Intellectual Property
A for-profit corporation has to protect its intellectual property (IP) needs if it wants to stay competitive. At the same time, it should understand the needs of its customers, who are more likely to be interested in the product itself rather than in who controls the IP. Thus, corporations have a question to ask: how should they guide themselves? Should they use a shareholder theory approach or a stakeholder theory approach? Who should control the IP, and why does it matter? In a world where brand is everything and brand equity is all that matters for controlling a market, companies seek to keep tight control over their IP because it prevents their brand from souring with consumers when they essentially control the flow of innovative goods that come to market. The fact is that there can be no fair balance between customer needs and business needs in a society that allows corporations to essentially become like nation-states. The problems of IP are but relatively small when compared to the much bigger problem of how companies exploit, undermine, and trivialize society by putting profits before people. The best way to approach this situation would be for companies to begin to put people before profits (Morrin, 2000).
Companies whose mission is primarily to create products on which lives depend should have a greater responsibility to tip the balance toward the customer more than toward themselves, as that is what is meant by putting people first. In fact, when companies put people first, the profits that they ultimately want tend to follow (Gibson & Blackwell, 1999). The fact that Herb Kelleher was able to turn Southwest Airlines from an upstart to a competitive force is based on that fact: he put people before profits and the people, recognizing his good will, gave him their business out of gratitude and respect and appreciation.
Companies that want to deliver life-saving products like in the health care industry should keep Kellehers business model in mind. There is no reason drugs should be so expensive. They are cheap in other nations compared to the US. The problem is that the US government subsidizes the industry, and thus the prices are raised (Neuman et al., 2007).
If I was running such a company and looking through a...
…ROI. God will take care of it. The important thing for a company to do is to show the love to those who are in need. The whole point of market research, after all, is to identify what consumers need and then find a way to satisfy that need. Serving the consumer is what being in business is all about.The company will thrive so long as its leaders show that kind of spirit and trust in God for support. Legalism and laws to protect IP are ways to control and bastardize a market. They are not for faithful Christians. Patients, practitioners and companies that rely on health care products, for examplethey need the tools, drugs, and designs that companies develop. Why try to prevent them from obtaining these products? What is the service shown to God in that? The secret to being a successful company in this day and age is to show God that you care about His people and to seek first His kingdom, because He is waiting to support those who do so. The secret to Kellehers success was found in that principle: show the people the love, and the…
References
Gibson, J. W., & Blackwell, C. W. (1999). Flying high with Herb Kelleher: a profile in charismatic leadership. Journal of Leadership Studies, 6(3-4), 120-137.
Givel, M. (2006). Punctuated equilibrium in limbo: The tobacco lobby and US state policymaking from 1990 to 2003. Policy Studies Journal, 34(3), 405-418.
Morrin, D. S. (2000). People Before Profits: Pursuing Corporate Accountability for Labor Rights Violations Abroad Through the Alien Tort Claims Act. Boston College Third World Law Journal, 20(2), 427-446.
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