Dialling the numbers for success

A company's birthday could hold the key to its financial fortunes, according to a numerologist based in Sydney, Australia.

Dr Neil Hair is offering an alternative explanation for the spate of financial scandals which have hit WorldCom, Enron and other big businesses over the past two years.

The answer, he claims, lies in the humble zero.

"The double zeros in 2001 and 2002 represent hidden files and skeletons coming out of the closet," explains Dr Hair, a softly spoken Scot with a PhD in structural chemistry who took up numerology 20 years ago.

"The twos represent the people in charge.

"They're supposed to act for the good of their shareholders and employees. But if the energy's negative they may act as crooks."

A business therapy?

Numerology takes a huge leap of faith.

Ridiculed by scientists, mathematicians and just about anybody who fails to see the link between the number two and irritable bowel syndrome - as some numerologists claim - it has struggled for acceptance alongside other predictive pseudo-sciences.

But now a number of Australian companies are turning to this more creative method of accounting.

"Neil was able to read the intention of our company without knowing too much about us," said Natalie McDonagh, the co-founder of an experimental design company based in Melbourne.

"The numbers gave us confidence to know that there's hidden support for what we do embedded in our name."

To predict a company's fortune, Dr Hair requires its name and "birth" date: the date on which it was founded or incorporated.

Numbers are assigned to the letters and, by a series of additions and subtractions, a chart is compiled and the results interpreted.

Number ones, for instance, can mean success. Eights are highly prized, delivering money and sound business judgement.

Lucky numbers

Dr Hair can not explain how or why his interpretations work.

They are based - he says - on years of observation and his "feel" for numerical patterns, rooted in structural chemistry but now embracing astrology, spirituality and, indeed, product launches.

"I can help companies to choose the right name and the right date for a product launch," he explains. "It can make all the difference."

But while some companies in the United States and Asia consult astrologers and Feng Shui experts as regularly as they call on management consultants, Australian businesses have, in the past, been slow on the uptake of alternative company "therapies".

"Big business has been sceptical, no doubt about that," Dr Hair admits.

"And Australia's numbers indicate it's a conservative country."

But he believes tapping into a company's spiritual side is "nothing new".

Dr Hair says: "Numerology and astrology are just an extension of the psychological profiling strategies companies are already using to improve relationships with their staff."

Looking ahead, he believes the numbers bode well.

"We're entering a new phase," he says.

"The last 1,000 years have seen a strong masculine influence, and now the number two in the second millennium is switching us on to the feminine.

"There'll be more interest in astrology and numerology and companies will find success through working harder to keep clients and nurturing their staff."

Or, quite possibly, by sticking to more orthodox methods of numerical analysis - employing a better accountant.