Truly a Great Disappointment Questions
1. How far have the problems of Dr Barfuss been caused by differences between the management styles of two distinct national cultures? What other factors could be influencing attitudes displayed in the case study?
Austrian Communication
French Communication
Austrian’s enjoy quiet and privacy
French bosses favour a dictatorial and authoritative leadership style
Austrian behaviour in public is usually reserved and formal
French express themselves with more gestures and emphasis
Public displays of affection limited
Public displays of affection emphasised
Personal contact is rare between Barfuss and staff
Legris regularly seen and engaging in jokes
Barfuss not good at social conversation
Very social manager
Decision making now a joint activity, introducing a participative style of management
Decision making made by Legris
Barfuss young and has limited experience
Legris much older and been in business for a very long time, with many staff over 45
Business culture can vary greatly between different cultures, so it is no surprise that trouble has arisen during the transition between M.Legris’ (French) dictatorial but very socially aware management style and the limited experience of Dr Barfuss and his participative focused style of management, with much less emphasis on acting in a socially driven manner.
Having a French lead team of staff who were used to a leadership style with decision making the sole responsibility of M.Legris then suddenly made to engage much more with the decision making of the business will obviously have been a big shock to the French staff. French business culture is well known for upper management utilising a very authoritative leadership style, with the workforce (who are mainly over 45) mostly being used to this leadership style. For example, in Hofstede’s model of the five dimensions of culture, M.Legris’ leadership style would have a high PD score, suggesting a very centralised structure, with the desired answer found at the top of
Austrian Communication
French Communication
Austrian’s enjoy quiet and privacy
French bosses favour a dictatorial and authoritative leadership style
Austrian behaviour in public is usually reserved and formal
French express themselves with more gestures and emphasis
Public displays of affection limited
Public displays of affection emphasised
Personal contact is rare between Barfuss and staff
Legris regularly seen and engaging in jokes
Barfuss not good at social conversation
Very social manager
Decision making now a joint activity, introducing a participative style of management
Decision making made by Legris
Barfuss young and has limited experience
Legris much older and been in business for a very long time, with many staff over 45
Business culture can vary greatly between different cultures, so it is no surprise that trouble has arisen during the transition between M.Legris’ (French) dictatorial but very socially aware management style and the limited experience of Dr Barfuss and his participative focused style of management, with much less emphasis on acting in a socially driven manner.
Having a French lead team of staff who were used to a leadership style with decision making the sole responsibility of M.Legris then suddenly made to engage much more with the decision making of the business will obviously have been a big shock to the French staff. French business culture is well known for upper management utilising a very authoritative leadership style, with the workforce (who are mainly over 45) mostly being used to this leadership style. For example, in Hofstede’s model of the five dimensions of culture, M.Legris’ leadership style would have a high PD score, suggesting a very centralised structure, with the desired answer found at the top of