A couple of days ago, I had sat through our company’s quarterly all-hands. One point that struck me was the statement that purpose driven companies are more successful in the marketplace. So that does mean that every company should start being purposeful? Any student of Econ 101 are already thought that firms seek to maximize profit. According to behavioral economics, it may not be profit but rather market share, market valuation or personal perks. But bottom line is that every firm has a purpose, not not every firm is equally successful!
Where success comes from is when the purpose is aligned to those of the market, in the case of a retailer – that would be their customers. Econ 101 teaches us that the market would ‘clear’ at equilibrium, that is when the supply and demand curves meet. What it doesn’t explicitly tell us is that firms must provide something that the market wants, is willing and able to buy.
Take the example of the iPhone and Windows Mobile. Windows Mobile has been around for more than a decade yet it had not captured the imagination of the market in the ways of the iPhone. From my very first Windows Mobile phone, it was very clear the natural inclination was to touch the screen with the fingertip! Microsoft did not listen to his customers and had stuck to the stylus. Apple has listed and gave the market what it had expected.
In the end, its a no brainer. For firms to be successful, listen to your customers and give them what they want in a way that is easy to get it.
Tze Chin Tang 