by Stan Mason
‘You don’t have an interview let alone an appointment with any company yet,’ his father related candidly. ‘In any case, I think you need some practical application before you start anyway, so I’m going to ask you to place yourself in my hands for a short while.’
‘What do you mean, father?’ asked his son blankly, for he knew that the element of business activity in his father’s field was limited to retail consumers of food products and payment by cash. He was puzzled to learn what his father intended to do.
‘Well, son,’ continued the older man slowly, ‘I have an old friend who’s done very well in business. As far as I’m concerned, I think he’s a guru who can help you. The man’s a millionaire with his own company registered on the Stock Exchange in London. He has a house here in Cornwall where he’s staying at the moment and I’ve spoken to him about you. He’s very keen to help young people get on their feet. Do you have any objections if he gives you the benefit of his experience while you’re not working?’
‘Of course not, father,’ replied the young man diligently, ‘although I don’t know what more he can teach me. Bennington really covered every aspect of commercial and corporate business. The course lasted for three years.’
‘Indulge me then,’ returned his father warmly. ‘Come with me to see this guru and find out if there’s any more to learn.’
The young man reluctantly agreed and the next morning, Meredith took his son to his colleague and introduced them.
‘This is my son, Colin,’ he said. ‘I’ll leave him in your hands if I may. And thank you for helping him. This is John Priestly, a man of means and a business giant. As I told you, his company is registered on the London Stock Exchange.’
The guru stared at his pupil, looking directly into his eyes. ‘So you want to become a senior executive in business,’ he began without taking his eyes off the young man’s face.
‘Yes,’ replied young Meredith. ‘I’ve just finished the final course at Bennington Commercial College. I think I know all about commercial and corporate business but I’m willing to listen to you, for my father’s sake if nothing else.’
‘Have you ever worked in a company as an executive?’ The question was aimed like a barbed spear.
‘I spent a few weeks here and there in two companies. Just to get the feel of it. It’s in the college curriculum. I think I know all about it.’
‘I suggest you know nothing about it,’ came the curt reply. ‘However, if you place yourself in my hands to become a willing student we may be able to proceed with your education.’
‘But I’ve just told you. I finished the course with Bennington Commercial College. I know all there is to know.’
‘Trust me, young man,’ continued Priestly with a sad expression on his face. ‘It’s my considered opinion that you know absolutely nothing. And I’m usually right.’
Young Meredith shrugged his shoulders aimlessly. ‘Have it your own way. What do you want me to do?’
‘First of all, I need your full co-operation. I have to have your whole uninterrupted concentration. There can be no half measures. I mean, if you’re certain you know it all and I can’t help you, I’d rather you left here right away. There’s no hard feelings. But I think you ought to consider your situation very carefully. Perhaps you ought to leave anyway to think about it overnight. I’m not inclined rush you into anything quickly.’
The young man considered his options thoughtfully and decided to accept the guru’s final suggestion. It would be far better to allow the idea of being with the guru to settle in his mind before embarking on a bout of instruction which he didn’t think would be of any assistance. Subsequently, he turned and went home much to the disappointment of his father.
‘I don’t see how he can help me,’ he bleated in annoyance when challenged by his parent. Bennington was so thorough. They taught me everything there is to know.’
‘You must understand there’s the theoretic and the practical knowledge which have to be learned by all businessman. I know that Bennington did an exceptional job in teaching you a great deal but there’s also the spiritual side.’
‘The spiritual side?’’ repeated the young man at the enigmatic comment by his father. ‘I’ve never heard of that before. What are you talking about?’
‘Why do you think people call John Priestly a guru? It’s the term used for a spiritual teacher or leader in the Hindu and Sikh religions. Translated literally, it means ‘the venerable one’. And let me tell you John Priestly definitely fits into that category. Do you know how much they pay him to give one lecture? More than you would make in three months.’
‘If you say so,’ muttered the young man arrogantly, ‘but I can’t see what use that is to me. I don’t see the connection between the theoretical and the spiritual elements of corporate activity in business... whatever they are.’
