English For Academic Purposes

Question: Should a company only focus on making a profit? Answer: Introduction Organizations have become competitive enough and in order to sustain in the market, profit is generally selected as the main criteria that indicates corporate growth (Szelenyi 2012). On the other hand, most of the multi-national organizations have started to proceed beyond profit making. Factors such as employee satisfaction, consumer relationship and corporate social responsibility are found to create a brand image and consumer loyalty for a concerned organization (Huang 2012). Therefore, profit must not be the only factor that instigates organizational development rather organizations need to think of other factors that will satisfy its stakeholders to enhance the competitive era in both vertical and horizontal markets. In this essay, factors on which an organization needs to focus will be discussed critically. Discussion Counter-argument- According to Tokatli (2012), organizations try to ensure visible profit enlargement through direct methods of sales maximization. Often the organizations try to cut cost so that operational cost is reduced and revenue earning is not altered. Rebuttal- Thus, it can be said that organizations need to ensure a balance between its operational activities and profit maximization so that its assets are not exploited beyond optimized level. Argument- On the other hand, Xie, Rui and Cao (2012) argued that if an organization tries to reduce its cost of operation by increasing the amount of resource utilization, then the tenure or longevity of the asset might be reduced. Therefore, organizations need to create unique strategies other than direct profit generation, which will include consumer satisfaction, CSR activities and employee engagement. Evidence- For example, if Walmart is considered, then it can be said that the organization has tried to keep a balance between its sup ply chain and capital conservation, by ensuring a good relationship with the suppliers. Counter-argument- According to Menguc et al. (2013), manufacturing organizations try to reduce the cost of operation by reducing the number of employees so that without increasing the price of finished goods, the amount of revenue is increased. On the other hand, wages of the employees are not increased but they are forced to work beyond their limit. This though results in cost cutting, but employees are not able to sustain in the organization. Hence, this creates a negative impact on the organization. Rebuttal- Therefore can be said that if an organization directly thinks of profit making by squeezing its present assets, then in turn profit will be hampered. Argument- Breevaart et al. (2014) pointed out that if employees are not retained then surely, productivity will be reduced and therefore in turn, customer will not be satisfied. On the other hand, Menguc et al. (2013) pointed out that if employees are satisfied then it will be reflected in their performance and thereby profit wi ll be maximized. Anitha (2014) opined that most of the organizations try to think directly of profit maximization by deregulating its tangible assets but if such organizations try to value its intangible assets such as employee satisfaction then in turn more profit and long-term development will be achieved. Evidence- For example, the Indian company, Reliance Digital is one such organization, that tries to satisfy its employees first and then its clients, which has ultimately resulted in indirect profit. Counter-argument- According to Truss et al. (2013), the main motive of the organizations has been sales maximization and for that, they do not initiate any post-serve involvement. Such organizations feel that post-services increases the cost of business as such services are to be allowed free of cost. Argument- Tirunillai and Tellis (2014) opined that through free post services the gap between the consumer and management is reduced. Therefore, it can be said that organizations need to strengthen consumer relationship by free post service for their products. Free post sales service will enhance consumer satisfaction and in turn, the amount of sales will be increased. If consumers are satisfied, then brand loyalty will be enhanced and more number of people will be involved with one particular organization (Truss et al. 2013). If an organization is able to retain its employees then, market share will be increased. With increase in market share, more amounts of sales will happen in futur e, which indicates growth of an organization. Rebuttal- Therefore, it can be said that consumer satisfaction needs to be enhanced so that brand loyalty is increased, which will in turn raise the profit for an organization. The discussion even gives the result that organizations will be able to raise the bar of product diversification and thereby reduce the risk of operation if amount of demand is sustained through brand enhancement. Evidence- For example, Dell is one such organization, which ensures free post-service for its clients, which has though increased the cost of operation but has resulted in extending the relationship with clients. Counter-argument- According to Schneider and Schmidpeter (2012), corporate social responsibility is not ensured by medium scale organizations as they find increase in cost of operation due to added responsibilities. This raised the bar of consumer satisfaction and increased amount of sales, which ultimately increased the yearly revenue. Argument- Korschun, Bhattacharya and Swain (2014) pointed out that as Tesco started to sell products through tin cans, they found certain amount of operational cost was increased, which was far less than the increment in sales. Thus, finally, it was the benefit for Tesco as number of sales was increased. Aguinis and Glavas (2012) argued that small scale organizations try to reduce the cost of production and for them attaining CSR does not ensure higher profit as such organizations are in the growing stage. On the other hand, Cheng, Ioannou and Serafeim (2014) counter argued that consumers are not only attracted to products particularly, but they are l oyal to the organization as a whole. Servaes and Tamayo (2013) pointed out that with CSR activities organizations will be able to reach towards the consumers, which more motive of satisfaction, which will raise the sales in near future. Rebuttal- Thus, if from the initial stage, small scale organizations implant the idea of CSR through basic innovation, then surely brand loyalty will be enhanced. Ultimate cost of products will be increased but that may not affect the demand, as consumers are highly aware of quality and prefer quality to price. However, ultimate motive of an organization is profit maximization, but in order to achieve this it needs to reach indirectly towards its consumers with more brand loyalty programs through corporate social responsibilities. Evidence- If Tesco Plc. is considered, then it can be found that food items were sold via plastic packaging until the year 2011, but with the rising demand of healthy edibles from the early 2012, it started to sell edible p roducts in tin cans instead of plastic packets in the UK (O'Shea et al. 2013). Conclusion While concluding, it can be said that organizations need to ensure indirect profit maximization. However, organizations are trying to increase sales by diversification of portfolio but they are not taking care of their internal strategies. From the above discussion, it is clear that organizations need to ensure reduction of gap with consumers, which can be raised only by consumer satisfaction. If consumers are satisfied, then they can be retained for longer term, which will enhance the profit maximization. Therefore, organizations need to concentrate on CSR activities, employee engagement and consumer relationship, which will ultimately raise the profit earning capability in near future. After completing the analysis, it can be ensured that organization must not only focus on profit making, but at the same time, it needs to ensure that its employees and consumers are satisfied, which will in turn increase the amount of sales. Recommendation From the critical analysis, it has been found that organizations need to ensure employee satisfaction, which can be raised by reward and recognition several other fringe benefits. These benefits will increase employee participation, which will raise the bar of quality service. CSR activities such as sustainable environment programs will raise the consumer loyalty. Such programs may be reduction in plastic usage and carbon footprint. Finally, consumer relationship can be strengthened by ensuring free post sales service and for that new customer support executives are to be hired. All such activities will ensure consumer satisfaction, which will in turn raise profit for the organization. Reference List Aguinis, H. and Glavas, A., 2012. What we know and dont know about corporate social responsibility a review and research agenda.Journal of management,38(4), pp.932-968. Anitha, J., 2014. 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