Jim Goodnight points to a story on the front page of his Financial Times. He is slightly agitated. "China leads in growth of scientific research", runs the headline. "I have been telling people this for years," he says with some exasperation. The west, he feels, is sleepwalking to disaster. "PhDs are the key to innovation in scientific research."
Mr Goodnight is entitled to speak plainly. For 34 years he has been leading his business, SAS, in his own highly successful way. It is the world's largest privately held software business - as co-founder he still owns two-thirds of the company - and he says it has been profitable, without interruption every year of its existence. He won't disclose profit figures, but last year the company made revenues of $2.3bn (€1.6bn, £1.4bn).
As a former professor - of statistics at North Carolina State University - Mr Goodnight understands what a commitment to learning entails, but also what it can help people to achieve.
Why does he think young people in developed countries show so little commitment to applied research? "Well, I think a lot of our bright young kids want to get MBAs so they can be bankers and make millions, whereas engineering and scientific research is viewed as too hard work. It's pretty pathetic," he says.
Mr Goodnight's voice has returned to its more usual, gentle Southern lilt. The 67-year-old is a native of North Carolina, and SAS is based just outside Raleigh, the state capital, where more than 4,000 people work. A further 7,000 SAS employees are based in other locations around the world.
SAS, which was in effect spun out of NC State University in 1976, has been a pioneer in the increasingly fashionable business discipline of "analytics". This involves not merely gathering information, but also processing it and extracting the value from it.
He is passing through London on his way to the World Economic Forum in Davos, which he attends regularly. But he does not necessarily have the same perspective on business as his fellow chief executives who run public companies. Mr Goodnight is unimpressed by the rigmarole of quarterly reporting and making the numbers for a permanently impatient Wall Street.
SAS is different. "A year ago I told everyone there would be no lay-offs, that we might in fact take a small hit in profits but that was fine with me," he says. "I didn't care because I prefer preserving everybody's jobs. I think everybody took that to heart and actually worked harder to save money, to cut expenses, to try to bring in more revenue, and we actually ended up growing last year by 2.2 per cent. It was the second or third most profitable year we've ever had . . . I always say if you treat people like they make a difference they will make a difference."
That sounds rather like old-fashioned paternalism. But put that charge to Mr Goodnight and he does not seem unduly concerned. The results of his approach speak for themselves. SAS has just been named by Fortune magazine as the best company to work for in the US.
The on-site perks and benefits at SAS HQ are remarkable. Medical care, childcare, sport and fitness centres, massage, food, hairdressers and a 35-hour week: these all form part of the employee package. There is a downside. There are no stock options on offer to the staff of this privately held business. Nor does SAS pay the highest wages in the sector. But it is a successful business with low staff turnover. Most employees seem happy with the deal, which is designed to make working life easier. It is these software programmers who in turn keep SAS's clients happy.
