22 September 2016
Britain’s Export Solution
Play More Golf
by Frank O’Nomics
There is an old Dilbert cartoon where the question: “who wants to hear about my golf game?” receives the response: “maybe someone with locked-in syndrome who doesn’t get any visitors”. Yes, people recounting their golfing exploits can be very boring, but senior colleagues will sit up when they hear that a new trading relationship has been brought to fruition and I suspect they will care little that the deal may have originated on a golf course.
Liam Fox created something of a furore last week when his speech to the Conservative Way Forward Group was leaked to the press. Many business executives were irritated by being called “too fat and lazy” to sell British goods and services overseas. Despite my suspicions that he would find it difficult to produce much empirical evidence to support this assertion, it was another aspect of the speech that annoyed me. That is the part where he said: “People have got to stop thinking about exporting as an opportunity and start thinking about it as a duty – companies who could be contributing to our national prosperity but choose not to because it might be too difficult or too time-consuming or because they can’t play golf on a Friday afternoon.” Yes, golf! Once again a senior figure has resorted to raising the stereotype of a supposedly middle-class pastime (they tend to stop short of calling it a sport) as something that is detrimental to the economic future of the nation.
In this regard Mr Fox is no different to the Chinese Communist party, who last year (albeit briefly) banned their 88 million members from playing the game as part of an anti-corruption drive. He has stopped short of recommending a ban, but clearly frowns on those who take part of their working week on the golf course. Is he right? I would argue that not only does playing golf not inhibit our national business prospects, it can, and does, actually enhance them.
Most commentators have quite reasonably castigated Dr Fox for his “fat and lazy” comments, including my Shaw Sheet colleague Richard Pooley last week, who gives far better reasons for the decline in British exports. Sir Vince Cable has called the speech “serious, crass and stupid” adding that most British businesses are more worried about the “handicap of prolonged Brexit uncertainty”. Far be it from me to throw around golfing puns in the manner of Sir Vince, but it is worth “playing around” with the business benefits of golf as a way of “driving” home my point about the potential export benefits.
First of all, don’t just accept my view. Listen to the business people themselves. In a recent survey, 54% of business professionals saw golf as the perfect networking tool, as opposed to just 8% for football. 80% regarded golf as a good way to make new business contacts. Taking business meetings out of an office environment and spending quality time together in the countryside is the perfect way to develop relationships, gain confidence and win new business. This is particularly true in an international context, where language barriers can produce stilted and potentially unproductive meetings – factors which can be overcome in the more convivial surroundings of a golf course. According to the survey, 38% saw golf as a way of breaking both language and cultural barriers. The globally accepted golf handicap system is a great leveller, allowing players of all ages and abilities to compete against each other. The game involves a small amount of time hitting the ball which leaves a great deal of time (3 hours plus) to talk business. Try holding a serious conversation while running around a tennis court or football pitch.
Perhaps the greatest business-advantage of a game of golf is that it helps reveal the character of your potential suppliers or customers. The game is almost totally self-regulating, with players responsible for both adhering to the rules and reporting the correct score. Anyone who does not do this may not be an ideal business partner. It is also a good opportunity to observe someone’s decision-making process (do they attempt impossible shots, or give short putts? for example) and how they react to the results of these decisions.
There are some objections to using golf in a business context. It might be regarded as exclusive, leaving out colleagues who do not play, or as sexist, given the more limited number of golfing business women. There may also be worries about a lack of the formal record usual for a business meeting, with concerns that underhand dealing could take place.
It is not these points, however, which give rise to Dr Fox’s objections. His problem is really with timing: that business people should be leaving a leisure pursuit such as golf for the weekend. This may seem a fair point when the game is purely for pleasure, but there are many very effective senior businessmen, working exceptionally long hours, who use a Friday afternoon for leisure to make time for the families who have done without their company for the rest of the week. If they also use the time to further the potential of their company, that is a “win-win” situation.
There is also a charitable aspect to business golf that should not be ignored. It was interesting to see that a number of City grandees, including ex-chairman of Lloyds bank Sir Win Bischoff, have signed up to play in a City of London v Wall Street, Ryder Cup style, charity match (on the eve of the real event), thereby both raising money for a good cause (Combat Stress) and (presumably) promoting transatlantic business relationships – as well as inadvertently sticking two fingers up to Dr Fox.
Some 90% of Fortune 500’s CEOs play golf, and many will have had occasion to play on a Friday afternoon, so Dr Fox’s comments have potentially alienated a significant section of the global business community. Francis Martin, the president of the British Chamber of Commerce, has said that “business people don’t mind a robust conversation, but they insist on a constructive one” and that “business and government need to work together”. This sounds a far more grown-up approach. Maybe they, Dr Fox and Mr Martin, could discuss this over a game of golf – does Friday afternoon suit?
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