“Strategic management is about two things, gaining competitive advantage, and maximizing profitability.” Said my teacher in the capstone business school class. I raised my hand, “why?” Familiar question that I often ask. “Why can’t a corporation be satisfied with providing real value for real people without the need to maximize profitability or gain an edge? Why can’t they just self sustain?” In other words, why supersize it? The teacher had no answer. That night he posted a response on the classes interactive website. Something to the tune of “Sam’s question was perplexing, and honestly, there is no answer for why maximizing profitability and competitive advantage is the nature of corporations.” He went on to expound and summed it up with an “it is what it is” statement.

The class was somewhat of an annoyance for me. It turned me off from business. I had spent 4 years getting a degree teaching me to work for some selfish entity? When looking at whether a company should be environmentally responsible, the issue was approached from a “what will it cost to care vs. what will it cost to not care.” When looking at hiring, firing, laying off, human resources in general, it was looked from a “will it lead to maximizing profit and gaining a competitive advantage.” This was the almighty filter for strategic management: selfishness.
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