A convergence of executive management styles? new elements of comparison

We compare the Italian Directors General and Canadian Deputy Ministers’ use of time during their average work week using a survey instrument and propose a four-fold categorization of managerial styles. We find that the activities of top executives in the two countries differ, but not dramatically. In particular, we find a very close match in time devoted to ‘administrative’ tasks and confirm that, in general, these executives have relatively limited time for strategic and long-term planning. The data suggest that ‘relational’ approaches, which focus on connecting to the personnel of the organization, appear important in how top administrative executives shape their work.