Machiavelli, Marketing and Management

Phil Harris, Andrew Lock, Patricia Rees

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2000
• ISBN:
  9781134605675
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Negocios y empresa
• Subtopic: Negocios en general

This cutting edge text provides insight into the meaning and interpretation of Machiavelli, and highlights the particular relevance to today's manager of his works for management, marketing and political thought. It addresses a number of common themes relating to his influences and arguments, and includes topics such as: * modern management* governa

1 Introduction

1 Introduction

This book resulted from the Machiavelli at 500 conference held in Manchester in May 1998, which marked the 500th anniversary of Machiavelli becoming the Second Secretary in the Florentine Republic after the downfall of Savonarola. The conference was held in the evocative surroundings of the fifteenth-century Hall of Chetham’s School. In the same building is the library founded by Humphrey Chetham with its chained books and the desk where Marx worked during his visits to Manchester to see Engels.

Why hold a seminar about an individual who, it was claimed in the seventeenth century, was the wickedest man who ever lived? The early idea came from our own interest in Machiavelli’s ideas in relation to corporate lobbying and political marketing (Harris and Lock 1996; Lock and Harris 1996) and was stimulated by discussions at the Academy of Marketing conference which was held in Manchester in 1997. This gave birth to the concept of a quincentennial seminar to mark his emergence on the public stage as Second Secretary in Florence at the age of 29. Manchester, with its long tradition of radical politics, seemed a very suitable venue for the seminar. But where—in what is, architecturally, largely a nineteenth- and twentiethcentury city—would be appropriate? Should we really have looked for a postmodern setting for such an event? Those who know his works would say he probably would have enjoyed that. Chetham’s School, founded in 1653 and now a leading specialist music school, provided the ideal setting. We are very grateful to the headmaster, the Reverend Peter Hullah, for allowing us to use the Hall and to him and his staff for their excellent hospitality.

We were amazed and delighted by the widespread enthusiasm that was expressed for the concept of the seminar and the wealth of ideas and suggestions we received. Having started to ask for contributions, a letter arrived from Lord William Wallace of the London School of Economics suggesting that we contact the Contessa Beatrice Rangoni Machiavelli to see whether the family would like to participate. The Contessa Beatrice, her brother the Marchese Ludovico and his wife the Marchesa Avril Rangoni Machiavelli all agreed to attend the seminar—we were going to have ‘three Machiavelli in Manchester’. We were surprised to learn subsequently that, despite Machiavelli’s fame or notoriety, this would be the only event to mark this quincentenary, and that his fame is rarely celebrated in the land of his birth.

The enthusiastic response we received from the Rangoni Machiavelli family was matched by everyone we approached. The event received significant coverage in national newspapers in Britain, which is quite remarkable for a Renaissance writer, showing the modernity of Machiavelli’s thinking and its continued relevance to politics and social life. Direct comparisons were drawn with the skills of Peter Mandelson, the then Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, who is widely credited with having masterminded the image transformation of the Labour Party (‘New Labour’), laying the foundations for their 1997 General Election Victory. Peter had politely declined our invitation to attend. Media coverage culminated in the Contessa Beatrice Rangoni Machiavelli and Phil Harris being interviewed on the prime-time morning news programme Today on BBC Radio 4.

In many ways, we can describe Machiavelli as an early modern thinker. The fact that he is widely read today and remains highly readable sets him aside from his contemporaries. At this period Italian philosophers could still be classified as Aristotelians or Platonists, and science, or natural philosophy, had not emerged from the ‘natural magic’ phase. Indeed, Paracelsus, the alchemist, was a contemporary. Outside the fields of art and architecture, only Copernicus, amongst Machiavelli’s contemporaries, can be said to have surpassed his influence across the centuries. Machiavelli is a shrewd observer, almost an empiricist, of politics and history, exhibiting a pragmatism which particularly endears him to Anglo-Saxon readers.

However, Machiavellianism as a description of individual conduct has acquired a life of its own, independent of Machiavelli’s own thought. The term machiavellian has become a recognized word in English with a very distinct meaning. Measures of machiavellianism have been developed by psychologists and these have been tested across professions and across cultures. It is worth contrasting the concept as developed with George Bull’s comment (see chapter 3) that ‘for Machiavelli the act of governing is in itself a profoundly moral matter’.

