Business Strategies
Every business strives to have a competitive advantage, attain success, and subsequent growth regardless of the size and location. Some firms have always used business strategy as a tool that would ensure that the set goals are met (Spender, 2015). Positive business culture and firm’s rules and regulations form part of strategies that a business would consider essential for success. This paper examines how a strong, positive culture can enhance a firm’s competitive advantage. On the other hand, it explores how a weak, negative culture erodes competitive advantages. Finally, it considers other systems and processes needed to help reduce unethical behavior in organizations in addition to the set rules and regulations.
A positive culture in a business is very vital towards attaining a competitive advantage. A positive culture is a tool that would be used for recruitment by a firm (Phillips & Gully, 2012). For a firm to attain a competitive advantage, it must have productive employees that are competitive to get. Only business with influential culture becomes appealing to good performers. For example, the Google company has established a robust and positive culture which has made the firm to recruit the best workers capable of driving the company’s objective far above the possible competitors in the market. An attractive environment is not only vital in getting workers into a firm, but it also assists in getting the employees with the right skills needed to propel a business to success.
Importantly, a strong, positive culture ensures a competitive advantage through the empowerment of the employees (Phillips & Gully, 2012). A company culture would provide a platform that guides employees to make vital decisions that improve their performance and meet the overall goal of the organization. A positive culture promotes team spirit and innovation that causes employees to create suitable output through unique skills (Phillips & Gully, 2012). For instance, the Netflix business has managed to tap on its strong culture through values that makes the workers innovative. The culture creates an environment where workers focus much on the result rather than sticking on the process. A strong business culture promotes the value that not only helps in maintaining sanity in the business but also gives employees motivation for higher achievement.
Pointedly, a business that fails to build a strong positive culture is much prone to failure (Schein, 2010). A weak, negative culture erode competitive advantage. Decreased moral is an inevitable consequence for a company with a weak culture. With the presence of reduced morale, the workers will not harness their full potential; hence productivity will be low as compared to competitors (Schein, 2010). Consequently, a reduced moral would force some workers to quit since there is less satisfaction obtained from work, thus leading to a collapsed human capital.
Enacting rules and regulations for business is essential in reducing unethical behaviors in an industry (Schwartz, 2017). However, the creation of systems like the checks and balances system is another necessity that would ensure that ethical standards are always upheld in an organization. The system would offer a platform that would minimize the chances of engaging in unethical behaviors. For instance, the system would hire a consistent auditor who would monitor works done by other employees, such as accountants. The presence of such systems makes employees cautious of their actions that may be unethical.
Again, a business may focus on recruitment systems that focus on values rather than skills alone to minimize unethical behaviors (Schwartz, 2017). Some firms tend to neglect the focus on the morals of a potential worker at the time of recruitment hence may risk hiring a worker who has no regard for ethics. Workers who have ethical values and skills ensure that work is done in moral standards.
In conclusion, a strong, positive culture is needed to tap skilled personnel into a business and for the creation of an environment where workers are motivated to innovate for competitive advantage. Conversely, a weak culture kills a firm’s competitive advantage, where workers lose morale and the ability to innovate. Even though rules and regulations are necessary for reducing unethical behaviors in business, systems, and processes like cheeks and balances and recruitment based on value s are also vital for ethics to be upheld in an organization.
References
Phillips, J., & Gully, S. M. (2012). Organizational behavior: Tools for success. Mason, OH: South-Western C engage Learning.
Schein, E. H. (2010). Organizational culture and leadership. San Francisco, Calif: Jossey-Bass.
Schwartz, M. S. (2017). Business ethics: An ethical decision-making approach. John Wiley & Sons.
Spender, J.-C. (2015). Business strategy: Managing uncertainty, opportunity, and enterprise. Oxford: Oxford University Press.