Page 135 - Harnessing the Strengths

118 ■ Servant-Leadership in the Intercultural Practice

This is not because shareholders are not important for
the company. If that were true, it would be diffi cult to explain
why Johnson & Johnson belongs to the list of companies
that pay out the most dividends, year after year. It is because
Robert Wood Johnson, one of the founders and a servant-
leader, linked the specifi c goals with the diffuse general soci-
etal responsibility, which began with patients, doctors, and
nurses. Johnson & Johnson shows, unambiguously, that
serving the society is the best guarantee of a sustainable profi t
for the shareholders. Societal responsibility rewards nicely.

General Public Versus Specialized Group

When Michael Dell started in the computer industry at the
end of the last century, there were only two segments in
the market: expensive, specialized computers and simple,
inexpensive computers. He had to decide if he wanted to
target a small, specialized group of users, or the general
public. The choice was to offer high-quality products for
a limited few or to reach a larger market with a uniform
product. This is a dilemma that lots of leaders face. One
route requires that you sacrifi ce profi t, and the other asks
you to sacrifi ce quality; neither is a choice that anyone can
get really enthusiastic about. The risk of the fi rst strategy
is that the distribution channels clog up and there is no dif-
ference between your product and that of the competition.
The second strategy also has risk in that the smaller niche
markets limit the entrepreneur in their possibilities.
Dell did not let himself get caught in the limitations of
this dichotomy and developed his own approach: the Direct
Selling Model. The advantage of this model is not only the
breadth but also the depth of the approach: the personal
character and customized design. Dell broke with the con-