4 ms·

I do have a fair bit of business experience, including seeing how destructive anti-competitive behaviour (both others and my own) can be. Successful businesses

I do have a fair bit of business experience, including seeing how destructive anti-competitive behaviour (both others and my own) can be. Successful businesses have lots of customers, and customers like the businesses they patronise to behave fairly. So although you are right that it's a competitive world, you have to compete fairly - and be seen to compete fairly - or you will drive your customers away. You do need consider what people have been "socialised" to think (which is what morals are, really) because otherwise your competitors will have a significant edge. Look at it this way. It is beneficial to society for entities (people or companies) to spend their energy improving their own service rather than degrading their competitors', because this results in the best possible service being available to that society. This is what all our anti-competitive laws - and innate sense of fairness - spring from.

cookiecaper 9y ago
>So although you are right that it's a competitive world, you have to compete fairly - and be seen to compete fairly - or you will drive your customers away. I think you're right that you have to be seen as fair. I think it's important to actually be fair, but as I said above, the popular conception of "fairness" does not necessarily map. It really comes down to how good your PR dept is at framing your company and making sure you're in the news for things that no one can fault, and that your strategic moves are never publicized. The short version is that people don't want to hear "how the sausage is made", but the environment, ultimately including your customers, still demands that you make it. >You do need consider what people have been "socialised" to think (which is what morals are, really) because otherwise your competitors will have a significant edge. Yeah, again, this is PR. I agree you need good PR. You also need to be realistic enough to know that the crap someone's PR department pumps out is not the end of the story. You have to make winning plays.

cookiecaper 9y ago

>So although you are right that it's a competitive world, you have to compete fairly - and be seen to compete fairly - or you will drive your customers away. I think you're right that you have to be seen as fair. I think it's important to actually be fair, but as I said above, the popular conception of "fairness" does not necessarily map. It really comes down to how good your PR dept is at framing your company and making sure you're in the news for things that no one can fault, and that your strategic moves are never publicized. The short version is that people don't want to hear "how the sausage is made", but the environment, ultimately including your customers, still demands that you make it. >You do need consider what people have been "socialised" to think (which is what morals are, really) because otherwise your competitors will have a significant edge. Yeah, again, this is PR. I agree you need good PR. You also need to be realistic enough to know that the crap someone's PR department pumps out is not the end of the story. You have to make winning plays.