Harvey Newstrom wrote:
>
>
> I didn't intend to be, but I think you are right. I *was* arguing
> for an ideal of competition that my never really exist in the free
> market. It may be that the ideal concept of a free market will never
> really exist. Maybe legal battles, exclusionary deals, sabotage,
> dirty tricks and industrial espionage will always be the norm. I
> would never choose such a pessimistic attitude for my business model.
> But more important than my desire would be choosing an accurate
> reflection of reality and building a business model to compete in the
> real world.
I think there are two broad categories of "dirty tricks". There are
ones that actually infringe on the rights of others such as resorting to
fraud, sabotage and physical force. These are criminal and it is the
job of the police and courts (or their private equivalents) to identify
and punish such actions. Then there are others that may offend our
sense of fairness but are not actual violations of rights. These
others, in theory, are self-limiting in their abuses. Exclusionary
deals have a way of being difficult to enforce over time, although they
are easier to set up and keep going than price collusion.
The best product for the price with the best surrounding context will
win over time. This does not mean that at any particular time
everything is fair or looks precisely like some idealized competition
model.
>
> What do other entrepreneurs think? Is fair competition a nice, but
> improbable ideal? Should a business model include cut-throat
> quasi-legal activities just to stay competitive?
>
It depends on what you have in mind. Industrial espionage is a bit
gray. What does and does not qualify? Is hiring some ex-employees of
your competitor industrial espionage? Actual spying within their plant
is a physical trespass and should be prosecuted as such. It has no
place in legit business. Court actions over patents? Depends. In
today's climate you might not have a lot of choice. But this says
something more about today's climate than about business in general I
think.
- samantha
> I will have to consider this position in much more detail.
> --
> Harvey Newstrom <HarveyNewstrom.com>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon May 28 2001 - 09:56:24 MDT