Entrepreneurship and Workaholism - Part II
This is part of a much larger wave of in-house corporate
innovation dubbed "intrapreneurship". The most famous example is
"Post-It" which was developed, in-house, by a 3M employee and
funded by the company. But all major and medium American firms
encourage institutionalized intrapreneurship.
Entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship are often associated with
another American phenomenon - the workaholic. Bryan Robinson in
his 1998 tome, "Chained to the Desk", identifies four types of
workaholism (or "work addiction"):
The Bulimic Workaholic Style - "Either I do it perfectly or not
at all"; The Relentless Workaholic Style - "It has to be
finished yesterday"; Attention-Deficit Workaholic Style -
adrenaline junkies who use work as a focusing device; Savouring
Workaholic Style - slow, methodical, and overly scrupulous
workers. Workaholism is confused by most Americans with "hard
work", a pillar of the Protestant work ethic, by now an American
ethos. Employers demand long work hours from their employees.
Dedication to one's work results in higher financial rewards and
faster promotion. Technology fosters a "work everywhere, work
anytime" environment.
Even before the introduction of the 35 hours week in France,
Americans worked 5 weekly hours more than the French, according
to a 1998 study by the Families and Work Institute. Americans
also out-worked the industrious Germans by 4 hours and the
British by 1 hour. The average American work week has increased
by 10% (to 44 weekly hours) between 1977-98.
One third of all American bring work home, yet another increase
of 10% over the same period. According to the Economic Policy
Institute, Germans (and Italians) took 42 days of vacation a
year in 1998 - compared to 19 days taken by Americans. This
figure may have since deteriorated to 13 annual vacation days.
Even the Japanese take 25 days a year.
In a survey conducted by Oxford Health Plans, 34 percent of all
respondents described their jobs as "pressing and with no
downtime". Thirty two percent never left the building during the
working day and had lunch at their desk. Management promotes
only people who work late, believed a full one seventh.
Most Europeans - with the notable exception of the British -
regard their leisure and vacation times as well as time
dedicated to family and friends as important components in a
balanced life - no less important than the time they spend at
work. They keep these realms strictly demarcated.
Work addiction is gradually encroaching on the European work
scene as well. But many Europeans still find American - and,
increasingly British - obsession with work to be a distasteful
part of the much derided "Anglo-Saxon" model of capitalism. They
point at the severe health problems suffered by workaholics -
three times as many heart failures as their non-addicted peers.
More than 10,000 workers died in 1997 in Japan from work-stress
related problems ("Karoshi") . The Japanese are even more
workaholic than the Americans - a relatively new phenomenon
there, according to Testsuro Kato, a professor of political
science in Hitotsubashi University.
But what is the impact of all this on employment and the shape
of labour?
The NCOE identifies five common myths pertaining to
entrepreneurial growth companies:
The risk taking myth - "Most successful entrepreneurs take wild,
uncalculated risks in starting their companies". The hi-tech
invention myth - "Most successful entrepreneurs start their
companies with a breakthrough invention - usually technological
in nature". The expert myth - "Most successful entrepreneurs
have strong track records and years of experience in their
industries". The strategic vision myth - "Most successful
entrepreneurs have a well-considered business plan and have
researched and developed their ideas before taking action". The
venture capital myth - "Most successful entrepreneurs start
their companies with millions in venture capital to develop
their idea, buy supplies, and hire employees". Entrepreneurship
overlaps with two other workplace revolutions: self-employment
and flexitime. The number of new businesses started each year in
the USA tripled from the 1960's to almost 800,000 in the 1990's.
Taking into account home-based and part-time ventures - the
number soars to an incredible 5 million new businesses a year.
Most entrepreneurs are self-employed and work flexible hours
from home on ever-changing assignments. This kaleidoscopic
pattern has already "infected" Europe and is spreading to Asia.
Small businesses absorbed many of the workers made redundant in
the corporate downsizing fad of the 1980's. They are the
backbone of the services and knowledge economy. Traditional
corporations often outsource many of their hitherto in-house
functions to such nascent, mom-and-pop, companies (the "virtual
corporation"). Small and medium businesses network extensively,
thus reducing their overhead and increasing their flexibility
and mobility. The future belongs to these proliferating small
businesses and to those ever-fewer giant multinationals which
will master the art of harnessing them.