Team leader keeps in touch with players and commands artful eye

Edward Dolman of Christie's International believes the price-fixing scandal was 'absolutely at odds' with the company's ethical standards, culture and everything it stood for, writes Holly Yeager.Our clients have always viewed us through the relationshipsthey have with the people who work for us.

Mr Edward Dolman, chief executive of Christie's International, is passionate about rugby. He once ran a furniture auction with two black eyes and a nose that had been broken in a match.

Sitting in his corner office at Christie's US headquarters in New York, Mr Dolman (42) concedes that it is unusual to find such a fondness for sport in the art world. But, he says, sports fans and arts enthusiasts are essentially after the same thing. "You're looking for that great moment, when the artist is at his peak and something exceptional happens. . . When you see that on a canvas or in a piece of sculpture, it's an incredible moment - and that's what all our people are looking for."

Similarly, he says, most people who watch sport are waiting for what he calls "that amazing moment" when something happens that defines an athlete or a game.

The burly Mr Dolman enjoys using sports analogies to discuss his work; he sees himself as a coach, helping a series of small teams perform. As the team leader, he must understand what motivates people and what destroys morale, he says, and be on the lookout to ensure the mix of players is correct.

But what about winning?

"I am an incredibly competitive person and that's the other thing I enjoy about sport," Mr Dolman says. "I do enjoy winning and I hate losing."

The finer points of competition dominated Mr Dolman's early days as chief executive. He took over in December 1999, when Christie's officials were growing concerned that issues raised by a US Department of Justice inquiry into price-fixing between Christie's and Sotheby's, the rival auctioneer, might, as he puts it, "have a basis in fact".

What followed was a lengthy legal battle in which the companies split a $512 million (€521 million) tab to settle the complaints of angry customers.

While both auction houses were damaged, Sotheby's suffered the greater pain. The company pleaded guilty to anti-trust charges, its senior officials resigned and faced criminal charges and its share price plunged.

Christie's struck an amnesty deal with the government in exchange for co-operation with the probe and, as a private company, it did not have to face a disapproving stock market. Nonetheless, it was a fraught time. "There were moments when you wondered whether we would all be OK at the end of it," says Mr Dolman.

While the headlines swarmed with reports of collusion in the corridors of power, he also had to contend with another managerial challenge: restoring the confidence of staff and clients in a business that depends on reputation and personal relationships.

"Our clients have always viewed us through the relationships they have with the people who work for us and not necessarily as this anonymous corporate body," Mr Dolman explains. Therefore, it was essential that Christie's staff be comfortable with the company's behaviour so they could relay that confidence to their clients.

Mr Dolman says everyone who worked for Christie's understood that the company, founded in 1766, had built its worldwide business on trust. "For many people, that was a prime motive for working for Christie's. They felt they could act as an honest broker and advise clients faithfully."

The price-fixing scandal was "absolutely at odds with the ethical standards of the company and the culture of the company and everything the company stood for", he says.

While Mr Dolman says the collusion was limited to "one or two" people at the top of Christie's, evidence presented in court suggested that a wider group of top executives had at least some inkling of the scandal long before the auction house approached the government about the amnesty.

To help restore the company's reputation, Mr Dolman used his coach's perch to refocus his staff on what he insists have long been the company's "core values" of trust and integrity. He also encouraged open discussion between management and staff to keep all informed about developments. And he took steps to make the company's operations more transparent, and to strengthen compliance and risk management capabilities. Mr Dolman - who greets security guards by name as he walks through Christie's Rockefeller Centre offices - also did some very un-Christie's things. He set off on a "road show", visiting the auction house's offices around the world to set out his vision for the company. And he initiated an ongoing series of employee lunches, in which staff members from all levels of the company join him for a frank discussion. The benefits, he says, came through rapidly.

Mr Victor Wiener, executive director of the Appraisers Association of America, agrees that Christie's - and Sotheby's - have managed to withstand the scandal. "It seems that everything is behind them," he says. "I think people are just moving on."

The success of the auction houses depends on the skills of their specialists who identify and price property, as well as their employees' ability to make social contacts and attract clients, Mr Wiener says. Their auctioneers must also be able to persuade people with objects to consign that they will work hard to promote their sales, he said.

While most of the scandal has faded and business has returned to normal, Mr Dolman says he still spends about 90 per cent of his time within the company, talking to employees about their work and the problems they encounter. Last week's announcement that Lord Hindlip, Christie's chairman, would retire after 40 years with the auction house will add a bit more business-getting to Mr Dolman's responsibilities.

It all marks a sharp contrast to his early days at Christie's. He joined the company in 1984 and spent several years as a European furniture specialist, looking at objects, valuing them, visiting clients and attracting business.

His first management job came in 1995, when he became managing director of Christie's Amsterdam, moving later to New York to be managing director of Christie's Americas.

The company, owned by Mr François Pinault, the French retailing magnate, does not make its results public. But Mr Dolman says it enjoyed record sales in 2000, even as it was struggling to restore its reputation. By the end of that year, however, there were signs of weakness in the art market. Facing a tougher environment in 2001, the company trimmed costs. It expects a return to profitability this year.

With the falling stock market, a decline in investor confidence and continued uncertainty in the Middle East, Mr Dolman remains concerned about the market. But, he says, art has been an attractive alternative investment in the past year that "if not necessarily safer than other assets, is inherently more enjoyable".

Meanwhile, the legal battles continue. Christie's still faces class-action lawsuits and the European Union is expected to issue a judgment in its anti-trust inquiry into Christie's and Sotheby's in the next couple of months.

On the rugby field - where Mr Dolman played prop forward throughout his school and university years, breaking his nose three times - winning is easy to define. But the definition of winning at work is a bit more subtle.

While a successful sale counts as victory, Mr Dolman says the real joy of winning comes from a strong sale from a "well-balanced team that is running properly, that is enjoying their job, that really delivered over and above the call of duty to bring home real success" - preferably, without broken bones. - (Financial Times Service)