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1-Page Summary of People Over Profit

Why “Good” Businesses Go Bad

In today’s competitive economic world, starting a business that cares about consumers can seem like a radical idea. However, most big capitalist enterprises that now have reputations for deceiving customers actually started out as honest companies. Consider McDonald’s. When the popular burger chain launched its first restaurant in the 1950s, it focused on providing quality meals and service to customers who valued their money. Unfortunately, over time they became greedy and lost focus on what really mattered: serving high-quality food at an affordable price to those who value it most—their customers!

The Four Eras

Most businesses are stuck in a cycle of four eras:

1. The “Honest Era”

In the Honest Era, companies were honest with their customers. In order to get business, they had to be. They started out as small businesses that focused on quality and customer satisfaction. Of course, it’s not like these companies didn’t start out deceiving consumers; they would never have attracted any business if they did so at first. Successful start-up companies in this era focus on core values that define them and drive their success forward. When Sam Walton founded Walmart in 1962, he based it on three principles: good customer service, respect for the individual and pursuit of excellence.

Honest Era businesses focus on improving the lives of their customers and employees. All stakeholders benefit from this period of innovation, including workers who get to bring dogs to work and enjoy other benefits.

2. The “Efficient Era”

As companies grow, they move from the Honest Era to the Efficient Era. They focus on how much they can sell and how quickly. Problems arise when efficiency becomes their main goal instead of honesty.

The food industry used to rely on farmers, but in the 21st century, only 1.5% of people work on farms and produce food for everyone else. Food producers focus on efficiency to make sure they can feed more people with less labor. They use chemicals, antibiotics and genetically modified foods that are not as healthy as natural ones.

Consumers demand low prices and high quality products. Companies that can’t keep up with those demands will lose their customers to competitors. As a result, many companies cut corners on product quality in order to meet the demands of consumers.

Google seems to be moving from a company that values honesty and freedom of expression to one that prioritizes efficiency. The tech giant became famous for allowing employees to work on anything they wanted 20% of the time, which promoted innovative outside-of-the-box ideas. Google now has dropped this special provision, which is likely to prioritize efficiency over free expression.

3. The “Deceptive Era”

In the deceptive era, companies focus on making money at all costs. They may sell harmful products or services and abandon their core values in order to make a profit. This leads to poor employee morale and loss of customer loyalty. Many companies are deceptive today because they have become more focused on profits than people. This trend is shown by the extreme income gap between rich and poor, as well as by many other statistics that show how much power businesses have over individuals’ lives—for instance, the outsourcing of jobs overseas to cheap labor markets where workers do not get paid enough for adequate working conditions or benefits (such as health care).

The US has had many recessions over the past 100 years. They are characterized by an increase in unemployment and a decrease in GDP for two quarters straight. Every time many companies enter into the deceptive era at once, it causes economic problems, such as recession. Specifically: