tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882645467378797266.post159980869636241901..comments2023-07-17T11:55:51.363+02:00Comments on ObservingGreece: Foreign investment necessary? Heck, yes!kleinguthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12491174042954678023noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5882645467378797266.post-6590826711651530672013-03-15T09:11:43.914+01:002013-03-15T09:11:43.914+01:00Yes, the economy direly needs foreign investment. ...Yes, the economy direly needs foreign investment. Unfortunately, the issue seems to have become very politicised. There does seem to be this automatic suspicion that foreigners are going to take the poor long-suffering greeks for a ride. (And in fact, not just foreigners, I suspect domestic entrepreneurs face the same difficulties - perhaps less so on the islands than on the mainland?)<br /><br />There's only so much that structural reforms to make the institutional landscape more business-friendly can do. Cultural attitudes matter, as to whether foreign investment works, or not.<br /><br />To be clear, they matter anywhere, not just in Greece. An example: Walmart set up a subsidiary in Germany, back 12 years ago or so. And Walmart is an extremely efficient organisation.<br /><br />It failed completely, and Walmart pulled out again after about five years. One of the big problems was high staff turnover and low morale. Those american-style morning pep-talks and insistence on being friendly to the customer just didn't go down at all well with the local workforce!Richard Bourkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15510809612151756954noreply@blogger.com