Originally Posted by
pax britanica
Compare with UK or USA where there are numerous gradations and ever grander titles who often only speak with people of the same rank.
I once spent an afternoon at the Stockholm workplace of a friend and in the middle of the afternoon everything stopped and everyone from management to janitor sat together for coffee and cake and discussed work in the informal setting. I was assured that this was quite normal for Swedish companies. Returning to the UK I mentioned this to my senior management and asked whether we couldn't do the same and got that "Where did you park your spaceship?" look.
On the subject of cash-splashing I asked another Swedish friend, an interpreter by professsion, what was their equivalent of "millionaire" and he was at bit of a loss and finally told me that they didn't really look at things that way.