Analysis on Malachowski - Essay Example

Malachowski’s Views on the Evolutionary Paradigm The business world is evolving owing largely to advances in technology and this has led many companies to looking away from their moral and ethical responsibilities. This ‘evolution’ is what defines the evolutionary paradigm as raised by Malachowski as companies have come to defend their reckless actions as being necessary to maintain competitive advantage. Additionally, companies are seen to result to this as society perceives companies that have a competitive advantage as being better.

This in turn has led companies to sacrificing their ethical and moral obligations, and this has become the cost of the principle of the evolutionary paradigm. According to Malachowski, business is a survival game and as such many companies have been able to hide from their moral obligations on account of the evolutionary paradigm (Malachowski 111). Being centered on three key issues- Moral Character, Special Moral Responsibilities and The Nature of Business, Malachowski’s discussion on morality and competitive advantage looks into each one with the evolutionary paradigm principle in mind.

Firstly, he raises the point of culture where sports and arts have had their competitive conditions fine-tuned. In the same way, he feels that businesses can develop their own distinguishing Moral Character, instead of promoting the laws of the commercial jungle. He emphasizes that morally reprehensible actions cannot be limited to the business world or have it being neutral. This is because it will inevitably spill into our personal lives. Secondly, he states that businesses have created the adverse competitive conditions to which they claim they are subject and must struggle to survive.

This also prevents society from considering which moral responsibilities that businesses should take on as it is blinded by the evolutionary paradigm. Nevertheless, he points out that it would be hasty to approve the negative effects of the evolutionary paradigm without first reflecting on the Special Moral Responsibilities that businesses are subject (Malachowski 113-114). Thirdly, in the past, it was believed that businesses were a natural entity in that they would change and evolve following certain circumstances.

Placing moral constraints on businesses was thought to make businesses incur high unnecessary costs as well. This view has persisted and left businesses in a position where they dictate their own rules and profitability is their only goal. Malachowski, however, believes that this view of The Nature of Business continues at the expense of what is best of the society because for instance businesses will sacrifice quality of their products and services. Notably also, businesses have failed to look into the advantages of having moral consideration from the perspective of reduced court proceedings as it will enable them to generate good publicity.

He asserts that businesses are not ‘quasi-natural kinds’ rather they are conventionally created entities that do not have intrinsic properties (Malachowski 112- 113). Malachowski insists that for a market to operate in perfect competition, businesses need to undertake moral assessments of their actions. He is of the opinion that a business truly beats out its competitors only if it does so legally and morally; that businesses bound by morality will tip the survival scale in favor of those that hold the highest ethical values.

He proposes that businesses focus on creating strategic plans for their advertising and marketing while aiming at surpassing its competition. This will allow to them to create a niche for their products and services, as customers will develop interest, and in turn generate good publicity that will see them attract new customers. The evolutionary paradigm holds that businesses will reap the most benefits if they are not fettered by morality, where benefits are measured by amount of wealth created.

This completely disregards other aspects of a business that require looking into the community within which they operate and having a long-term view of moral responsibilities. Indeed businesses are carried on with an aim of creating wealth but this is not their sole purpose; stakeholders’ value has to be maximized where stakeholders refers to customers and the society at large. Of importance as well is the fact that competitive behaviors, contrary to the evolutionary paradigm, are not affected by moral constraints (Malachowski 112).

I agree with Malchowski as it is possible and profitable to operate following a moral code where businesses can focus on differentiating their products and services through strategic marketing and through its employees by viewing them as a source of competitive advantage. The latter would involve enshrining ethics and moral responsibility into the business’ culture and empowering employees through training opportunities and rewarding their efforts through incentives. This will boost their productivity and innovativeness, allowing the company to be able to predict its customers’ needs and better meet their expectations.

In addition, observing a set of moral code and ethics will generate good publicity for a business and keep it away from scandals that have plagued companies such as Enron. Furthermore, good publicity facilitates attracting of new investors which will make it possible for a business to expand and generate even more wealth. Works Cited Malachowski, Alan. Focus: Ethics in Competition- Morality and Competitive Advantage. Business Ethics: A European Review. Volume 4, Issue 4, (1995) pp.199–201.