EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED !!??!!

I think my reaction to some of the CPQ outcomes is summarised nicely by this title. I shouldn’t be surprised because every process seems to have had some outcomes which one really struggles to comprehend, let alone accept.

If it was an essay writing or best fiction competition that had consumed so many months of our lives and so many livelihoods and futures did not depend on it, I probably would be a lot more relaxed and comfortable about it than is the case.

I bet my view is fairly widely held but doubt whether many will have the balls to publicly agree with me, but it won’t stop me saying what needs to be said both now and into the future.

Nevertheless, as it is the season of goodwill and good cheer, I wish all my faithful readers a very happy Christmas and New Year!

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.

ETHICAL BUSINESS AND THE CONSUMER

A report from today’s FT (‘Consumers stick with principle over price’) shows clearly how ethically sourced and provenance brands and goods increase their sales (‘up 8.8% in 2010 against a 0.4% rise in consumer spending’). Even in such straitened times for the consumer this shows clearly that consumers do not feel comfortable with any purchase, from food to luxury items, where there is any genuine concern about whether exploitation or intimidation has been an integral part of their production.

In some cases the emphasis is around fair trade, in other cases there is a much more sinister dimension where production has been linked to serious human rights abuse in countries with either, at best, dubious or, worse still, proven reputations for brutality and tyranny.

The DTC has been absolutely right to have clearly identified its own proactive and robust stance on any issues that have damaged the hard fought reputation of the industry since the horror of blood diamonds emerged in the tragedy of Sierra Leone. They are also absolutely right to ensure that the provenance of the Forevermark is beyond question.

It is very clear where ethics are concerned that there is no room for doubt or compromise when the reputation of the industry can so easily be called into question and at a time when political tyrants have never been more under threat across the world. The DTC’s unwavering and consistent position on this is absolutely vital from both an ethical and a business point of view.

POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC COHERENCE (or the lack of it)

At a time when the world’s attention is focussed on whether the Euro and the Euro zone will survive the extraordinarily relentless and challenging stress-test the market is subjecting it to it may seem strange to talk of the EU’s success because, whatever the gravity of the current problems, the political achievement of creating a European economic union of 27 sovereign nations is undeniable in terms of both the breadth and ambition of the project and in terms of the fractured history of Europe as a continent.

India, due to become the world’s most populace nation, comprises 28 states and 7 union territories and like Europe has a level of political complexity and a political class which consistently manages to send out confusing and contradictory messages to the world (the latest being whether Indian will open up its retail sector to foreign investment).

Europe is certainly having a hard time and widespread negative press at the moment and India’s political class perhaps also needs to look towards Europe to see what happens when political coherence is not addressed it will inevitably be forced upon you by events.