Sales Management Consulting

A Tale of Two Redundancies

By Philip I. Chang

Since I came here from Silicon Valley in 2002, I have witnessed a culture with many positive qualities caught in the throes of mimicking US business practices. And the resulting pain is almost more than I can bear. Everywhere I turn in daily life, awkwardness reigns: a major DIY chain delivers the same goods twice, a mobile phone operator can’t turn on the data service to my Blackberry despite numerous promises, a utility can’t locate my flat despite having sent bills to it, and so on. What’s going on here?

I came here after 20 years in California to enjoy a better quality of life. I find the social values in Britain attractive, given the relative lack of them in America. But it seems as if the UK is desperately trying to play catch-up with modern IT systems and business practices, without really hitting the end goal of increased efficiency and convenience.

It’s not from lack of trying. Lots of money is being spent, people are working long hours, and government proposals proliferate. I suspect, from my perspective of culture crossing, that the problem is in fact cultural in origin. There will be limits to the concept of “best practice” when things like motivation and accountability are lacking at some point in the chain of authority – even, and perhaps especially, at the bottom. In this regard, Britain is in quite an unusual position, sitting as it does between Europe and the US. The ways of the Old World are still present here, while modernisation as exported by the US is infesting every aspect of life and business.

An English business associate of mine recently related a tale that sheds some light on this issue. He once worked for a US company, heading up the UK division. At the time of the recent dotcom bust, the company needed to downsize in drastic fashion. Here is what happened:

The order came from on high that his entire division would need to be let go, immediately. In classic US fashion, there was very little warning and when the axe fell, it fell quickly. The US division let go half its work force within two weeks. My friend told his boss that they just couldn’t do the same thing in the UK.

Instead, he paid heed to employment law and British custom, dragging on the dismissals for months. His US colleagues were incredulous and growing more angry and desperate by the day. My poor friend was stuck in the middle, with no friends on either side.

Looking back, he quite admired the American way of dealing with this issue. The American employees were given clear marching orders and they cut their ties and moved on. The British employees, on the other hand, were gloomy and resentful, and were slow to move on with their lives. He rather thought the American approach was better all around. Well, I hastened to point out some other considerations:

For example, the same sense of efficiency in the US regarding dismissals extends into pure callousness and cutthroat behaviour in the quest for profit. Loyalties therefore tend to be highly temporary and conditional. Shared values can be very shallow and situation-oriented, and therefore much less effective at uniting teams. And so on.

In all fairness, my friend was quite right about a few things on the British side. Being overly concerned about the welfare of people can work against them. Prosperity is less evenly divided here, leading to a sense of preciousness about money, jobs and opportunities for the average person. Personal relationships can intrude too strongly in business relationships. And so on.

So what conclusions can be drawn? Each side has its strengths and weaknesses. Wouldn’t it be great to emphasize the strengths and downplay the weaknesses?

The Best of Both Worlds

The inherent strengths of British culture can sometimes be more obvious to someone with a fresh perspective. In addition, I came here because I have the leanings of someone from a more traditional culture. Playing off the strengths of this culture – its creativity and inventiveness, the strong sense of loyalty and personal responsibility, the openness to foreign influences, the proclivity for debate and critical reasoning, and so on – is the only way to make it stronger. Selectively importing aspects of foreign cultures around those inherent strengths is how any form of successful integration takes place. And integration is the UK’s forte, although with any form of integration there is always a painful joining process.

My fresh perspective also allows me to see the inherent weaknesses of British culture. Because of the breadth and depth of the culture, those weaknesses can be difficult to isolate, but they have an undeniable effect on the business arena. And let’s not forget that supposed American strengths can come with some nasty pitfalls.

If you are wondering how to hone the competitive edge of your organisation while capitalising on the strengths of the British character, I can help. Don’t forget, I like the culture here, and there are qualities which would propel Britain forward like a juggernaut if harnessed correctly. There is historical proof of that fact, of course, but these days the memory of the entire world seems to start with the end of WWII.

If you send me an email, I will send you a free report called, “Innovation in Britain.” This document is an excellent starting point for developing a best of both worlds approach, and includes a UK/US scorecard that might surprise you!

At your service,

Phil Inje Chang

Practical Innovation and Change

Management, Markets and Mentoring for Growth

pic@fintelligence.net, 0207 482 5244, 07799 660 435