The seminar itself proved a most fascinating and stimulating event. The diversity of backgrounds of the speakers and the audience gave it a multidisciplinary character, which gave everyone new insights into Machiavelli, his work and its subsequent influence. Student actors read out excerpts from his works to set the scene for each session. Over two days we ranged across time, space, culture and history. Politicians met with academics, artists, business people and diplomats. The wide range of ages gave both old and young much upon which to reflect. Its very eclecticism produced a very special atmosphere and its own resonance. Amongst the many vivid memories is the wonderful debate between Alistair McAlpine and Gordon Heald about the reasons for the Conservatives’ electoral debacle in 1997. We had a very stimulating afterdinner speech from Gerald Kaufman, whose book How to be a Minister was based on his own observations and experiences as a Minister and Member of Parliament.

Those attending felt that the ideas should be further developed into a book, which built on the event and focused on the influence of Machiavelli’s writings on marketing and management. This book is the result. The original event had more contributions and ideas than could possibly be included in this work. We know that there is a great deal of potential for future symposia of this kind. At the time of writing it is planned to hold a further seminar on Machiavelli’s own estate at Bibbione, near Florence, in May 2000.

The book is organized in parts based on a number of common themes that emerged from our initial discourse in memory of one of the founders of modern political thought. These are:

Part 1: Introduction

Part 1 contains three papers on Machiavelli’s life and times. They show the variety and vitality of the man and his work. The first piece by Phil Harris, Andrew Lock and Patricia Rees provides the historical background to Machiavelli and his thought. It presents facts and leaves the reader to decide whether the myths are well-founded. Machiavelli lived in a remarkable age in which intellectual enquiry flourished. It would not have been thought odd that one individual who was a diplomat, playwright and poet should write, as he did, about politics, ethics, history, psychology, metaphysics, logic, military science, geography, statecraft, generalship, religion and philosophy. Like many Renaissance figures, his learning was very wide-ranging, though, as Beatrice Rangoni Machiavelli observes, he was not able to read Greek.

The myths surrounding Machiavelli began in the sixteenth century and continue to this day. What comes across from his works, however, is an image of a fervent patriot who is ultimately optimistic about the human condition, despite being trenchantly realistic about human frailties. Modern notions of principal and agent theory and the concept of moral hazard are modern versions of some of the ideas in The Prince.

George Bull, the eminent translator of Italian classics and also Japanese works, introduces the reader to Machiavelli’s contemporaries and the contemporary influences and debates which would have affected him. He argues that Machiavelli has always attracted interest because The Prince is a guide to action. However, what rulers mostly did (and possibly still do) was to go to Machiavelli, or at least to quote from him, to find justification rather than inspiration for their action. He suggests that the same is probably true for the leaders of great modern business corporations.

Beatrice Rangoni Machiavelli traces the history of the family name and argues that Niccolò Machiavelli would have said ‘never was I Machiavellian’. She also emphasizes that the Italian historical and political tradition is very different from the northern European one with which we are most familiar. It drew its inspiration from the republican models of Classical Rome rather than concepts of hereditary monarchy. He was a believer in his country and good government and, as he was later dubbed, a ‘master of republican liberty’. She denies that he believed that the end justifies the means, or perhaps rather that any means are justified by particular ends.

Part 2: Marketing

The key to Machiavelli’s popularity over time is his clarity of expression. The more we read Machiavelli the more we are left with a clearly stated vision of reality which is timeless—a sense of someone seeking to understand and to consider what is happening in times of turbulence. Five hundred years later his name is usually remembered for the wrong reasons. Machiavellianism has entered the language as a term to describe political cunning and duplicitous fixing. Sight is lost of the great political commentator and analyst of power politics. His observations also have relevance in the market place. Machiavelli was an acute observer of people and part 2 offers some analyses of the implications of Machiavelli’s views for brands—truth, loyalty, stakeholders and ‘spin’.

