Downsizing Literature LO4231

Hardy Thomas (adrowe@essex.ac.uk)
Thu, 14 Dec 1995 10:25:23 GMT

Replying to LO4205 --

On Tue, 12 Dec 1995 11:44:56 -0500 GMBrady@aol.com wrote:

> Rol writes:
>
> >It is interesting that the major reason given for down-sizing is the
> >amount of overhead in American companies compared to their international
> >competition -- 27% of costs in the US, 22% in Germany, and 18% in Japan.
> >Those differences are astounding.
>
> REALLY interesting. I spent some time in both urban and rural Japan
> recently, and that 18% figure is just astounding to me--differs so much
> from what I thought I was seeing as to make me wonder about the possible
> agenda of its source.
>
> Pull into a service station, and 4, 5, 6 attendants come running out to
> fill the tank, clean the windows, check under the hood. Go to a
> department store, and there are one or two greeters at every door (I mean
> _every_ door in a bank of doors). Elevator operators on automatic
> elevators. Two or three clerks behind every counter, in situations where
> an American department store would have one clerk for two or three
> counters. A very rural post office--the sort that here would have a
> single worker--with 6 or 7 people behind the counter . . . Maybe it's
> different in the industrial sector, but I was probably in scores of
> service places of business, and saw no exceptions to the pattern.
>
> Or come at it from another perspective, and compare the number of paid
> non-work days in America with any other industrialized country. In a
> phone conversation a few days ago, a German friend asked my wife if we
> couldn't come to Bad Godesberg for at least part of the holidays. When
> wife Joy (a technical editor) said she had to work, that if we came the
> days would be subtracted from her two week annual vacation, Norma was
> incredulous. "TWO WEEKS!!?? You're kidding! Oh Joy, you should tell
> those people you work for to stick it!"
>
> >the major reason given for down-sizing is the amount of overhead
>
> What am I failing to take into account?
>
> Marion Brady

Very interesting point, further to this, a friend of mine works in the
CIty of London, where he deals in EuroBonds, necessitating an early start
to his working day because of the hours difference between the UK and the
continent. Anyway, he used to complain to me that he was constantly
unable to do his job properly because either the French of Germans were
having "another bloomin' Saints' Day", whilst he was sat in the office
twiddling his thumbs. My response was that it was the quality of work
rather than the number of hours worked in a week or month (and that he
should be grateful for the odd 'slow day'). I guess this comes back to
different cultural attitudes to work: after all, how easily would US/UK
managers/workers take to starting work at 8, then taking the afternoon
off, and returning to work in the early evening, like Medditerranean
countries. (Funnily enough, this seems to be the routine that most
students over here take, apart from the early morning starts!!!!!)

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Andrew (adrowe@essex.ac.uk)