UK Management and Productivity



This one touched a nerve with me :



http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/09/16/it_holy_grail/



It's easy, especially as a cynical, non-employee, IT geek, to just

slag off management and blame managers for everything but this

article seems to bear this view out with respect to the productivity

gap.



Personally I think there are a couple of reasons why we are in this

mess :



One such reason why this is such a problem in the UK versus the US is

the albatross we carry round our necks which we call "The Class

System". We defer less than we used to to the "high heid yin's" but

we still have this "them and us" bull and associated inferiority /

superiority complex. I dare say this goes on in the US too but I

doubt it's quite as much of a problem.



Management in the UK is too centered around finance and accountancy.

I can't quote it here but I've read elsewhere that there is some

astonishingly high ratio of accountants in the UK versus the US. This

in turns means more conservative (With a small 'c') decisions are

made and less innovation and input from non-management / non-finance

employees. The obsession with costs also makes investment a very low

priority in the UK, especially with respect to training.



Finally, much as I like to bash the US, I do get the impression that

US employees do invest more of their own time and money in improving

their skills than we do in the UK. Can't blame managers for that,

though maybe I could blame them for not motivating us enough?