Marketing as a discipline emerged in the second half of the twentieth century in an increasingly complex world with consumers being presented with a growing range of choices. Thus the papers in part 2 reflect the desire to make sense of this. In the first piece, Richard Elliott explores the interpretations of reality in his article ‘Contra postmodernism: Machiavelli on limits to the malleability of consciousness’. Elliott argues that Machiavelli was one of the first analysts of the realities of life rather than just reflecting authority and received wisdom. Lived experience is a continual immersion in events and actions along a path in time—the temporal reality of marketing in modern post-industrial society. Mediated experience, on the other hand, is an outcome of mass communication. We are introduced to the debate about the nature of marketing in a postmodern world. A Machiavellian model of consciousness is proposed to explore self-symbolism and social-symbolism as one possible answer. In Elliott’s view, Machiavelli was the first communication theorist to identify lived experience as countervailing mediated experience.

Michael Thomas, in his article ‘Niccolò Machiavelli as relationship marketing guru’, argues the necessity for effective marketers to address the needs and concerns of stakeholders in society. He posits that one has to understand civil society to build long term relationships and therefore effective relationship marketing. He proposes that marketing thought is shifting from an emphasis on transactions and customer acquisition to relationships and retention. He argues in Miltonic terms for ‘paradise regained’ which reflects social justice, democratic renewal, community regeneration, a social market and equitable rewards for stakeholders globally. This vision is of a postmodern, postmarketing, post-consumerist society. The only future is to stimulate loyalty, win it, inculcate it and cultivate it—what marketing is all about.

Dominic Wring in his article outlines the recent emergence of the ‘spin doctor’. He recounts the rise of Peter Mandelson and his grandfather Herbert Morrison within the Labour Party and that particular organization’s usual contempt for the media, showing that Morrison was an exception in his enthusiasm for the effective use of publicity. He argues that Machiavelli would have understood both men and the way they have aroused the hostility of powerful rivals but retained the ear of the leader (or Prince). Marketing is at the heart of modern politics and its rejuvenation. Marketing is, however, more than ‘spin’. Amongst other things, it can foster better communication between government and citizen or promote new leaders and ideas. Something Machiavelli five hundred years ago understood well, though he would not necessarily have recognized the term ‘marketing’.

Part 3: Management

Machiavelli was a man who believed in action—getting things done—and thus his ideas lend themselves well as analogies in management. The Prince has become an alternative handbook for the modern manager. It was surprising to discover in our research how many management figures claim to have a copy of The Prince readily to hand. They are happy to admit this, while politicians may be more reticent. Part 3 deals with determination to succeed, the awareness of the reality of dark and light management skills and the virtues of good corporate governance.

The idea of the clear and consistent management of power is the essence of Machiavelli; to prevaricate or to vacillate wastes resources and leads to decline or oblivion. Boldness is to be encouraged. Supporters should be promoted, provided they have been picked for the right reasons. Those who remain neutral in tough situations should be seen as enemies for they do not support your cause and are therefore against you.

Lord Alistair McAlpine, the former Conservative Party Treasurer, international businessman and collector, argues in ‘Renaissance realpolitik for modern management’ that Machiavelli’s approach to politics is as painstaking as that of his artistic contemporaries. The Prince is relevant to both business and politics (a point which is contested in part 4 by Terry Berrow). It highlights the importance of understanding human nature. Machiavelli understood the capacity for evil in humans. He studied those around him and then used the examples from the ancients to justify his conclusions.

Lord McAlpine has written two books concerning Machiavelli—The Servant (1992) and The New Machiavelli—Renaissance Realpolitik for Modern Managers (1997). He takes us through the latter. He notes a striking similarity between fifteenth-century Italy and the great corporations of the late twentieth century and points out the importance of circumstance and luck (using the ‘luck as a woman’ quotation from The Prince). He states that there is a need to organize people in business by providing leadership and puts forward the principles of leadership—loyalty, trust, fairness, ability and respect. Lord McAlpine expresses his disgust at the way in which Margaret Thatcher was treated, when she was ousted as Prime Minister.

McAlpine sees success as a state of mind and exhorts us not to fear failure, because we can learn from it. He advocates attack on the Establishment—whatever its form. The use of consultants also comes under attack (cf. Machiavelli’s view of mercenaries). Success comes from the determination to succeed, not the determination t...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Foreword
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Marketing
• 3 Management
• 4 Political management
• 5 Machiavellian management thought in modern times
• 6 End piece
• Selected bibliography
• Biographies of contributors