a successful business that prioritize quality and customer satisfaction over business profits. Most of these online vendors don't sale what they advertise, which is really bad for their reputation.
When the context is whether or not a business should prioritize profits over ethics, we all ahve our diverse perspective. This post is my response to hive learners prompt, PROFITS OR ETHICS. Here goes.
Given that i have friends that sale things online, i do patronize them every now and then. However, in some cases, what i ordered is not what i get. These days, business prioritize profits over ethics.
From the business' perspective, it may be a good thing, but then, when you think about the damage it causes to the consumers, its not a good thing. This damage to the consumer will in-turn hurt the reputation of that business. In the world of business, reputation is worth more than anything. This is why branded low quality goods are more expensive than unbranded high quality goods.
Allowing room for ethical considerations before taking decisions on a products quality and quantity, packaging and distribution route, and also, how it impacts the end users satisfaction, speaks volume to the professionality of the business' board members. Professionalism, though seems like a mere word, is an important tool to creating a successful business empire.
From my perspective, it is not bad to seek profits. However, a growing business or a grown business that prioritize profits and feigns ignorance to consumers satisfaction will gradually plummet to bankruptcy because people will always want to be satisfied by their purchase, thus, they will seek good quality products.
So, to answer the question "Should businesses prioritize ethics or profits when running operations?" I think its depending on the goals of the business. If the business owner have a goal of staying around for a short time, then, they can prioritize profits over ethics given that their products don't cause any biological hazard to their consumer.
Conversely, if the business owner have a goal of staying for the long run, then, i think they should prioritize ethics over profit. By maintaining good quality, they will create a good reputation for themselves. In no time, the profit the seek will come and their business will still be maintaining those ethics.
I'm not a business personnel. The wordings in this post are my perspective and i don't advice that it be used as a financial tool.
Thank you for reading.