‘That’s exactly where your education is lacking. Trust me. I know what I’m talking about. But if you don’t wish to take him up on it then let it be. I’m only trying to help you.’
‘I know that, father,’ returned the young man sincerely. ‘And believe me, I appreciate it.’
‘Well you’ll hear no more from me about it. As far as I’m concerned, it’s your decision. I won’t press you any further.’
Young Meredith watched him disappear from the room with a nagging thought in his mind. No one had ever mentioned anything about a spiritual connection in business at Bennington. Could it be they had missed something from the curriculum? Surely such a thing wasn’t possible! Bennington was a distinguished high-grade teaching establishment, but then stranger things had happened in life. Perhaps the college concentrated mainly on theory and an element of practical operations. Maybe they preferred to ignore the spiritual side... whatever that might entail. Nonetheless, his father’s words concerned him and he arrived at Priestly’s house the next morning with a fresh view of the situation and a completely different attitude. ‘I’ve thought it over,’ he remarked on facing the guru. ‘I’m willing to concede that Bennington missed out on the spiritual side of business. I have no option but to devote myself to you wholeheartedly to learn the rigours of corporate practice. You have my full attention, I assure you.’
‘Good,’ returned the guru curtly. ‘I trust you mean what you say. I have no reason to disbelieve you. So what I’m going to do is to ask you to travel to London and sit in one of the offices of my company... a very active office, I might add, where they undertake a great deal of commercial business. I want you to spend a whole month there and then come back here to describe all that you’ve seen and heard.’
‘Is that’s absolutely necessary?’ questioned the young man rather puzzled at the ostensible simplicity of the task. ‘I thought you were going to teach me something.’
‘It is part of your education but I’ll need your total obedience to do whatever I say otherwise there’s no point. I’ll await your return and your subsequent report.’
Young Meredith screwed up his face thoughtfully as he was given instructions with regard to the person to whom he had to report and the location of the place. Shortly, he caught the train to the capital and found himself sitting in a busy open plan office with ten other people who were occupied most of the time on the telephone. His presence was quite unnecessary as he had mentioned to Priestly but he decided to stick it out. A whole month with nothing in particular to do. It seemed a wholly pointless exercise. Certainly not one that Bennington would have made him suffer. After a while, he tried to strike up a conversation with some of the staff but they were all far too busy to spend any time with him so he sat behind an empty desk alone all day long. He listened and watched with a modicum of interest for a while but found the task extremely boring. After spending a whole month in the office, he left to return to the house of the guru filled with a great deal of anger and frustration at having wasted his time.
‘I could hear the voices of the staff as they spoke with the customers on the telephone,’ he began candidly. ‘I watched them go in and out of the office during the day. I listened to their conversations. None of it was interesting. I’m afraid that whatever you wanted me to learn was boring and pointless.’
Priestly shook his head sadly. He was clearly disappointed. ‘No, no, no!’ he spluttered. ‘That’s not what I want to hear. Go back to London and spend another month in the same office. Then come back here and describe what you saw and heard.’
The young man shrugged his shoulders. For a moment, he felt inclined to give up the idea of depending on the guru to go his own way. Then he thought that there was obviously something he had missed in the context. In any case, he was unemployed and had nothing else to do. Therefore, mainly not to disappoint his father, he returned to the office in Priestly’s company in London and sat once more behind the empty desk. What was he supposed to say to the guru? He had told him everything he had seen and heard. It wasn’t his fault that nothing much happened. Maybe if he concentrated harder something else might emerge although he doubted it. However, it was worth a try. He decided to give everything his full attention and, in due course, a light appeared at the end of the tunnel. At the end of the month, he returned to the guru’s house to confront him again.
‘Well, have you anything different you’d like to tell me?’ asked Priestly. His manner was abrupt. He was not the kind of person to suffer fools.
