“The right customer is right, and many customers are taking advantage in ways that are very much not right. Running a business with such over-sweeping statements is not only unhealthy and unprofitable, it creates significant pressure on employees who are forced to chase such generalized clichés that are disconnected from their reality. As such, they find themselves doing things that they know are wrong for the company and often are in conflict with their own values.”

This article originally appeared in AMA Quarterly, the JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION, Spring 2019. Download the full article in PDF form below.