Paper #1: Analysis of the Motivations for Business Development
Foundations of Business Thought 1050
Jake Jackson 2/15/2011
There is one common theme among all departments in any branch of business, one common
them that every department will agree with. There is no argument here, no second guessing; this
theme, or motif if you will, is the need to develop new business enterprise to be a successful business.
This idea is as old as business itself. To continue to be successful as a business, you must continually find
new clients and evolve as times evolve. There is a technique to determine if picking up a new trading
partner, or doing business with a new client, will be beneficial. This technique is known as SWOT
analysis: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities (as relating to land, labor, capital, and technology) and
threats. Based on evaluating these topics, one can make a better decision whether or not to do
business with said client (or business), and then make a recommendation to others. I will delve into the
business dealings and make a recommendation, using SWOT analysis, to King Montezuma whether or
not to do business with the Europeans and Christopher Columbus.
The Native American people are a strong people, having many strengths when compared to the
Europeans. One such strength is their kindness. In the article ‘”From the Diary of Christopher
Columbus”, this strength is clearly illustrated by the way the admiral refers to the Natives, calling them
the ‘best and most gentle people in the world’ (Columbus pg 18.) This is a strength of the Natives
because this quality endears them to the Admiral, and this endearment increases his desire to do
business with them. The Native Americans are alert and intelligent, as described by Christopher
Columbus in the aforementioned article (Columbus pg 19.) The Native have a class of merchants, who
are very disciplined and devoted to their trade. Weather, long distances, and harsh conditions do not
phase them, as explained in the article ”A History of Ancient World” by Fray Bernardino de Sahagun
(Sahagan pg 28.) This strength will enable the Native Americans to compete with the often times
ruthless Europeans in the realm of business. The merchant class will be able to endure the demands of
trade, and because of their tough nature not allow the selfish European community to intimidate them
and bully them. Leadership is a strength of the Native Americans. Montezuma is a man to be respected,
as the leader of the Americans. Under his leadership, nothing is ever allowed to go to waste, even feces.
From the article “The True History of the Conquest of New Spain” by Bernal Diaz del Castillo we learn
that human feces are saved to improve the production of salt and tanning skins (Castillo pg 35) and that
canoes full of human feces are used in trade. This is an impressive strength of this people, and
illustrates their resourcefulness and ingenuity. The Natives also have advantages in road systems,
knowing the layout of their homeland, and strength in numbers. The Native American community is a
tough and resilient community, with a plethora of business related strengths.
As this aforementioned community has many strengths, they also have weaknesses that make
them vulnerable to the Europeans. Different parts of Mexico have differing dialects (Columbus pg 24),
which can make communication a difficult barrier to staying unified should any violence break out
against the Europeans. Language is also a weakness among the Natives because they do not have a
working knowledge of the Europeans language, and it is difficult for the two sides to converse. Not fully
understanding your business partner is a weakness. The Europeans have better technology than the
Natives, causing the Natives to fear the Europeans and even to go as far as to view them as Gods
(Columbus pg 19) come from heaven. Some Natives do not even own any arms whatsoever, being a
completely peaceful community (Columbus pg 23.) This leaves them vulnerable to violent encounters
from the Europeans. Brute force leaves business dealings very one-sided and in this case will lean
heavily to the advantage of the Europeans. Recorded in Columbus’ article “From the Diary of
Christopher Columbus” it states that many of the Natives gave freely and with a completely open heart
(Columbus pgs 21-22.) Free handouts are detrimental to any business transaction, and are often viewed
as a sign of weakness. In the article “The True History of the Conquest of New Spain” an example is given
that illustrates that even the great leader Montezuma is easily influenced by the Europeans, by stating
that quickly after being told that cannibalistic eating habits are horrid the great leader quickly disbanded
the practice and ‘ordered that such food [human flesh] should not be prepared for him [Montezuma]
henceforth.’ (Castillo pg 30) The Native Americans have flaws in their society detrimental to business
dealings.
The Native Americans have more opportunities than the Europeans as far as land, labor, and
capital are concerned. The Native Americans not only have more land at their disposal, they know the
layout of the land and how to make it productive. The Europeans have to do business in foreign
territory and thus will struggle learning about the new territory. The Natives have a distinct advantage
in labor, having a physically toughened and numerous work force that understands their environment,
as opposed to a limited number of Europeans weakened by struggling to adapt to a new environment.
The Europeans are limited by capital, because they can only afford to bring a limited number of
commodities with them across the ocean. The Natives are not hindered by this factor. However,
technology leans heavily to the advantage of the Europeans. This resource, technology, can be argued
as the most important resource when trading or doing business transactions.
The Native Americans under Montezuma have many threats facing them, threats posed by the
Europeans. Some of the Native Americans, as mentioned before, do not own any weapons. The
technology possessed by the Europeans is much more advanced than the Native’s own technology, and
the nail in the coffin is that the Native Americans are not unified as a body to do business with the
Europeans. There are different kingdoms, all with differing interests. This leaves the Natives divided,
and more vulnerable.
With this SWOT analysis in mind, I advise Montezuma to trade with the Europeans. It is my
opinion that the Natives are cunning and tough, and will profit from the European’s greed as long as
they (the Natives) can unify and make the Europeans compensate them fairly for the gold the Europeans
are so aggressively seeking. The strengths of the Natives far outweigh their weaknesses, and the Natives
have a stronger hold than the Europeans as far as resources are concerned. The Europeans are greatly
hindered by the distance they have to travel, yet they are willing to cover the great distance, giving the
Natives the advantage in their business dealings. Native Americans will prosper by developing a policy
of business development with the European community.
Bibliography
Columbus, C. From the diary of christopher columbus. Foundations of business thought
(pp. 18-25). Pearson Custom Publishing.
Sahagun, FB. A history of ancient world. Foundations of business thought (pp. 28-29).
Pearson Custom Publishing.
Castillo, BD. The true history of the conquest of new spain. Foundations of business
thought (pp. 30-36). Pearson Custom Publishing.