Issue: "In any enterprise" -- please evaluate my essay
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21 Mar 2011, 07:21
In any enterprise, the process of making or doing something is ultimately more important than the final product.” Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion expressed above. Support your point of view with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading
One can make the argument that in any enterprise, the process of making or doing something is ultimately more important than the final product. I disagree with this statement and will lay forth my explanations as follows:
First of all, we must define an enterprise and its purpose. The word comes for the French world entreprendre, which means to undertake. When you undertake something, it is imperative that what you are doing has a purpose in the end, and that what you undertake is merely the ways to get to that purpose. In a business sense, an enterprise is a collective of people, capitals, and ideas bonded together towards a goal. That goal may be to maximize profit, to create a famous brand, or merely to put an idea into business practice. Hence, it is insensible to say that the process of making or doing something is more important than what those processes were actually made to accomplish.
Second of all, it has been observed that certain enterprises fall apart because they become so focused on what they are doing that lose track of the ultimate goal. Or rather, we can say that by keeping an eye on the final destination, an enterprise is able to navigate through turbulent times by finding the shortest paths, avoiding routes where there is danger, or simply take a pause to re-assess the situation. An example of this is the Japanese cosmetic producer Mandom. Growing at an impressive rate through the 60s and 70s, the company decided to enter direct sales of its products to customers. These efforts went on for half a decade with disastrous results but management was so obsessed with the idea that they must quickly establish Mandom's own sales network in order to keep the competition up with Shiseido. At the end of the five-year period an all-out re-evaluation process took place. The company gave up its direct-sale efforts and re-strengthen relationships with its distributors. Years later they launched their flagship product "Gatsby" that quickly become the iconic image for male cosmetics in the world.
Finally, when thinking about the purpose of an enterprise it is important to note that an enterprise makes use of resources that are finite and may serve better use elsewhere. This is different from games or personal hobbies where it is assumed that resources are inifinite (or at least their efficient use is not such an important issue). A clear example of this is the case of giant public companies in communist systems such as Russia and Vietnam. For decades the government protected and encouraged their operations using propagandic phrases such as "Labor is honor!" or "Take what you need but give what you can!" However it is now clear that these enterprises were merely wasting resources and slowing the country's development. Workers under these systems were under the illusion that the process of making or doing something is ultimately more important than the final product.
In conclusion, I'd like to restate that the most important aspect in any enterprise should be its ultimate purpose. Pampering oneself with the misconception that the process of doing is important demonstrates a gross misunderstanding of the origins of an enterprise, and may lead to disastrous results with regards the the enterprise's well-being in the longer run. Focusing on the final products would remedy these problems and help prevent the enterprise from further straying from its course.