Studies of four aspects of business in Europe

Preface The Cranfield Management Development Programme is an intensive ten week course for middle management aged 28 - 38. The courses which are held twice yearly started in 1964; the fifth of these, MDP 5, was held from October - December, 1966. The members of the course are drawn from a variety of businesses and have previous experience in one or more of the main fields of business activity, e.g. general management, marketing, production, finance. As part of the course two weeks are devoted to studying business conditions in Europe. For this tour the members are formed into small groups who study particular projects. Throughout the visits the emphasis is on discussion with Senior Executives. The specific objectives of the European Tour are:- 1. To expose members to business problems in different European environments and to provide an opportunity to discuss business problems with European managers. 2. To study the problems that confront British companies who do business in or with European countries. 3 To use this exposure to a new environment to effect some measure of re-evaluation of their past business experience in the United Kingdom. MDP 5 were in Europe from 20th November to 2nd December 1966, during which period the following cities were visited; Paris, Milan, Zurich, Frankfurt and Brussels. In each city discussions were arranged with a representative cross-section of the business community. These included British Embassy Staff, British Chambers of Commerce, Local Bankers, Industrial Companies, Advertising Agents, Trade Union Officials, Management Consultants, British Subsidiaries and the E.E.C. Commission. This report is split into four parts representing the work of the four project groups. The time available was not sufficient for a study in depth of any of the chosen subjects. Nevertheless the large number of interviews and frank discussions with British and foreign businessmen enabled the writers to gain an insight into many aspects of European business. The report must necessarily concern itself largely with opinions - those of the writers and the persons interviewed. These 'opinionst maybe challenged by some readers of this report who may not agree, for example, with the statements regarding British design and exports. Perhaps the views expressed are not always in accord with the facts; indeed we would hope not. But it cannot be ignored that many of these strictures were repeated frequently in several countries. True or not, these opinions are widely held both by British and European businessmen who live on the continent. As such we make no apologies for reporting them