‘I think so,’ replied the young man triumphantly. ‘This time I listened and watched far more intensely than before,’ he told the entrepreneur. ‘I discovered that there’s an ebb and flow in the stream of corporate activity as well as an inherent need to know and understand every element of the business inside out. The rules are extremely important and everything has to be regimented to the highest degree if success is to be maintained. It’s very similar to an army which has to march over old and new ground every single day. The essence of the corporation has to flow through the building like a gentle wind blowing across the desert sand. There also has to be a rapport between staff and clients all the time so that the clients trust the company and become loyal to it. I also learned that in business, the mind has a body language of its own, if you know what I mean. In fact there are so many other features I saw, heard and began to understand, mostly of a spiritual nature, that I decided to write them down.’ He passed a slim folder to the other man.
‘You sound very excited about it,’ ventured Priestly taking the folder eagerly.
‘I am!’ exclaimed young Meredith. ‘You’ve opened up a new dimension for me. A completely new dimension. It’s not only fascinating but it’s started to beckon to me.’
The guru’s face lit up with delight. ‘That’s good!’ he congratulated. ‘Very good! At last you’re getting the hang of it! You see, it’s necessary to recognise what’s going on in a business with regard to corporate activity. If you’re in an executive position, you need to understand what you consider to be the ebb and flow of the business. It’s not only important for you to have a feel for the situation but you’ve got to be on top of it all the time. If you don’t, you may not survive.’
‘I have to admit you surprised me,’ declared the young man frankly. ‘I thought I knew everything about business but you’ve helped me see it in a different way. Are you willing to continue with the programme if there is any more to learn?’
‘My goodness!’ retorted the guru curtly. ‘There’s a long way to go yet. I must admit, I’m not going to take you through the whole process. It would take too long. But now you’ve got the bit between your teeth, I’ll go a little further with you. The next task is simple enough. I want you to analyse the contest on the Stock Market between Grand Insurance and Global Insurance. The first is a giant corporation; the second is a company half its size. They’re both vying for control of another insurance company, Secondary Insurance. Weigh up all the facts and tell me which one of them is going to take over the target. Will you do that for me?’
‘Of course,’ replied the young man with a puzzled expression on his face. ‘Is that all you want me to do?’
‘Is that all?’ repeated the guru harshly. ‘It may be considered by you to be a simple exercise in business but, in reality, we’re talking of a multi-million pound takeover bid. Believe me, there’s a tremendous amount at stake.’
‘Very well,’ said young Meredith. ‘If you let me have the details, I’ll go through them and come back with a decision.’
‘Fine,’ returned the guru, handing him a great volume of papers in a large folder. ‘See what you can do with these and let me know your answer as soon as possible.’
The young man shrugged his shoulders and took the papers back to his own house. What was the catch? There had to be one somewhere. Otherwise why did Priestly insist that he looked through the papers of a common-or-garden takeover and draw a conclusion. It was such a simple exercise it didn’t make sense. One or other of the insurance companies would win the battle. So what? He wasn’t a shareholder in either of them and the outcome mattered very little to him. Surely the fate of Secondary Insurance would lie with the giant in the industry. He considered that to be obvious even before any analysis was made. He opened the folder and started to plough through the volume of papers, absorbing the details as he read. Perhaps he was being tested on how good he was at analysis but it still didn’t make sense. Two days later, when he had finished, he returned to Priestly’s house with his conclusions.
‘It’s quite obvious,’ he told the guru arrogantly. ‘Grand Insurance will obviously win the day. First of all, they’re more than twice as big in market value than their rival at twenty-four billion pounds. Global, on the other hand, is valued at slightly under twelve billion. The bid for Secondary is three billion which means that it’s only an eighth of Grand’s value but it’s a quarter of Global’s value. Not only that, but Grand has the finance in hand while Global will need to borrow a billion. In any case, Grand, because of its nature, will be able to absorb Secondary very easily while it won’t fit in too well with Global.’
‘Why do you say that?’ asked Priestly with interest.
