Culturas presentes na europa e estilos gerenciais

International Journal of Asian Management (2004) 3: 1–26 DOI 10.1007/s10276-004-0016-y

Article
European cultures and management styles
Manfred Perlitz and Frank Seger
Department of International Management, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany e-mail: [e-mail], [e-mail]

Abstract After the establishment of the Common Market in Europe, many companies from abroad opted for a single European headquarters and searched for European managers. That leads to the question whether one can really speak of a common European management style. The article at hand examines this issue. To do this, the legal framework and Corporate Governance background of individual European countries are assessed. Furthermore, cultural differences in Europe are considered. Referring to studies of cultural dimensions in European countries, the authors propose five different cultural areas in Europe. This leads to a concluding discussion of management styles in these regions. Key words Culture · Management · Corporate governance · Europe · Leadership

1 Is there a European management? In the last decades, specific success models of management were often related to different countries. So, in the 80s the Japanese management was “en vogue,” and the whole world admired the lean production concept as it had been introduced in Japan. The Japanese management model was seen as the most successful way to reduce costs, especially in the area of production. This led to a change in the Western paradigm that higher quality always has to be related to higher costs, because the Japanese model showed that higher quality and cost reductions can go together. Following the collapse of the bubble economy in Japan, the American management model took over. After the breakdown of the “New Economy” and the scandals dealing with the “creative” ways to use the American accounting system, this model also is now more and more questioned. This is especially true for the