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BRITISH MANAGEMENT
According to an article in Management Today, the British manager
still stops work or tea! The "renchmanaging director o No#otel, the
hotel gro$p, tells what happened at his irst management meeting
whenhe took o#er its English operation in %&&%'
(The meeting was in the aternoon, and it got to a)o$t *!*+ and
e#eryone started looking at theirwatches! I didnt know what was
going on! I t$rned to my secretary, who was English, and she said
thatthey pro)a)ly wanted to )reak or tea! I co$ldnt $nderstand it!
In "rance we -$st carry on $ntil we ha#e
inished! Now we always )reak or tea!(
I am not s$re how many English managers now )reak or tea! Not
that many, I imagine! Twenty years agoit was commonplace! I will
ne#er orget a .anadian sales director, pink with $ry, telling me at
that timehow he had )een oered tea and )isc$its at three in the
aternoon in Northampton' (I come threetho$sand miles, and take
three ta/is and a damn steam engine into the sticks, and I wanna do
)$siness,and this g$y gi#es me a 0nice c$p o .hina tea and a )iccy!
1hat IS he2( Mind yo$, this was the sameman who in Rome told his
Italian agent that the .olosse$m wo$ld make a nice parking lot!
It is not so m$ch the c$p o tea as the pint o )itter that
managers rom o$tside Britain ind a )ar toeiciency! In the article,
a German manager tells how when he irst took o#er a -o) in Britain,
hedisco#ered that at l$nchtime and especially on "ridays, the
ma-ority o his management team let or the
p$)! He says' (I stopped that right away! Now they are not
allowed o the premises! It didnt make me#ery pop$lar at the time
)$t it is not good or eiciency! There is no way we wo$ld do that in
Germany! Noway!(
According to E$ropean managers the British are still too
concerned with class and stat$s! A German says'(3eople say that the
class system is a hindrance to progress and then two weeks later
yo$ o#erhear themdisc$ssing a colleag$e and saying, 01ell, he is
not #ery well4spoken, is he2( And another says' (The classgaps
translate into )ig g$ls in the pay leag$e, too! In Germany, I might
earn three times more than mysecretary! Here it is i#e times!(
Some criticisms are rather like those le#elled at 5apanese
management! "or e/ample, talking a)o$t stat$s,a 6$tch manager says'
(A director is God here! They respect him and think that he is
right e#en when he
is wrong! Its 7$ite diic$lt to ha#e an open con#ersation! 3eople
will not say 0I disagree!(
Too great an interest in money is also criticised! A 6$tch
manager says' (My irst impression on coming toBritain was that
proit seemed to )e the most important thing!( And a "renchman
points o$t the dierence)etween the 89 and "rance' (In "rance there
is no press$re on the )ottom line!(
The "rench manager also points o$t a dierence in ed$cational
standards' (In "rance all the secretaries,or personal assistants as
we call them, wo$ld ha#e degrees! :o$ wo$ldnt consider recr$iting
one witho$t adegree! So, that means yo$ can delegate m$ch more to
the secretaries in "rance! In the 89 yo$ cannot dothat so
m$ch!(
%! In the middle o the aternoon
A! e#eryone checked their watches!B! hinted that it was
teatime!.! took a )reak!6! noticed it was *!*+!
;! In the past
A! managers $s$ally had a tea)reak!
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B! oered #isitors .hina tea!.! wasted a lot o time drinking
tea!6! drank a lot o tea!
*! The .anadian
A! was impressed )y the Englishmans good manners!B! had
tra#elled a long way!.! liked to do )$siness!
6! considered his time was )eing wasted!
A! He had nowhere to park!B! He was -oking!.! He was worried
a)o$t Romes traic pro)lems!6! He was en#io$s o Italys glorio$s
past!
=! The German didnt like his managers going to the p$)
)eca$se
A! he was against drink!
B! they got dr$nk!.! it made them ineicient!6! he )elie#ed
playing sports wo$ld )e )etter or them!
>! To stop them going to the p$), the managers
A! were ordered to stay in the oice!B! were gi#en ree l$nches in
the oice!.! played team games in the l$nch4ho$r!6! had meetings at
l$nchtime!
?! In Britain, managers are paid m$ch more than their
secretaries )eca$se o
A! se/ism!B! ed$cation!.! class!6! eloc$tion!
@! English and 5apanese managers are similar in that they
A! are tact$l!B! like tea!.! a#oid disagreement!6! ha#e a
s$periority comple/!
&! In comparison with the British secretary, a "rench
secretary
A! is )etter paid!B! has more stat$s!.! is )etter spoken!6! can
take more responsi)ility!
