ABSTRACT
In a recent class with international midlevel executives, the discussion centered on work time. It was pointed out that the United States now has the longest work hours of any industrialized nation. Participants from Europe could not understand why Americans do not take vacations. Americans were concerned about the effect of these long hours on their families. And so it seemed as if a consensus were building that American work hours are too long. But then a voice from China entered the discussion: The United States, he said, is the most productive nation in the world-might it not be related to the long work hours?
