Evil Avoidance

It's so easy for big companies to fall into some pretty evil ways, even when they're being careful.

The lesson learned here is that everyone makes mistakes. While mistakes may seem evil, sometimes they really are just mistakes.

And sometimes they aren't.
Our last example of evil comes from that great blue box - Best Buy.  Best Buy boasts a new buyback program that they unveiled at the Superbowl. It turns out they are already being sued by a company that claims they designed the entire program and Best Buy stole the proprietary information. The suit claims that Best Buy refused to pay for the information and program designed by TechForward. The program is virtually the same as TechForward's, with a few minor changes. You can read more about it here.

Best Buy has indeed set a terrible example of how a company should act, as have the other companies written about this week.

It is important to establish a code of conduct for your business - ethical standards that are at the core of your business.  For some help on that topic and to discuss this more, visit this blog.

You can define your company ethics, but remember every situation is different. So when a situation comes up that doesn't fit exactly into your ethics code, take a minute to think about what you're really doing to that other person. If you wouldn't want it to happen to you, don't do it to them.

If you're still thinking of taking the evil route - don't forget your copy of the Villain's Guide to Better Living! 

The Steps Downward

Name an evil company in the United States - Go!

How many of you mentioned your cell phone carrier?
Better yet, how many of you thought Microsoft?
Or maybe, in light of Apple's new subscription policies for their app stores, they came to mind.
Of course we can't forget the scores of other businesses many consider to be evil - insurance companies, big oil companies, technology companies, social networks, government run agencies (think DMV), toy companies... I think you get the idea. 

Every company has the potential for being "evil" - to make a mistake that offends their consumers, to forget that the reason they exist is because of customers.
Even companies, such as Google, that have the mantra, "Don't be evil." can still do some pretty evil things. Remember Google Buzz?

"Google's introduction of its Buzz social media tool this week was possibly the most disastrous product debut in the company's 12-year history." according to PCWorld's Robert X. Cringely.

Google Buzz was supposed to be the culmination of a Facebook world combined with a Twitter Universe. The only problem? It didn't offer an option to protect your personal world. Everyone could see who you were talking to and everything you said. Someone forgot about the necessity of everyone to have a personal, private life that is not on display for everyone to see.

Cringely continues to condemn Google in his article by saying the real problem is that Google, in it's largess has "become deeply out of touch."
Ouch!
For a company that prides itself on not being evil, they certainly took a hit on this project. Lucky for Google, the company is so large, it was a relatively minor hit. However, the tech world started to react with reflections on how Google was becoming more like Microsoft.
In fact, Apple's new subscription plan has started a similar talk about how Apple is becoming more like Microsoft.

It is good to know that Microsoft is still considered the tech standard for evil, to which all other companies are compared. It's good to know that you still have a long way to go before people start referencing your company as the evil standard. 

The way to avoid this for your company is to remember why you are in business in the first place. The reason should involve your customers. While you may be in business to make money, you can only consistently make money with happy customers and a great product or service. Otherwise, someone else will eventually come along and your customers will start disappearing.

There are a lot of evil companies in the US - go ahead Google them - so make sure you are one of the good ones.

 *Scott Adams - Dilbert Comic

Lessons in Being Evil

We sometimes like to take a look at companies who have failed, so that we can learn from their mistakes. We also like to take a look at companies as they start that decline. Sometimes we cheer the inevitable and sometimes we cheer for the impossible.
We then sit back and analyze these companies and inevitably the questions are asked.
"What could they have done to save themselves?"
"What was the start of this decline?"
"Was this decline a shift in consumer trust or a shift in consumer behavior?"
"How can my company avoid this?"

Okay, so you're probably wondering - Where does this evil part come into play?
Well, it shows up almost everywhere.
Companies usually start their decline due, in part, to a change in policy. This change can take the form of a simple price increase, or maybe an alteration to a contract. It can seem minute, but over time it slowly shifts consumer confidences and the company falters.

Let's take a look at a fallen social media competitor.

MySpace was launched by a group of programmer in August 2003. Initially the founders thought about charging a fee to use the social networking service. Luckily this idea was thrown out because the founders took a minute to think about it and realized that keeping the service free would make their users happier and encourage them to sign up.
MySpace became the most popular social networking site on the web. It had more users and page views than Facebook.
In July 2005, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. bought MySpace for $580 million. They immediately sought new ways to monetize the site, including new features and more invasive advertising.
A year later, in August 2006, they added their 100th million account. In 2007 MySpace was still beating out Facebook in page views, but the wheels were slowly turning.
And then a shift occurred.
In 2008, Facebook took over MySpace.
The shift continued.
Facebook is now the most popular social network available.
There is talk that MySpace may be auctioned off in 2011. It's estimated worth?  $50 to $200 million. *

There is generally very few disagreements with the thought that News Corp. is indeed evil. They are, after all, one of the biggest companies around. They also seem to have a knack for losing touch with their core consumers. Such is the case with MySpace.
And such may be the case with Facebook one day.

Lesson #1 in Being Evil - Exploit, ignore, piss off your core consumers. After all, is there anything better than ruining someone's day?

*Thanks to Wikipedia for the info and to L. Marie for the photo.