I noticed that Pierre-Guy referenced here in Mg-Ed-Dv a posting to the
thread "Are Europeans a different species" on IMD-L. I am posting a
copy that comment by Gerhard Apfelthaler below for those confused by the
interlist threading.
Cybercollaborating,
Charles Wankel
List Director of both MG-ED-DV and IMD-L
-----Original Message-----
I would like to say that I fully subscribe to Gerhard point
of view on Europeans : very well stated and interesting. We could also
talk about China and other "continent like" countries : from north to
south, from east to west, there are probably as many differences and
similarities than on the European scene.
Pierre-Guy
-----Message d'origine-----
I have followed the recent discussion about European Management in
complete awe. More than 30 years have passed since Hofstede has
initiated his research on cultural differences and more than 20 years
since his 4 (5) dimensions have started to become a common body of
knowledge in many areas of management theory and practice and open up
the field for many other important and influential contributions. It is
rather surprising that - equipped with decades of research on cultures -
this group now finds itself in a discussion about whether European
countries are different and thus have distinctive styles of management
or whether there is such a strange animal as European management. The
answer is, of course, yes on both positions. It just depends what one's
frame of reference is and where one would like to draw the borderlines.
If one believes that there is a distinctive style of "American" or
"Asian" management (and one will certainly find an awful lot of people
in the same place - just look at the plethora of books and articles on
these topics), then you might as well believe that there is European
management. Your picture of the world, however may be very inaccurate,
something like a polaroid photo from the 1970s: colors washed away, out
of focus, a snapshot in time and place. On the other hand, if one
desires a really valuable picture of the reality of management in
different areas of the world (Europe, in this case), even the borders of
one single country may prove to be too broad to provide these results.
Cultures don't stop at national, ethnic, generational, occupational, or
any other sorts of borders. The long and the short of it is: there's a
plethora of cultures and micro-cultures out there, it's upon each one of
us to decide what we'd like to see - European Management, Italian
Management, management styles in Northern Italy, or in the textile
cluster around Milan. Take your pick!
Gerhard
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Gerhard Apfelthaler
Head, Department of International Management
FH JOANNEUM
Alte Poststrasse 149
A-8020 Graz
Austria - Europe
Tel. +43 316 5453 6800
Fax +43 316 5453 6801
Mobile: +43 699 1545 6810
Email 1:
gerhard.apfelthaler@fh-joanneum.at
Email 2:
apfelth@attglobal.net
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Latest Publications:
Management Internationaler Geschaeftstaetigkeit (Management of
International Business, Springer, 2001)
<http://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/ASIN/3211835598/qid=1011611557/sr=8-1/
ref=sr_aps_prod_1_1/302-2530444-9897600>
Corporate Global Culture as Competitive Advantage: Learning from Germany
and Japan in Alabama and Austria, in: Journal of World Business,
(forthcoming 2002, Vol. 37, No. 3)
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