Exercises

Exercise 1. Find where in the text it is said about the points given below. Put down the number of the paragraph:

1. main features of British middle managers

2. main features of German middle managers

3. the duration of holding positions of Britons and Germans in a company

4. results of a study of British and German approaches to management

5. positive or negative comments about British and German approaches

Exercise 2. Say if the following statements are true or false:

1. The study mainly concentrated on top managers.

2. Both German and British managers consider technical skills to be very important.

3. German managers prefer working with technicians in British companies.

4. British managers are very concerned about their executive status.

5. There is much more change in British companies than in German companies.

6. It is easy for German companies to adjust to external change.

7. The management of the British pattern is more unstable and less technically oriented against the German pattern.

Exercise 3. Answer the following questions:

1. Do German managers change jobs within a company more often than the Britons?

2. What has a study shown carried out by a team of German and British academics?

3. What are approaches of British middle managers to management?

4. What are the most important aspects of management of German middle managers?

5. How do British middle managers regard the design of their departments?

6. What are drawbacks of the German and the British patterns of management?

7. How do German managers earn their authority with colleagues and subordinates?

Exercise 4. Explain attitudes to the qualifications and the role of managers in Britain and Germany.

Exercise 5. Analyze the structure of British and German companies.

Exercise 6. Prove that British managers are “generalists” rather than “specialists”.

Exercise 7. Prove that Britain and Germany do not merely have different career systems but different ways of doing business.

Exercise 8. Explain why Britain and Germany have severe prob­lems during merging or collaborating.

Exercise 9. In your opinion does the article suggest that one country's approach to management and organization is better than the other's?

Exercise 10.Make up a plan covering the main ideas. Discuss the text according to the plan.

Variant III