Competition: The Best In Products Or The Worst In People?

Recently I watched a documentary about natural selection – a phenomenon, which might be seen everywhere and which is the most important motive force of evolution. The documentary told the story about marine turtles, about how hundreds of them simultaneously lay eggs (so-called “arribida phenomenon”) and how then their breed faces many difficulties. According to natural selection’s theory, marine turtles have to lay as many eggs as possible in order to save their population. It is because after the hatching on the seacoast not all little turtles reach the ocean, where they can feel themselves more or less in safe. So they must be the best in this competition and finish first. 

Other species of Mother Nature also have to stand such examinations, only the ways of survival are different. Every lion, monkey and small insect must meet a competition in order not “to be eaten and beaten”.

The same thing happens in our “human” world. Yes, we face the competition and “fight” with the competitors for the prize every day. In the childhood such prize can be delightful candy or toy. Later you probably will enter a competition with another guy for beautiful dream girl’s heart. Then “prizes” can turn into big business project.

No doubt, competition is a great mankind power, it’s also human’s nature, where you have to improve your strengths and overcome your weaknesses in order to survive. Sometimes you have to accept the rules of unfair competition. Even more often friends and colleagues become enemies as results of battles for “prizes”.

At the same time do we really need a competition as one of the main forces bringing us towards success? I can cite as an example my own observation. A friend of mine was the best of all at English lessons at school. He won lots of competitions and, of course, did absolutely nothing at classes, because no one could compete with him. The situation changed, when he entered the university at the philological department. Only then he understood that he is just one of others, but not the only one person with good level of English, and, what is more, he realized that the level he had now wasn’t really good. He used to start a tough process of improving his knowledge in order to satisfy his claims to leadership.

This example shows that people start doing their best and perfecting themselves in such atmosphere where there is a fair competition, where just an idea, that someone else could be better than you in doing your job and you won’t get some benefits in that case, really can make you go crazy.

Such examples have a place also in business. The more competitive companies exist and “fight” with each other for consumers, the better goods of high  quality will be produced in the end. For example, in 1980s two giants of motorcycles’ production Honda and Yamaha were deadly enemies. When Honda’s managers decided to enter to automobile market, Yamaha did everything to produce more new models of motorbikes with low prices in order to take advantage of appeared opportunity. Then Honda, after having borne costs made from Yamaha the “image of enemy” and started “war”, which helped Honda to create and produce new models of bikes every week during the whole year. It harmed Yamaha and forced it to change the top management.

The other question appears here: can we compete “fairly” in this case? People can view their competitors as enemies, and it can generate the aggression in its turn.  The competition can easily become the worst in people. For example, many “monsters” of business do think that “the competition will bite you if you keep running, but if you stand still, it will swallow you” (William Knudsen).

 But, at the same time, “competition creates better products, alliances create better companies” (Brian Graham). Maybe, it’s more efficient to cooperate than compete with each order. Let’s take a look on the example of termites. It would seem that they’re just simple insects. But, at the same time, they represent themselves as the highest level of social organization in a hierarchical classification. It is the best example of cooperation, where termites divide labor among gender lines, produce overlapping generations and take care of the young collectively. Such “co-work” helps them to survive.

In view of these facts from the nature, the cooperation, according to current situation of economic crisis, has become the key element of survival for many companies. There are dozens examples of successful companies’ takeovers and merges, whether they were hostile (e.g. Microsoft’s takeover of Yahoo) or friendly (e.g. Procter & Gamble takeover of Gillette). Such cooperation gives lots of possibilities to increase in sales, revenues, in economies of scales and efficiency.

Of course, it is person’s own business to decide to compete or to cooperate, depending on his or her moral principles and etc. but, I do think, that, as famous American journalist Diane Sawyer once said:  “Competition is easier to accept if you realize it is not an act of oppression or abrasion. I've worked with my best friends in direct competition”.