‘Well, Grand has a comprehensive workforce throughout the whole of the United Kingdom. Global operates mainly in the south; Secondary is in the north. In my opinion, Global would be over-reaching itself not only with regard to the finance but also on its geographical structure. You see, it has little experience of the needs of clients in the north.’
‘Is there anything else?’ asked the guru thoughtfully.
‘Yes,’ continued the young man. ‘Grand already owns seven per cent of Secondary. Global doesn’t own any.’
‘And what about institutions. How do they fare?’
‘There are two institutions which own almost twenty-two per cent of Secondary but they’re bound to accept the cash from Grand. It’s a foregone conclusion.’
‘And the management structure offered by the two takeover candidates? What about that?’
‘I’m not absolutely certain. It seems that Grand is offering one seat on the Board to the Managing Director of Secondary. I don’t know what happens to the rest of them. Global is offering four seats on the Board and it’s likely they keep the executives of Secondary in the new set-up.’
‘What about the staff of Secondary?’
‘Well it’s obvious that Grand will reduce Secondary’s workforce because there’s a great deal of overlap but it’ll be beneficial to them by means of financial savings in the economies of scale. The wage element will be considerably reduced making it even more commercially viable for Grand. Global can’t reduce staff because of the geographical misfit.’
‘Are you absolutely certain that Grand will win the battle?’ asked Priestly point-blank.
‘Absolutely certain, for the reasons I set out,’ explained the young man adamantly
. ‘What happens now?’
‘Well your timing is perfect. The reason I asked you to undertake the study quickly was because the takeover is imminent. Almost to the hour.’ He turned on the wide-screen television set in the corner of the room, pressing the controls to gain access to the Teletext. The headlines announcing the result of the takeover came up on the television screen almost immediately.
‘Global wins Secondary,’ it read in large bold letters.
‘Well there’s a thing!’ exclaimed young Meredith baffled by the outcome, feeling a complete fool in front of the guru. ‘I don’t understand. I got it dead wrong, didn’t I?’
‘You certainly did,’ returned Priestly with a slight smile touching the corners of his lips. ‘You certainly did. And shall I tell you some of the reasons why?’
‘Of course. I’d like to know how you knew Global were going to win because you did know that, didn’t you?’
‘Let me present you with a different picture to the one you assumed. Grand is a giant within the industry. It is very large with a great deal of finance and large profits to its name. They so arrogantly assumed victory against a much small competitor they considered they didn’t need to fight. They have possession of the finance, the set-up, the customers and the clout. All they needed to do is to sit back and let some of the senior executives arrange for it to happen. Not so Global. The Managing Director is in the front line with his troops. He knows it’s going to be a very tough battle, borrowing finance and making concessions to the executives of the company he wants to take over. His commitment is such that he’s willing to die in order to win... an attitude which is known to his troops in the war. However, the unification in commitment by everyone is only part of the battle. He didn’t need to reduce staff in Secondary because the geographical location of his target does not coincide with his own company. Consequently, he’s able to offer better prospects for more executives of Secondary than Grand is willing to do because they will still continue to run the operations in the north. Finance is of no concern. It will be recovered and paid back within a few years. But let me say this. There could be shares issued to investors if they agree which would mean that much of that extra million might not need to be borrowed. And as far as the stake of seven per cent owned by Grand, let me say that the institutions owning twenty-two per cent recognise the benefits which will emerge from Global’s takeover. Hence, they will offer their investment to the smaller competitor. So you can see that size and clout is not always the measure of a takeover bid when the competition is so austere. I hope this case will impress itself upon your mind as a lesson to understand. Commitment and the will to die for your company in a major coup is far more important than being able to muster finance easily within a non-committed larger corporate entity. I hope you don’t feel that you’ve failed with your decision. You were at fault by pre-judging the issue without weighing up all the facts. Not those of size and clout but of the emotions and opportunities for the executives in the target group. I want you to go home and think carefully about what happened and reflect what I’ve told you.’