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The British, polite and reserved, well fit the title of French film maker Luis Bunuel's masterpiece "The Discreet Charm of the bourgeoisie"... but as in the film, the charm covers up a massive malaise.

It all came back with a jolt of course with the report that Prince Philip, or the Duke of Edinburgh, (you know... the guy who walks always a few steps behind the Queen of England..), dropped yet again one of what the kinder news agencies still insist on calling "gaffes". Like the Freudian slip, however, it revealed the bitter reality hidden behind not only the superego of Phil the Greek, but also the English psychotic fear of anything originating from beyond their shores. During an inspection tour of a Racal-MESL factory near Edinburgh, Phil stopped at a fuse box that "...appeared less sophisticated than other devices in the factory..."...

"..It looks as though it was put in by an Indian...", he was quoted as saying...

And of course we are also reminded of Phil's other statements that reveal the real man...

Once he asked a Scottish driving instructor "...How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to get them past the test?...". On a trip to China in the 1980's, he exhibited the extent of his knowledge of the science of genetics by advising British students - "...You'll get slitty eyes if you stay too long...".

These ain't gaffes; it is the English malaise of superiority and fear of the unknown yet again surfacing through the good-mannered and reserved cloak of the English psyche. Yes.. the urchin boys of anywhere that isn't England are waking up to the fact that the Emperor indeed, hasn't got any clothes. Yes.. it happens North of our shores too...

Just perhaps this malaise may be the reason behind why the English compared to their European and America's based brethren generally have made a bit of a mess of international business and management. Now don't get the Rat wrong... there are some fine examples of great British companies that are at the cutting edge of International business, and how to expand their business to Asia and elsewhere. But I'll bet my next slice of tasty Camembert that these companies are at once embarrassed by the naivety of their compatriot companies while also gleeful that it reduces competition. There are many smaller but high potential British companies now entering the Asian market that are considerably more enlightened and smarter. But the bigger exceptions to the rule such as the British Telecom are few and far between.

For even with these many far-sighted and smart exceptions to the rule, the English find it an enormous problem to empower their overseas offices, preferring to rule from the comfort of the old country. Democracy to the British is a foreign concept that is swallowed with distaste and tempered by an insidious and for-ever entrenched class system. Listening to those from far away, who maybe don't (or can't) play the organizational game, or have little resemblance to WASPishness, is a rare talent indeed. UK expatriates are left forgotten and withered once they leave the shores of the motherland, often setting up an office seemingly as an excuse for bosses to make the occasional visit to the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Raffles Hotel, and other historical curiosities of the British cultural invasion.

While the English left Hong Kong with considerable good grace, the Jardines and Swires are gone forever lads... The rules of international business in Asia have changed, and other European, Japanese, Australian, New Zealand, and US and Canadian companies have learned much quicker.

The deafening sigh of relief that greeted the onset of the Asian crisis from traditional English business circles was perceptible even in the far away burrow of the Chao Phraya River Rat. Many made plans to pull out straight away, leaving their managers to re-establish their credentials all over again.

The smart ones stayed.....

One friend of the Rat, received the following message in a letter from a director of one of the largest UK publishers 3 months after that landmark day over 3 years ago when the flotation of the Baht set off the Asian currency crisis..

"...Frankly, given the events of the past 3 months, there is not much demand for material from Asia..."..

Given this was the opinion of one who also believed that "the Internet provides no threat to traditional libraries as searching for information on the Internet is almost useless", thankfully the former advice was ignored as well...

In a confidential memo to the branch offices of a English manufacturing conglomerate in Singapore and Hong Kong, key managers based in the region were told.. "there is every indication that demand in the Asia Pacific will remain low for at least 5 to 8 years, and the board has decided to out priority in other areas.". Never mind that those actually on-the-spot had extremely credible information to the contrary... but of course they could be only seen as acting in self-interest.

Another agency friend of the Rat had staff poached by a UK client, who had decided to sack the agency and to employ agency staff direct. The staff were enticed by higher UK salary rates to work direct, and a mass of post-hoc justifications for an act which is clearly against the interest of any sensible agency agreement were proffered for their under-handeness and dishonesty.

Such short sighted decisions put such companies at a marked disadvantage in taking advantage of the Asian recovery now well underway, not only because of their reduced exposure to on-the-ground local savvy and experience in the future but also because their integrity is compromised within whole industries in the future. As the Rat predicted 2 years ago, Asians have very long memories, and we all know of course that Asian business draws heavily on long term relationships through bad times and good. Psychologists will tell us that under pressure, fragile egos close up and resort to learned and historic behaviour, while mature egos embrace new ideas and openness for a way out.

Modestly, the Rat feels that company personalities are very similar.

Phil the Greek of course embodies the English malaise. Though it may be seen as unfair to tar all English people with the same brush.. indeed many take such comments with as much offence as non Brits, but he is a senior and mature member of England's first family. His job, when it comes down to it, is representation of royalty and by default, the English people. We believe he has done a very poor job in representing the real view of English people. Somehow we think it will be a long time before any real change can be effected in the way English companies in general can change their ways to fully participate in the global economy, but we expect the younger generation to lead the charge.