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Raymond Ackerman: "The more you give, the more you get back"An interview conducted by Paul Murray with Raymond Ackerman in his office on Saturday 16th April 2005. Raymond Ackerman opened the interview referring to the views of two prominent economists. He used the idea espoused by Adam Smith, the father of economics, which supported his approach to the basic problem of how social order and human progress can be possible in a society where individuals follow their own self-interests. Contrary to this, Milton Friedman said any businessman involved in social responsibility, to quote what Ackerman said, "is a crook and cheat and should go to jail because he is stealing shareholders' money". Ackerman explained how his university professor influenced his thinking on consumer sovereignty, which corresponded with other prominent economists' views at the time. Mr Ackerman senior, Raymond's father, believed his ideas and those of his professors were too theoretical. Yet the young Ackerman stuck to his guns. He carried out his beliefs. To this day he sees profit never as being the primary reason and motive for doing business. Coming up trumps for the consumer is. Fighting monopolies is. Fighting government is, when government electioneers at the expense of the consumer. Right from the beginning of his working career he has stuck to his philosophy, so much so that it has become the topic of his second book, The Four Legs of the Table, ghost-written by Denise Pritchard. The book shares the lessons he learnt all along and tells about the strategies he has put in place to turn a chain of four stores named Pick 'n Pay into a massive business enterprise with interests world-wide. Ackerman explains the four legs of the table under the headings of Administration, Merchandise, Social Responsibility and People, with the Consumer as Sovereign on top of the table. Ackerman briefly outlined each. The four legs hold up the table. This is where Ackerman's real passion lies: for the consumer, for whom you fight. The consumer is on top of the table. As he explains, you see the person who has never forfeited his modesty. His pragmatism and modesty must be among his greatest qualities. The more you give, the more you get back, he gently explains. Social responsibility is something that Ackerman takes seriously. The more you make your people feel a part of the company from day one and that it is their business as much as anyone's, the more socially responsible you make them. This is Smith proved right and Friedman proved wrong. Ackerman does not look left or right, up or down, only firmly in the direction of the interviewer typing away at his laptop. Pick 'n Pay was built on the principles and strategies that are explained in the book and as a result has stood the test of time, especially in an age of corporate greed. As someone else has said, "The Four Legs of a Table is a welcome antidote to some of capitalism's spectacular failures." Ackerman explained that he did not have time to sit down and write the book himself, but the ghost-writer interviewed him every day and had access to his voluminous diary, kept updated on a daily basis since the 1960s. We spoke about Ackerman's social involvement, especially in the city which he loves. He went to school in Cape Town, and also went to university here. He fought hard to bring the Olympics to Cape Town. The venture might not have succeeded, but the exposure to the world was invaluable. Cape Town's profile grew enormously as a result of his and the team's efforts. He explained how he worked day and night and how the process proved very costly to him personally. Ackerman is a proud South African. His three children and their families live here. All twelve grandchildren are at school here. The Raymond Ackerman Academy of Entrepreneurial Development, recently created as part of the University of Cape Town and endowed by the Ackerman family, intends to enhance the career prospects of disadvantaged South African school-leavers and has already started doing so. You cannot be both poet and critic. You have to choose. You cannot be both producer and consumer. Ackerman certainly supports small emerging suppliers to get on their feet, but it is the consumer's interests he is destined to take care of. This is his view as a realist. Cynics serve their own self-interest. Doing good does your business good. Whilst you do not give to get, giving does your business good. At the same time you serve the common good. Ackerman cited the cyanide poison scare of a few years ago as an example of his company and supporters standing together. These acts of support underscored his philosophy that the consumer is king. Consumers supported the company all the way. Ackerman said: "I am so proud of all in the Pick 'n Pay family, including our customers, staff and suppliers, who have supported us in our rejection of what is, candidly, an act of terror, indiscriminately aimed at us all." South Africa's future, for Ackerman, is filled with the most amazing prospects for young people. It is fine for them to go abroad for experience, but they should return to work here. There are plenty of opportunities. South Africa is the economic powerhouse of Africa. The De Klerk-Mandela miracle has ensured this. As stated earlier, the Ackermans and their children live in Cape Town. None has left. Ackerman has seen political parties and governments come and go. He explains how he fought the systems operated by the Vorster and Botha governments. He is delighted that his sense of social responsibility benefited the consumer in difficult times. The ethics of social responsibility does work. The Ackerman retail chain was built during and after apartheid, but the question of ethics never wavered: you hold on to a set of business principles that you have worked out and believe in, whatever the circumstances. In his previous book, Hearing Grasshoppers Jump, he explains his formula of listening when you are young. The experiences that Ackerman had at school - or at least certainly some of them - could have embittered him. He never allowed them to. These experiences have stood him in good stead because they were character-building. In this way he shares a deep sense of restorative justice with another great South African, Nelson Mandela. Raymond Ackerman, when speaking about his meetings with Mr Mandela, never allowed his face to take on a sentimental look. It could have been tempting. Instead, he held fast to the idea that for him, Mandela was the epitome of social and restorative justice. Ackerman explains how he was intrigued by Mandela's philosophy, espoused through Plato, Aeschylus and others. The greatest attribute of Nelson Mandela, according to Ackerman, is his ability to forgive and restore. Ackerman recounts how after he and Mandela had spent time in Ackerman's sixth floor office overlooking the spectacular panorama of the Table Mountain and Devil's Peak, Ackerman, pointing to the mountain said, "Is this not a beautiful view?" Mandela replied, "I saw it from the other side"; then he added, "It's still beautiful." It was time to end the interview, reluctantly. It was an amazing experience sitting at the interview table with a person whose vision, formed at a young age from very specific sources of inspiration, yet different from many at the time, was to shape the business activities of a whole country, certainly in terms of retailing food and other commodities. Above all, the priest-like way in which Raymond Ackerman has shared his time, knowledge, wisdom and understanding is a model of inspiration to big businessmen in our country at a time when it is needed most.
LitNet: 28 April 2005 Did you enjoy this interview? Tell us about it. Write to webvoet@litnet.co.za and join our interactive opinion page! Are there any other authors you would like to see interviewed on LitNet? Send suggestions to sharon@litnet.co.za. |
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