Merriam-Webster defines opportunism as, "the art, policy, or practice of taking advantage of opportunities or circumstances often with little regard for principles or consequences."
I would consider myself a staunch opportunist when it comes to activities that will increase my net worth, so there are not often times when I overlook such opportunities. Recently, however, there was an example.
Through one of my previous clients, I was referred to a small Waldorf-style school to appraise their IT infrastructure. It was what I might call an "alternative" environment. Upon walking through the front door, I was accosted with the strong scent of tea tree oil and several new-age hippies. After spending an hour there speaking with the staff and determining their needs, it was clear that this was a big, multi-thousand-dollar-in-my-pocket project. Being a student and having various other IT responsibilities with other businesses, I didn't think I could make this project work in my schedule. I spent the weekend mulling over the idea, and ultimately, it was very difficult for me to tell the staff there that I would not be able to do the project until at least December or January. I knew that this meant I would lose out on the opportunity to do the work and make the money from it.
I would say that my calculus had to do with time constraints. Owning a business and being a student is a trying endeavor; I simply didn't believe that I could handle everything at once. I wish that there were some loftier, more intriguing motive behind it, but I believe that is what it comes down to.
This is a very interesting example. However, my question for you is if you were still acting opportunistically in turning down the job. It appears that the decision was not one of a moral issue, but more of a time issue. For you to choose to turn down the job, you could have been acting opportunistically for yourself in prioritizing your time.
ReplyDeleteDo you feel that maybe you were still acting opportunistically or were there other motivations behind your decision?
Upon thinking about opportunism a little more, it seems to me that opportunism does not necessitate ignoring consequence - it just OFTEN does. To answer your question, however, I think the opportunistic move would have been to take the job and shirk other school-related responsibilities.
ReplyDeleteI'm reacting both to the post and the comments. You should ask two things from an economics perspective:
ReplyDelete(1) Did the decision lead to an efficient outcome? (A strike against it being called opportunism.)
(2) Was there anyone hurt relative to the no trade situation? (If there was somebody hurt (other than the actor) then that makes it more likely that it was opportunism.
Applying those criteria in this situation, it sounds like not doing the project was efficient because it entailed more work time than you were ready to give. Since the result was it self no trade, it is hard to say that anyone was hurt.
So in my view, this is not opportunism.