Take-Over Of Europe

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31902, 1 February 1969, Page 4

Take-Over Of Europe

The American Challenge. By |< Jean ■ Jacques Servan- i Schreiber. Translated i from the French by Ron- t aid Steel. Foreword by i Arthur Schlesinger jun. I Hamish Hamilton. 202 / pp. Index. I Fifteen years from now it ' is quite possible that the ! world's third greatest industrial power, just after the ' United States and Russia, will 1 not be Europe, but American ' industry in Europe. Already, ‘ in the ninth year of the Com- ' mon Market, this European ' market is basically American in organisation. Beginning with this start- ' ling observation, Servan- ' Schreiber investigates the in- ‘ creasing American industrial I and intellectual take-over of ' Europe, and the almost non- 1 existent opposition offered by ' the Europeans. ' The author is writing primarily for European readers, i but his thesis is equally im- I portant to New Zealanders, i He sees the American chai- ■ lenge as the result of the,l dynamism of American so-11

ciety, and advocates not the insulation of Europe from America but its salvation through discriminating Americanisation. ServanSchreiber contends that American superiority does not lie in the scientific and technological spheres, but rather in the art of organisation. The talent of American business is in recognising the marketing possibilities of innovation and the ability to carry the invention through the various stages of development, production, and marketing. Servan - Schreiber traces this managerial gap to institutional and cultural differences and shows that American dynamism springs primarily from the American determination to invest in human beings, especially through the promotion of education. It is established that, as a proportion of the working population, Europe is training more scientists and engineers than the United (States. However, a great numIber of European scientists and

lake research jobs either atj universities or in government laboratories, while industry, only gets what is left. On| the other hand, the ratio of arts graduates is higher for. the United States than for’ Europe. The key to the American! managerial revolution is a broad-based education. American universities insist that arts graduates study some science subjects, while science students spend part of their time on subjects other than! science. This “cross-fertilis-ation” is the foundation of that technologically creative society. American business wants men with sufficient allround knowledge to recognise and pick up new technologies and new problems easily and quickly. American graduates get a broad training that fulfils the requirements of business. Cross-fertilisation is spread right throughout American society so that there is not the same chasm between academics, businessmen and government officials as there is in Europe or in New Zealand. Servan-Schreiber shows how the economic power of the’ United States is based on the American capacity for innovation, and the ability to transform innovations into finished products. That is. upon research and technology, applied not only in the field of science, but also in organisation and management. These talents rest in turn upon two requisites: broad general knowledge and modern managerial competence. The inability of other industrialised nations to match the United States in the quantity and quality of education, both general and special, is leading to a kind of technological colonialism. If present trends continue Europe will become a subsidiary of the United States. However, this can be averted and Servan-Schreiber points the way. His diagnosis of the problems facing Europe, and their possible solutions are equally applicable to New Zealand.