British firms seen as lacking a winning strategy

WHEN Sir Adrian Cadbury stood up at Trinity House in London last week to announce the winners of the inaugural Quality of Management awards, there were a few familiar names plus a surprise or two. BTR, the unglamorous but highly rated manufacturing conglomerate represented by Alan Jackson, chief executive, and Kathleen O'Donovan, finance director, took the first prize, followed by Marks & Spencer in second, and Glaxo in third.

But as the joint sponsors, Sundridge Park management college and opinion pollsters Mori, are keen to point out, a key feature of the awards is not who wins, but why. Sundridge Park wants the awards to encourage a more informed debate on what good management is. 'These awards will help raise the quality of managment by example,' Sir Adrian Cadbury said. 'Training often seems to be regarded as a branch of the dry cleaning trade - you send people out for training and they come back neatly pressed.'

John Chadwick, chief executive of Sundridge Park, agreed: 'I think the challenge is for managers to apply themselves to find out what makes success and steal a bit of that for themselves.'

The winners were chosen by canvassing three groups - investors, captains of industry and the financial press - who were asked to rate management skills by importance and assess British companies' performance at each.

Though all three groups said strategic thinking was important, they all thought British companies poor in that respect. Even 28 per cent of the captains of industry said they thought UK companies weak in this area. Technology utilisation also came out poorly, with 35 per cent of industry bosses and 40 per cent of investors saying they thought UK companies weak. People development was given a low rating too.

Mr Jackson was surprised at the rating given to strategic thinking. 'I would have thought that after three years of recession, most companies would feel strategic thinking was paramount,' he said.

British companies fared much better in areas such as brand management and general management skills. 'I thought British companies might have done much better overall. A lot of work needs to be done,' said Roger Stubbs, chairman of Mori Financial.

Why did BTR win? Mr Chadwick, who works with the company at Sundridge Park, mentioned mentoring as one factor. 'They really bring their boys on,' he said. In his acceptance speech, Mr Jackson mentioned BTR's programme of development for executives.

Started two years ago, the programme is aimed at young, fast-track managers. They attend eight one-week residential courses at Sundridge Park that highlight areas such as inter-personal skils, finance, sales and marketing, and operations and technology. Presentations are given by board members and line managers and the emphasis is on pragmatic learning, through case studies, for example, rather than an academic, text-book approach. The first batch of high-fliers are just completing the first course, groomed for top management positions.

One problem that remains with the awards is their strength in depth. Although companies ranging from BT to David Lloyd Leisure were nominated, there was a clear gulf between the top three and the rest. 'I am slightly concerned about the lead the winners have,' Mr Chadwick said.

'Anyone that wants to knock the top companies off their pedestals is going to have to go some.'

(Photograph omitted)