Achieving customer intimacy
Customer intimacy involves being aware of the values and needs of the business’ customers. Therefore, it requires that organizations aim to establish good relationships that are based on being customer-centric. Rather than just aiming to be transactional, marketing strategies should involve establishing and maintaining long-term relations (Mahaputra & Saputra, 2021). After all, retaining customers by offering what they need while respecting them is less costly and easier than attracting new customers. Organizations should always seek to create mutually satisfying relationships with their stakeholders, not just customers. The Christian view also supports intimacy marketing. 1 Corinthians 13 is an example of a verse that encourages love and relationships. According to the verse, without love, people are nothing. It says that love is honest and kind and it does not have selfishness. From the verse, Christians should love each other. Another verse is 1 John 3:17-18 (King James Bible, 1996). The verse requires that people show their love to others in how they act. Therefore, they should care for others and open their hearts to others.
An organization that has benefitted from cultivating customer intimacy is the In-N-Out burger chain. The restaurant maintains its relations by participating in Christian activities like charismas and sponsoring events that align with its Christian customer values (Jaworski & Cheung, 2023). For instance, it gives back to its communities by running programs to help orphans and other needy people through its foundation. It also includes bible verses on its packaging material. Additionally, it chooses not to franchise to remain connected to its customers and ensure closeness with its customers. The behaviors of the chain show love to the customers and aim to keep the relationships with existing customers.
Innovation and Creativity
Innovation and creativity involve developing solutions from thinking that challenges and inspires improvements. Innovation leads companies to develop new, effective, less costly solutions for customer and company problems. Companies must adapt quickly in the fast-changing world, where technologies are involved in many aspects of humanity. They must proactively develop need-based solutions (Mahaputra & Saputra, 2021). For instance, a customer-centric company may use its research and design arm to create solutions that will solve its client’s issues.
The Bible encourages innovation and creativity in Genesis and other books. According to Gen. 1:1, NIV, God used his image to create people. He also created the heavens and earth (King James Bible, 1996). Therefore, he is a creative being. Because people are his images, they are also creative. Also, according to Ex. 31:1-11, God gave Uri the creativity he needed to create things. He told Moses that his spirit had filled Uri with creativity and skills that he would use to make designs. He used wood and metals (King James Bible, 1996). The words show how God gives people talents so they can create what they need. Companies should innovate attractive solutions and designs that solve people’s problems. A company that has continually benefitted from innovation and creativity is Apple (Podolny, 2020). The company has developed excellent technologies that allow communication. It also protects people’s information. The company employs professionals that have the needed skills so that it can meet the demands of the ever-changing digital markets. The company should continue using its research and design arm to develop better gadgets suitable for the very competitive and ever-evolving needs. Innovation will enable them to create faster and longer-lasting phones.
Maintaining Ethics with Technology
Ethics concerns principles that determine right or wrong (Trevino & Nelson, 2021). Digital technologies in healthcare, business, and personal lives improve how people exchange information and monitor themselves and their environments. The data the technologies collect can help improve lives or be applied to people. For instance, nurses store records in electronic systems connected to decision-support systems and other information technologies that use their data. However, laws require them to respect people’s privacy. It also requires that only uses that patients agree to should be allowed. Hence, companies should respect their clients and seek their approval before involving them in research or applying their data for other uses.
Maintaining ethics is related to Christian teachings that require people to be virtuous. Virtue ethics concerns how people should live and what their characters should be like. People are expected to follow the teachings and commandments that are in the bible. Christ is the example that Christians need to follow in determining what is acceptable. Therefore, digital fraud and other unethical behaviors should be avoided. Ephesians 4: 29-32 requires people to live in purity and truth (King James Bible, 1996). When using technologies, they should apply them for their expected uses. For instance, professionals should only use customer data for its intended use. They should not use it to blackmail or breach customer rights. Ephesians 4: 29-32 also requires people to avoid anger and not be bitter. Anger and bitterness can cause people to violate others and use technologies against them. For instance, they may share confidential information against company and professional ethics. UnitedHealthcare handles and uses lots of client information for their healthcare (UnitedHealthcare, 2023). The company protects the information and bars workers from sharing it to protect patients.
Overcoming Barriers and Competitive Advantage
Businesses operate in markets and sectors with other similar ones except monopolies. Each company is expected to attract customers and keep them. Usually, clients can choose who to buy from from a pool of competitors (Trevino & Nelson, 2021). Companies have to find ways of beating others fairly by various means. For instance, they can lower prices or improve their product’s uniqueness. Also, markets are volatile and are impacted by diverse factors. For instance, they can change because of natural disasters or stiff competition. Regardless of the market changes, companies should be persistent and overcome the limitations that they encounter. They should learn to survive while anticipating challenges and developing challenges for them. Sometimes, despite being creative and innovative, factors outside businesses’ control may cause turbulence.
Overcoming barriers is covered in Christian teachings. Jesus’ life exemplifies how people should persevere and encourages businesses to face challenges without becoming unethical in their strategies and behaviors. For instance, in the Gospel books like Matthew 4:1-11, Jesus exemplifies what Christians should do in challenges. They must maintain faith and persevere. Patience and preference helped Jesus beat the temptations that Satan brought him (King James Bible, 1996). He did not give up or break his fast despite Satan offering shortcuts. Companies that operate in competitive sectors should also prepare and persevere. X, previously called Twitter, is an example of a struggling corporation that must practice perseverance and ethics to survive the turbulence. After Elon Musk bought it, he made some changes to improve its safety and efficiency. However, it still struggles (Ortutay, 2023). More perseverance is needed to ensure that the company returns to profitability. The owner should implement innovations that offer advantage and pull people to X like it did in the past before competition became as high as it is now.
References
Jaworski, B., & Cheung, V. (2023). Developing an Organization’s Culture. In Creating the Organization of the Future (pp. 43-54). Emerald Publishing Limited.
King James Bible (1996). King James Bible (Vol. 19). Proquest LLC.
Mahaputra, M. R., & Saputra, F. (2021). Application Of Business Ethics And Business Law On Economic Democracy That Impacts Business Sustainability. Journal of Law, Politic and Humanities, 1(3), 115-125.https://dinastires.org/JLPH/article/view/56
Ortutay, B. (2023). Twitter takeover: 1 year later, X struggles with misinformation, advertising and usage decline. Retrieved from https://apnews.com/article/twitter-x-elon-musk-takeover-anniversary-ac2cb6419d93d64086cc9ad980c5a57a
Podolny, J. M. (2020). How Apple Is Organized for Innovation. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2020/11/how-apple-is-organized-for-innovation
UnitedHealthcare. (2023). Online Services Privacy Policy. Retrieved from https://www.uhc.com/privacy
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