Private and Public Organisations are Both Broken

In the modern era, we’re caught between two seemingly contradictory and intractable forces in business. On one side, privately owned companies are driven, ostensibly at least, by profit. While this aim is the contemporary default for any business, it leads to quality, services, and eco-friendliness being neglected. On the other hand, publicly owned companies, riddled with disengagement, bureacracy and a lack of motivation, often have staff too busy e.g. chasing targets to care about the quality of their products and services. This conundrum presents a significant challenge in striking a balance between profitability, quality, and social responsibility.

Indeed, is balance even possible? Are we looking for compromises rather than evaporating the cloud and seeking our flawed assumptions?

The Profit-Driven Private Companies

In a privately owned company, the emphasis on profit margins can often become the primary focus. Shareholders expect returns, and the pressure is always on to deliver financial growth. However, the downside of this profit-driven approach can be significant:

1. Quality Reduction: In an effort to cut costs, quality might take a back seat. Cheaper materials and reduced quality control measures may be employed to save money, thereby affecting the final product’s quality.
2. Eco-Unfriendliness: Profit-driven agendas might cause companies to overlook or even blatantly disregard environmentally friendly practices. Long-term sustainability can often be sacrificed for short-term gains.
3. Service Negligence: The quest for profits may lead to a decline in customer service. Building long-term relationships might lose out to quick sales and immediate financial gains.

The Unengaged Public Companies

Public companies, on the other hand, face a different set of challenges:

1. Lack of Motivation: A sense of disconnection between the workers and the organisation’s objectives can lead to widespread demotivation.
2. Disengagement with Quality: When employees don’t feel connected to their roles or the products and services they’re offering, there’s little incentive to ensure quality.
3. Bureaucratic Inertia: Public companies often struggle with bureaucratic hurdles, slowing down innovation and responsiveness to market changes, and compounding the lack of staff motivation.
4. Inattention to Needs Publicly owned organisations – and govenement organisations – are renowned for their manifest and endless failures to cater to their customers’ needs, and to their staff’s needs, too.