MANAGEMENT STYLES

The characteristics of management often vary according to national culture, which can determine how managers are trained, how they lead people and how they approach their jobs. Below you will find five brief portraits of managers in five different countries: the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Sweden.

 Managers from the United States...

• generally attend business schools.

• communicate easily and informally at work.

• admire the qualities of a leader.

• expect everyone to work hard. Individual performance is measured and initiative is rewarded.

• have competitive and sometimes aggressive attitudes towards work.

• often accept innovation and change.

 Managers from the United Kingdom...

• receive a general education.

• delegate authority.

• take a practical approach to management.

• have relatively formal relationship at work.

• encourage their employees to work individually.

• believe it is important to continue education and training at work.

 Managers from Germany...

• consider professional and technical skills to be very important.

• have a strong sense of authority.

• respect the different positions in the hierarchy of their companies.

• clearly define how jobs should be done.

• are very loyal to their companies and expect their subordinates to obey them.

• are often older than in other countries.

 Managers from France...

• go through an elitist educational system.

• have a strong sense of hierarchy and power.

• often have impersonal relationships at work.

• analyse problems in great detail before taking decisions.

• consider speaking skills to be particularly important.

• move easily between state and private sectors.

 Managers from Sweden...

• consider social qualities to be as important as education.

• encourage their employees to take an interest in their work..

• pay close attention to the quality of working life.

• do not use as much authority as in other countries.

• appreciate low-level decision-making.

• are often women.

SOURCE: Insights into Business - Lannon, Tullis, Trappe (Longman)