TOO BIG TO FAIL AND TOO IMPORTANT TO GET WRONG!

Yesterday the British coalition government and the Diamond Trading Company made two long awaited announcements. The one from the British government was Chancellor Osborne announcing the government’s policy to address the systematic failure of the British banks in 2008. At the same time the DTC announced its new provisional client list.

The British government made it clear that they intend to separate the solid banking retail sector from the speculative banking sector (casino banking) to ensure that banks cannot be brought down again through irresponsible and ill advised speculation leading to toxic debt and subsequent government rescue.

Looking at the new DTC list there still appears to be a disconnect between the reality of criteria assessment and established behaviours which are at complete variance with coherent or sustainable models in the longer term.

One thing that both the government and the DTC have to deal with is the consequences of uncontrolled speculation. Just as governments had not choice but to rescue banks ‘too big to fail’, the DTC has been obliged to rescue a diamond industry and market also ‘too big to fail’.

Let me make it quite clear that I am not criticising the good intentions of DTC management to operate a system that can be considered both robust and credible. It is no easy task and never was. Before SoC was introduced brokers’ input into the selection process was felt to provide checks and balances which gave the whole system an extra layer of protection, dialogue and comprehension.

Since SoC the KAMs inherited the potentially conflicting role of being confidante, advisor and judge, jury and even executioner! Given the inherent conflict in such a position it is hardly surprising that it was felt that an Ombudsman was necessary to oversee fair play.

Marketing is not just about shared aims but shared values as to how to achieve them and surely those values have to include a dedication to getting things right. Right for the consumer, right for the client, right for the industry in general. The DTC’s commitment to doing the right thing in general is recognised by the fact that it is still the diamond company that is the reference point for the whole industry and rightly so, which is why whatever they do is subject to such intense scrutiny and market analysis.

Checks and balances are essential to any democratic society or credible process and to admit to fallibility or systemic errors is a sign of fairness and strength, not weakness.