Alan Malachowski is famous for his evolutionary paradigm theory. The extensively studied theory deals with ascertaining how businesses that are passed as the most competitive emerge victoriously and succeed those that are seen as less competitive. Due to the desire of every business to remain relevant in the business environment, business people are forced to engage in many practices that are meant to guarantee the success of the businesses. However, in some circumstances, businesses shun down what is morally acceptable to focus on the creation of competitive strategies that should lead to the success of the business. These unethical issues that some business engages in, remain relevant in the business Alan Malachowski addresses.
According to Malachowski cited in Boylan (111), a new entrant into the business environment alters the competitive balance of the existing firms, a fact that forces the firms to devise new strategies to ensure survival. Whereas this form of strategic positioning of firms is ethically acceptable, Malachowski notes that some firms engage in unethical conduct to win the competition race. It is this unethical conduct that Malachowski chooses to address. Businesses are morally responsible to exercises duty of care as well as a caution towards their customers as well as other stakeholders in the process of doing their business. The profit motive should not be used to override the moral conduct of business processes as moral approaches to business processes are more beneficial in the sustainability of firms.
Although the market today demands that businesses have to evolve in whatever way for them to succeed, the evolution process should remain within frameworks that are morally acceptable as the businesses have obligations to various stakeholders in their environment. The concept of morality as a tool for competitive advantage, according to Malachowski, is influenced by the nature of the business. Although all businesses have the ethical responsibility to observe morality at all costs, some businesses whose nature is directly linked to the safety of the masses are generally expected to observe more caution. The paradigm shift has changed the concept of moral responsibility among businesses which has forced them to evolve with time. Notions that businesses have no moral responsibilities that were held by the previous economists are no longer viable in the market. Maintaining good moral conduct, therefore, helps such firms to improve their overall acceptance by the public hence making such organizations have a competitive advantage due to their moral standards. According to Malachowski cited in Boylan (110) the more competitive business stands to drive the less competitive businesses out of business as the competitive business will have more positive appeal among the clientele. Businesses with a positive moral appeal have a competitive advantage as they are viewed more positively by the populations that examine them. The paradigm shift therefore has forced business to have a special moral responsibility to the customers. Unlike the notions that asserts that businesses are better placed to produce better results when they pursue self interests, the paradigm shift have it that businesses must remain focused on their position of moral correctness in the business arena.
When companies realize that their existence in the market is threatened, they often engage in unethical behaviour in the process of looking for a competitive strategy. However, all competitive strategies should have strong moral basis to guarantee the success of the business. Moral behaviour should not be ignored in company processes such as advertising and strategy development. Businesses should work towards developing morally competitive behaviours as the key drivers of business transactions. Moral competitiveness as a strategy has been said to start with the understanding of the competitors approaches. Once these approaches are established, firms should be focused in taking a moral responsibility in the society which boosts the image of such firms among the clients. This would lead to formation of moral character that would go a long way in ensuring that firms that use moral correctness as a strategy outdo the competitors thus replacing them (Boylan 115).
Concerning moral character, Malachowski asserts that competition has the ability to bring out the best and the worst of human nature. According to Malachowski, evolutionary paradigm presents a unique chance that can be used to show people how the darker side of humanity can be harnessed for productivity. As competition rises, self interest as well as greed among the populace increases. However, this increase of self interest results to efficiency in use of resources in production. Despite this, Malachowski argues that this approach in business ignores fundamental questions on the position of moral character in business practice. He cites the example of sports where he argues that “the best” performer is recognized as the ultimate winner. By saying this Malachowski is of the view that businesses should be governed by specific laws that should leave only the competitive business in operation while those that are out of this competitive zones should be replaced by the competitive businesses.
According to the views of Evolutionary Paradigm theory, businesses should be left to evolve in accordance with their ability to evolve by use of intrinsic competitive forces as well as competitive capabilities. This way, companies will escape the unnecessary dragnet of sleeping into unethical practices that jeopardizes the moral standards of the society. The desire to set an exclusive business should be solely guided by the ability of such businesses to carry on with their moral mandate that should ensure that they are differentiated from their competitors by way of practicing moral approaches to business.
In conclusion it is important to mention that the assertions laid down by Malachowski in Evolutionary Paradigm theory are not only acceptable, but should guide all aspects of business approaches. Moral competitiveness that has been addressed by Malachowski should be the concern of all business as this way; the business environment is sustained by all the stakeholders. It is also true that the nature of each business should have a strong influence towards the acceptable level of moral caution. Companies should also focus to create positive moral characters and utilize this created moral character towards gaining competitive advantage in order to emerge as a preferred entity in a competitive market. With this stated, it is evident that I support the views that have been carried by Malachowski in his paradigm shift theory and the role of morality as a tool in the process of creation of competitive advantage for businesses.
Work Cited
Boylan, Michael. Business ethics. New York: Prentice Hall, 2001. Print.