Karstadt versus J.C. Penney

Andreas Drauschke and Angie Clark work comparable jobs for comparable pay at department stores in Berlin and suburban Washington, DC. But there is no comparison when it comes to the hours they put in.

Mr. Drauschke's job calls for a 37-hour week with 6 weeks' annual vacation. His store closes for the weekend at 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon and stays open one evening each week-a new service in Germany that Mr. Drauschke detests. "I can't understand that people go shopping at night in America," says the 29-year-old, a supervisor at Karstadt, Germany's largest department store chain. "Logically speaking, why should someone need to buy a bicycle at 8:30 p.m.?"

Mrs. Clark works at least 44 hours a week, including evening shifts and frequent Saturdays and Sundays. She often brings paperwork home with her, spends her days off scouting the competition, and never takes more than a week off at a time. "If I took any more, I'd feel like I was losing control," says the merchandising manager at J.C. Penney.

While Americans often marvel at German industriousness, a comparison of actual workloads explodes such national stereotypes. In manufacturing, for instance, the weekly U.S. average is 37.7 hours and rising; in Germany, it is 30 hours and has fallen steadily over recent decades. All German workers are guaranteed by law a minimum of 5 weeks' annual vacation.

The German department store workers also fiercely resist any incursions on their leisure hours, while many J.C. Penney employees work second jobs and rack up 60 hours a week. Long and irregular hours come at a price, however. Staff turnover at the German store is negligible; at J.C. Penney, it is 40% a year. Germans serve apprenticeships of 2 to 3 years and know their wares inside out. Workers at J.C. Penney receive training of 2 to 3 days. And it is economic necessity, more than any devotion to work for its own sake, that appears to motivate most of the American employees.

Mr. Drauschke has a much different view: Work hard when you're on the job and get out as fast as you can. A passionate gardener with a wife and young child, he has no interest in working beyond the 37 hours his contract mandates, even if it means more money. "Free time can't be paid for," he says.

The desire to keep hours short is an obsession in Germany-and a constant mission of its powerful unions. When Germany introduced Thursday night shopping in 1989, retail workers went on strike. And Mr. Drauschke finds it hard to staff the extra 2 hours on Thursday evening, even though the late shift is rewarded with an hour less overall on the job.

Mr. Drauschke, like other Germans, also finds the American habit of taking a second job inconceivable. "I already get home at 7. When should I work?" he asks. As for vacations, it is illegal-yes, illegal-for Germans to work at other jobs during vacations, a time that "is strictly for recovering," Mr. Drauschke explains.

At J.C. Penney, Mrs. Clark begins the workday at 8 a.m.. Though the store doesn't open until 10 a.m., she feels she needs the extra time to check floor displays and schedules. Most of the sales staff clock in at about 9 a.m. to set up registers and restock shelves-a sharp contrast to Karstadt, where salespeople come in just moments before the shop opens.

Discussion Questions-

1. How does the work culture in the U.S. differ from that in Germany?

2. What do you see as the basic advantages and disadvantages of each system?

3. If you were the top operations executive for an international department store chain with stores in both Germany and the U.S., what basic issues would you need to address regarding corporate human resources policies?

4. Are the retailing-employee issues different than other industries?

5. Under which system would you prefer to work?