1. ” Companies with reputations as good places to work have generated superior financial performance.” Explain your answer using informed sources.
It is not a surprise that a firm’s stellar financial performance is linked to employee happiness. When employers take the time to invest in their employee’s well-being, it demonstrates that the company has a People over profits model. In a capitalist society, this model is often taboo because firms believe profits will be sacrificed, albeit with the lack of evidence. People over profits is the grand scale. However, in its minutia, studies have shown that high levels of productivity are a result of employee satisfaction. To elucidate, let’s use Pfizer Incorporated. In the last two years, the pharmaceutical powerhouse has gained significant traction outside of the pharmaceutical industry due to its participation in developing the Covid-19 Vaccine. Before 2010, the Corporation recorded revenue annually between $6 Million and $50 Million (Historical Revenue Pfizer). Further clarifying, the company performance was just below average. However, after the new leadership in 2010, the company saw a change.
Previously, the company had a culture where employees never challenged their managers. Former CEO Ian read in 2010 instituted the “Own it” system to allow employees to speak out against their bosses (Annual Review – “I Own it.”, 2013). There was a massive change internally. New procedures were created, and employee development and retention increased. Just in the last year, the company recorded a 60% growth in employees (Pfizer’s number of employees from 2006 to 2020, 2022). While employment growth is important, so are the financial ratios. Within the last decade, after the implementation of systems and programs to foster happier employees, Pfizer has recorded a staggering $597.8 Billion in revenue. The decade before that, it was only $427.2 Billion. In Pfizer’s case, the difference between an organization with satisfied employees and those just showing up is $100 Billion.
2. Regarding the use of technology, how is customer and competitor behavior monitored and measured? Explain your answer using scholarly sources and citations within the text.
In the 21st century, the acquisition of data has never been this easy. Technology has made it very simple to have an insight into anyone’s behavior. Business Intelligence is the most valuable asset to any firm. Through platforms like Google Analytics, Facebook Ads, Whatruns, and more, firms can utilize consumer and competitor behavioral analytics. To elucidate, let’s use Google Analytics and Whatruns. Google Analytics is a web-based analytics service created by Google. The platforms’ main purpose is to provide business intelligence based on the website traffic of customers. While this may sound good to organizations, it does have its ethical issues. Google Analytics is essentially a look inside someone’s mind. The ethical issues are a result of a breach of privacy and integrity. Firms should not be allowed to collect this much information on their customers. It’s immoral. Google faced a $5 Billion law-suit recently because they were recording users’ analytics in private browsing mode (Southern, 2021). Whatruns is a google addon that allows you to identify the technology your competitors are using on their websites (Whatruns – About). This includes hosting platforms, integrations, and more. Competitors use these services to improve their website and get ahead of their competitors. While technology is an asset to all industries, there must be a limit on how much of it is used