Customer focus vs. shareholder focus

- The customer is always right. … Now, that's one of the oldest mottos in the business world, … but you also have an obligation to do what's right … for your company and its shareholders. … And in some situations, you'll have to choose … one of those sets of interests over the other. … Let's look at one of those. … Let's say you worked for a company that makes paper towels. … And your biggest cost is the pulp … that you make the paper out of, and the cost of that pulp … goes up a little every year with inflation, … so every few years, you have to raise your prices … just to keep up. … Well, let's say this year, … you need to raise your prices by 5%. … Now, you could just raise the price of each roll by 5%, … but another way is to take 5% of the number of sheets … off the roll. … You keep the price of each roll the same, … but it costs you 5% less to make it. … And let's say that it's your decision which way to go. … So you decide to meet with some of the people … who'd be affected by the decision. …