This research was performed to develop a country report on Denmark. The emphasis in the country report is placed on the status of management and managers, activity levels in business and industry, and economic development. Where appropriate, comparisons are made between Denmark and the United States.
The investigations for this country report were performed within the context of an analytical model developed by Richard Farmer and B. Richman. There are two major sections of this model--management process and environmental constraints. The components of these two sections of the model are as follows:
1. Critical elements of the management process: (a) planning and innovation; (b) control; (c) organization; (d) staffing; (e) direction, leadership, and motivation; (f) marketing; (g) production and procurement; (h) research and development; (i) finance; and (j) public and external relations.
2. Critical environmental constraints: (a) educational- cultural variables; (b) sociological-cultural variables; (c) political and legal variables; and (d) economic variables.
The advent of the Single European market within the European Community, of which Denmark is a member, has caused Danish firms to begin planning for Community-wide expansion and joint ventures as a means of remaining competitive. Community-wide expansion will introduce a more decentralized control function into Danish business organizations. Similarly, organization in Danish firms will become more organic in nature and less mechanistic as this transformation occurs. American business firms have been moving in the direction of organic structures for a number of years. Staffing in Danish firms will assume an increased multicultural mix as the transformation progresses. Increased multiculturalism has characterized American organizations for a decade. Participative management has characterized leadership in Danish firms since t...