Human Values in Swedish Management

Abstract

This paper tries to evolve a distinctive model of Swedish management from the standpoint of human values. The author attempts to understand the deeper and subtle aspects of the Scandinavian manage ment style and discusses ways to understand different management styles in different cultural contexts and how they can be sustained in an information age where culture-specific values face extinction. His analysis draws on several sources including personal experiences and mythological references. The paper explores the ‘deep structure’ of the Swedish mind and enumerates ‘typical Swedish’ values like equality, self-criticism, worship of nature, and their relationship with the Swedish management style. It also articulates the dilemma of the Swedish manager who has to stick to traditional Swedish values at work and at the same time be responsive to universal human values. According to the author, the ideal way to overcome this dilemma is to transcend into pure being by knowing one's real self and then coming out into the world of action to reflect the universal in the relative. © 1995, Sage Publications. All rights reserved.