What the Royal-Thomian match could learn from businesses

Hilmy Cader of MTI Consulting has been generous in a piece in the Daily Mirror on the subject of 138 years of cricket between Royal and S. Thomas’ and what businesses could learn from this. He says: “Profit is the only driver of a business, here is an exception where passion is the driver of the business, a cult brand status for their brands, strong sub-brands, efforts of the different Brand Evangelists.”

This piece turns the light inward and asks what Royal and S. Thomas’ can learn from business in this series. 

Media

Giving the media dignity and respect pays. The media is our access to the wider world and means to portray the brand. Twenty eight media institutions and publications sought access to the Royal-Thomian. All without tickets at the match had photo ID passes. 

What I would  term as rudimentary comforts were enhanced with a mid-morning  snack provided but used on two of three days along with the lunch, tea and soft drinks, a dedicated steward to serve the media in attendance and a cooler from which  water could be picked up. 

Beer was to be kept in the cooler. A request is pending with a sponsor to send out mementos to those who took the trouble to use their passes. 

We need to invest in convincing the media that they are important to us. 

The importance of business integrity 

The misconduct of a few can undermine the efforts of many and erode trust in markets and institutions. This entails those who operate in such markets to play by the rules. A wide range of tools to induce meaningful behaviour change is available. The challenges of corporate misbehaviour are not new but the potential scope of their impact is, particularly in terms of lost trust. What is needed is to understand the distance between expectations for responsible business behaviour recommended and how they are implemented. Given the stakes, for many, continuing with business as usual is not an option.

Integrity as a question of long-term success

Just pointing to whatever the leaders are doing is no longer good enough. The Royal-Thomian brand must become one of those leaders. We have to define what we stand for and what behaviours are no longer appropriate, regardless of whether the majority of the industry follows those practices.

A few were passionate in calling for a match officiating system which was truly independent and free of partisan pressures. We had an on-field, reserve and third umpire with a match referee. They were served with camera technology for referrals. Known only to a handful, the system providing camera technology was protected and kept independent from bias or influence for use by the third umpire. It required discrete monitoring throughout the match. 

Eliminating conflicts 

of interest?

What is a conflict of interest? A situation where an individual or the entity for which they work, whether a government, business, media outlet or civil society organisation, is confronted with choosing between the duties and demands of their position and their own private interests.  

Going forward the Joint Committee will have to codify areas where conflicts of interest arise to prevent negative outcomes since passion can override conflicts of interest.

Case for 

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) 

The four categories of CSR – economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic – address the motivations for initiatives in the category and are also useful in identifying specific kinds of benefits that flow back to companies as well as society, in their fulfillment.

A 138-year brand must ask itself about its CSR. Sure, there is a revenue dividend to the brand with both schools becoming beneficiaries in equal measure. Can economics of revenue supersede the cricket? What is the cost of ear-shattering, deafening noise masking all cricket-related sounds at the centre where bowling and batting are undertaken?

The brand is influential and can place enormous pressure on those officiating; all the more reason why cricketing laws must be respected unflinchingly. For the same reasons, since the stakes are high cricketing ethics must be our first priority. Results must not be at the expense of ethics.

What of philanthropy? The combined physical assets of both schools are unmatched. The cricketing talent and brains are considerable. Have we thought it fit to share and or apply these assets in a rational manner to benefit talented but less well-endowed schools?

The two schools have been blessed with cricket programs that are sustainable. What is our giveback to cricket in this country for the fortunes which have come our way? It is my view some in the upper echelons running cricket in this country see Royalists and Thomians with a jaundiced view due to perceptions of elitism and privilege on our part. It is for us to show our generosity and heart to serve the larger interest of cricket in this country. 

The history of the brand is replete with cricketing greatness in the past. Others have come along and shone not only in school cricket but also on the national stage more recently. It’s a lesson to both schools. Nevertheless, if ours is the second-longest cricketing school encounter in the world, we possess some historical greatness. It must translate into unparalleled social investments unsurpassed by any other with comparable contexts.