Week 1 Post 2

The main time that a company would value market research or product design over employee recruitment and selection is in a competitive industry where there is a high supply of employees. It is never really the case there there is a high supply of top notch employees, but depending on the company, they may have simple jobs that require little to no skill. If this is the case, then the company can use their marketing and to create a brand that people want to end up working for. This idea of an enjoyable work environment can draw in enough people in to justify less money being spent on recruitment. The same idea can be used with product design. If a company has a solid product design that distinguishes them from other competitors, it will be easy to get quality employees without spending money on recruitment.

Prioritizing other factors of a business is a higher risk, higher reward way to operate. Having a solid set of employees is the best way to ensure consistent operations, however if you know the employees you have are excellent, it is less risky to focus your resources in areas other than selection and recruitment. The reward however comes if you are successful at focusing on marketing and development and your company separates itself from its competitors. I think of Nike as an example who has a huge section of the market on athletic apparel and gear. Their reputation is so huge that they attract massive numbers of employees only based on their brand reputation.