Greedy Competition Hurts the Whole

Greedy Competition Hurts the Whole

Dear editor,

I am engaged in the business environment. My message relates to the improper competition I see in the business environment. Though I do not know whether it is a conscious decision or not, I see very big businesses getting involved in small business activities and compete with the struggling small businesses.

How is this seen in view of established trade theories and existing competition laws?

Our country has limited resources. It requires a lot from big businesses and there is so much that they can work on.

Why do they have to get so greedy to compete with small businesses, then? Is it even beneficial to the overall economy?

I think these companies could take their lessons from construction companies. They can make use of their time, finance, labour and other resources more effectively if they could do so.

Big construction companies undertake only structural works on many of their sites. Most of the other works would be outsourced to small businesses. What the big companies do is to appoint a supervising engineer that controls the quality of the outsourced work.

This gives the big companies to handle many projects at the time as they can easily mobilise their resources between projects. And the deliverable could be provided at the right time and with the right quality.

I think our nation could be better if big businesses could live up to their size. This gives the small businesses an opportunity to grow big with time. Of course, the resultant outcome would be a nation that lives better. I think it is irrational for us to improperly struggle with each other.

Solomon Mola