DOES CHEATING IN GOLF PREDICT CHEATING IN BUSINESS? David
DOES CHEATING IN GOLF PREDICT CHEATING IN BUSINESS? David
DOES CHEATING IN GOLF PREDICT CHEATING IN BUSINESS?
David Callahan published an influential book titledThe Cheating Culture: Why More Americans Are Doing Wrong to Get Ahead. In this book, Callahan documents how cheating has been on the rise for the past two decades. It has been evident in business scandals, doping in sports, plagiarism by journalists, and cheating by students.1
Callahan blames the dog-eat-dog economic climate of the past two decades for much of the cheating that is going on. He points to four reasons why we have more cheating today.New pressuresare part of it.Bigger rewards for winningare also a key factor.Temptation is ever present. Finally, he believestrickle down corruptionhas been at work. With this fourth point, he is referring to the tendency for everyone to start cheating, because they perceive the system is stacked against them and so people start making up their own rules to justify their actions.2In short, he argues that we live in a cheating culture.
CAN ONE HOLD TWO STANDARDS?
One issue that frequently comes up in discussions of cheating and ethics is whether people can hold one set of standards or ethics in their personal lives and another set of standards or ethics in their business lives. This question is often raised about our political leaders as well. Often, the discussion juxtaposes one’s personal ethics in specific spheres of life such as dealing with family or friends or sports with one’s ethics in business or some other profession of which one is a part. Debate is often continuous on this topic, and both sides are well represented in the dialogue.A Personal Experience.Years ago, the author of this case used to play golf with a man who held impeccable golf ethics. He meticulously followed every detailed rule of the game and made sure all around him did also. Over the years, however, this man always bragged about how much he was cheating the federal government out of taxes. He proclaimed often that he had not paid his taxes in five years. It was interesting that the man never saw the disconnect between his golf ethics and his personal ethics.
To think about this topic further, it is interesting to consider the findings from a recent survey of CEOs regarding the extent to which they cheat, or bend the rules, in the game of golf—a game typically associated with business executives.
A SURVEY AND OTHER OPINIONS
A survey of prominent corporate executives commissioned by Starwood Hotels and Resorts generated some interesting findings. According to their study of 401 high-ranking corporate executives, 82 percent admit to being less than honest on the golf course. When asked whether they wager on golf, 87 percent said they did. When asked to name the largest bet they had ever made on a golf game, the average high was$589. For executives making more than $250,000 per year, the average high was $1,947.3So, money is often at stake in the games they play. The findings of the Starwood study were summarized as follows:•99 percent consider themselves honest in business.
•87 percent have played with someone who cheats at golf.
•82 percent say they cheat at golf.
•82 percent hate others who cheat at golf.
•72 percent believe business and golf behavior parallel each other.4Others Are Doing It.Do executives cheat at golf more frequently than other golfers? GolfDigest .com asked this question of golfers, and nearly half said they believe that fewer than 40 percent of golfers fudge at the game.USA Todayinterviewed a dozen CEOs who said they personally bend the rules—sometimes. The respondents also report, however, that they observe other CEOs bending the rules constantly. Behaviors often witnessed include the“other guy”improving their lie, hitting do-over shots (mulligans), forgetting a whiff (missed swing), forgetting to count a missed threefoot putt, and kicking their balls out of the rough or their opponent’s balls into the sand.5
IS GOLF ETHICS RELATED TO BUSINESS ETHICS?
One former bank president interviewed said he has declined a loan or two after witnessing a CEO cheat on the golf course. The bank president was dumbfounded when CEOs would cheat during the same time that he was judging their honesty with respect to a possible loan. The bank president concluded:“When you see what they’ll do for a $10 bet, it makes you wonder what they’d do on a million dollar loan.”6
It’s a Social Thing.The CEO of Starwood is also a golfer. According to him, he doesn’t see the survey as an indictment of the character of executives.“This is a social thing, not a corporate report card,”he says. But the former CEO of Chipshot.com says that“cheating is very much a part of the journey of golf.”Another CEO goes on:“I suspect that CEOs as a class of people have a need to appear competent at a lot of things.”7
In commenting further on the study’s findings, the CEO of Starwood noticed the disconnect between some of the findings. He noted that 82 percent say they under-count strokes, improve their lie, or commit some other rules violation, but when asked whether they are honest at business, 99 percent of them say they are.8An organizational psychologist who has been interviewing business executives for decades observed that executives who lie do not consider themselves to be liars. It is similar to their reporting that their outstanding strength is working with people, but when you speak to their subordinates, the subordinates cite that as their biggest weakness. The consultant went on to say that“they lose their ability to distinguish what is honest and what is not.”The lies get bigger and bigger, and“we’ve seen this played out everywhere now, from Tyco to Enron.”9Confirming this same point, another consultant observed an executive cheat by kicking his opponent’s ball twice, sending it into the bushes. The opponent could not find the ball and had to take a one-stroke penalty, never imagining his opponent had done this. The consultant was with the ball-kicker later and confronted him about his action. The executive-golfer humorously rationalized:
“That was worth about $75,000 per kick. That’s probably more than the top kickers in the NFL make.” The consultant was quite surprised that the executive would look him in the eye and try to make this clever comment, especially when the executive knew he did speaking and writing on ethics in management.”10Insights into Character.Interestingly, the CEOs differ about whether golf cheaters are business cheaters, but they almost all agree that the way executives handle the frustration of the game gives them insights into the executive’scharacter. Another CEO observed that he really gets concerned when his golfing partners start blaming their poor shots on the sun or on some other distraction. He said you need to watch out for golfers like that. But he said that he is unconcerned about routine cheating. He concluded:
“I would be suspicious of a CEO who didn’t cheat. If they have a good golf game, they should be spending more time running the company.”11David Rynecki, author ofDeals on the Green:
Lessons on Business and Golf from America’s Top Executives(2007) likens golf to“an 18-hole character test.”12In a friendly, uninterrupted round of golf, one can learn the following about your playing partner: Is this person honest? How passionate is this person? Does this person know how to have fun? Is this the right person for the job? Is this person a good listener?13
Questions for Discussion
1. What are the ethical issues in this case?
2. Do we live today in a“cheating culture?”Do you agree with Callahan’s analysis of the situation?
3. Is cheating outside of work in one’s personal life directly or indirectly related to cheating at work?
4. How can a person hold two sets of ethics and behave consistently in either venture? Give examples from your own personal life.
5. Could flawed ethics in golf just be considered“part of the game” and unrelated to ethics at work?
6. What insights into character, management behavior, and thinking do you get from this case?
7. Are there parallels between the experiences of executives described in this case and the lives of students? How are they similar or different?
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