ABSTRACT
This chapter presents results from a comparative investigation of German and French manufacturing companies in which the relationship between the educational system and resulting organizational structures within companies is investigated. French companies reveal much more pronounced hierarchical structures than their German counterparts in terms of number of levels in the hierarchy, ratios between shop-floor and office personnel and wage differentials. The chapter demonstrates the close relationship between job hierarchies and the educational and training systems in each country and draws some political conclusions. Thus, in French companies a greater part of the skills required can and must be taught after an employee has been taken on. This is, of course, true only under the conditions found in average companies which cannot afford to lure a large part of the scarce manpower with completed vocational training by means of especially attractive job offers.
