Corporations — Friend or Foe?

I recently read a post on Facebook about how horrible corporations are and that they are stealing from society. That corporations are only about profits and that it’s not right that they should be taking so much from society. Those who commented also went on about the evil of companies. No one mentioned where they get their paycheck to pay their house payment or suggested an alternative.  

It rubbed me the wrong way, but the more I have thought about it, the more untrue it seems to me. While it may be true that corporations are about profits, it must also be true that these profits only come from the foods or services they provide. No one is forced to buy these foods and services, and, in fact, there is great competition for them to buy those goods or services from others. It is also true that in order to compete for these customers the corporation must, therefore, have an advantage.  

The best advantage a corporation, any corporation, can have is the team it puts on the field. Who are the people that make it up? Since people choose who they will work for based on the salary, benefits, culture, and overall work environment, in order to stay in business and to put the best team on the field the corporation must offer the best place to work. If it does not, it will lose its employees to its competitors since no one is forced to stay in their employ and they’re all looking for the best place to work.

So, these evil corporations who are only about making profits are making these evil profits by providing outstanding products and services and making the lives of their employees better. If that is the face of evil, I’m all in.  

We currently have about 150 employees and serve over 300 customers per day.  My thoughts all day, every day, are on how my company can better serve our team members and our customers. I know that is the only way to sustainable profits.  I wonder how many people, other than the authors of the Facebook posts themselves, think of it all day long. 

“Steamships and railroads do not spring up from the earth and function automatically. They come in response to the call of civilization, through the labor and ingenuity and organizing ability of men who have IMAGINATION, FAITH, ENTHUSIASM, DECISION, PERSISTENCE! These men are known as capitalists. They are motivated by the desire to build, construct, achieve, render useful service, earn profits and accumulate riches. And, because they RENDER SERVICE WITHOUT WHICH THERE WOULD BE NO CIVILIZATION, they put themselves in the way of great riches.”

 

Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich

Living Every Minute, 

Dr. Tim