Vocabulary notes

crisis (pl crises) – кризис

insolvency – неплатёжеспособность; прекращение платежей

disintermediation – отлив денежных ресурсов из кредитно-финансовых

институтов на неорганизованный рынок ссудного

капитала; отказ от выполнения посреднических

функций

cut back on smth – вернуться вновь к чему-л

recessionary effect – рецессионный эффект; эффект (последствия) спада

unaffected – не подвергшийся влиянию; устоявший

cautious – осторожный

vicious circle – порочный круг

devaluation – девальвация

run out – истощать

depreciation – снижение стоимости; обесценение

steep – резкий, крутой

TEXT 7

AN IDEAL MANAGER

An interview with Stuart Crainer, the author of many books

on business and management

Is there such a person as an ideal manager, and if so what essential qualities should they have?

I don’t think there’s such a thing as an ideal manager in the same way as there’s no such thing as an ideal chair or an ideal piece of furniture. It’s an impossible aim. The qualities managers need are increasingly complex and many in number. First of all they’ve got to be able to manage their time successfully, because they’re inevitably juggling lots of activities and projects. Secondly, they need to be able to deal with complexity. Increasingly the management task is not about simple budgeting but is about far more complex issues. Thirdly, they have to be able to deal with uncertainty. In the past, management was about creating certainty. Now managers have to live with uncertainty. The uncertainty of not knowing what will happen in the future, how secure their jobs will be, what their organization will look like in the future and what their organization will do in the future. The fourth aspect of management is being able to deal with people. Managers, for all the training they’ve received, are notoriously poor at managing people and relating to people. Added to that are other ingredients such as flexibility. Managers have to be able to change their styles to fit the circumstances and they have to be sensitive to these circumstances. They have to recognize when things are different and they have to behave in different ways. They have to change their styles to fit the moment. So, if you put all these skills and competencies together then you would have an ideal manager. But in the real world, there aren’t any ideal managers out there.

And which management styles have particularly impressed you and why?

Well, there are an array of management styles, the trick is to be able to produce the right style at the right time. Perhaps the person who has done this best is Jack Welch, the Chief Executive of General Electric, who, over the last years, has re-energized the company and created one of the biggest companies in the world, and certainly the best-managed company in the world. He has done that by an ability to change and keep changing constantly. So he’s changed the company and he’s changed his management style. Initially he was referred to as Neutron Jack because of his capacity to decimate areas of the company. But since then, he has reinvented himself as a person who is very tuned in to people and a person totally committed to training people for the future; and also a person totally committed to communication. So I think Jack Welch stands apart as a manager who really has mastered the art. Other ones I would pick out are people who are driven by values, such as Richard Branson of Virgin and Anita Roddick of Body Shop, who, whatever the fortunes of their companies, have proved that management can be led by values and organizations can be created around sound values. Talking of companies, I would select Scandinavian companies such as IKEA and the Finnish company, Nokia, as examples of what good management can do. IKEA is a brilliantly-managed, networked organization and Nokia is an incredibly innovative and imaginative organization which has turned itself from a wood products maker in Finland into the leading maker of mobile phones worldwide. So those are the people and the companies I would say who have management styles that are worth emulating.

Now business is becoming more and more international, how would you advise managers to prepare themselves for dealing with cultural difference abroad?

Yes, management is becoming more international and truly global, and the companies that appreciate that will be the ones that succeed in the future. It seems to me that the key to working globally and managing globally is the ability to reconcile difference. If you can reconcile differences between cultures and between people, you will be well-set to succeed as a global manager. Interestingly that’s something that women are traditionally better at than men. However there aren’t many women at the higher-most echelons of international corporations. So I think if you can prepare yourself and sensitize yourself and be able to reconcile differences then you will succeed globally.