Effectiveness of French management: analysis of the behaviour, attitudes and business impact of top managers

The findings in this paper are based on the results of a postal survey of 168 top level managers in French organisations. Demographic variables, behavioural characteristics and measures of business impact have been linked in order to discover whether organisational infrastructure concerns, educational achievements of top management, or the behaviour of top management, or a combination of these, influence the business performance of French private sector organisations. The results show that the level of qualification attained does not indicate whether French senior managers will perform effectively, nor is the configuration of organisation structure significant for effective management. Crucial, however, are the attitudes and behaviour of senior managers, who are identified as significantly impacting on group and organisational performance. It is considered that four areas of management are pertinent to the continued growth and development of French senior managers, namely enhancing the ability to respond positively to feedback, enhancing interfacing skills, effective use of consultants and assisting managers to be high achievers.