Doing Business with Germans

1
Doing Business with Germans

• The Grifters

2
Time

• Monochromatic
• Sequential schedules and agenda
• Punctuality
• Being on time is very important
• 24 hour time
• Dont get confused

3
Space

• Mutual Misconceptions
• Germans/Americans
• Slightly smaller than Montana
• Population
• 90 people per square mile (roughly 90x population
  of Montana)
• Enjoyment of public spaces

4
Roles and Status

• Introductions
• Surname
• Formal Titles are important
• Third Party Introductions
• Workplace hierarchy

5
Decision Making Customs

• Analytical/Rational Thinkers
• Thoughtful, detailed, bureaucratic
• Conservative
• Risk Averse

6
Labor Relations

• Mitbestimmung
• codetermination by workers
• Unions

7
Social Values

• Privacy
• Well defined lines between work and personal life
• Personal discussions are limited to close friends
• Industriousness
• Less emphasis on material wealth
• Low tolerance of ambiguity

8
Legal and Ethical Behavior

• Government and industry regulation
• Environmental
• Tax
• Codetermination (Mitbestimmung)
• Less litigious than Americans

9
Masculine vs. Feminine

• Fewer female CEOs
• Little difference in salaries
• Less of focus on political correctness
• Sexual harassment

10
Achievement

• More openly critical
• Less boasting
• Group achievement more important than in the U.S.

11
Power

• Decentralized in government
• Centralized in large business
• Recent movement towards bottom up decision making

12
Language

• Not all German speakers are German
• Du vs. Sie - informal vs. formal second person
• More likely to speak foreign language
• Rude to assume Germans speak English
• Sprechen Sie englisch?
• Multiple dialects

13
Regional Differences

• West vs. East
• North vs. South
• Common misconceptions
• Lederhosen, Dirndl, Cuckoo clocks

14
Business Implications

• Be punctual and organized
• Use surnames
• Respect privacy
• Dont take offense to criticism

15
The End

• Dankeschön!