Globalisation and the emergence of cross cultural business have tremendously reshaped our working environment over the last fifteen years.  People around the world are increasingly finding themselves working with colleagues and counterparts from another culture.  Dealing with such diversity is complex and requires a high level of cross cultural competence that you can develop through cross cultural awareness training.

To make sense of all these differences we tend to classify people into specific categories such as the company they work for or their own culture. This classification provides us with references about certain groups of people and helps us begin to understand their attitudes. You could say for example that Spanish people tend to speak more loudly than British do and Brazilians tend to be more affective than Finnish. While there are some relative truths to these statements, such stereotypical representations are often over-simplified and could lead to false assumptions.

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Stereotypes, taken-for-granted beliefs about our counterparts’ habits and behaviour, can affect our own attitudes and expectations when communicating with other cultures. The main purpose of stereotypes is to help us when we are dealing with a culture we do not know and to give us the illusion of a predictable pattern we could learn and thus know how to react to any given cross cultural situation.

For instance, when doing business in Italy we might expect our Italian counterparts to be late for a meeting whereas a Swiss would always be punctual and well organised. However it would be inappropriate to assume that no Italian would ever be on time and no Swiss would ever be late. Hence, cross cultural stereotypes need to be treated carefully as they might have a negative impact on our thinking and our capacity to perceive things with discernment.

Whether stereotypes are commonly shared among society or progressively developed through our direct experience in cross cultural relations, it is crucial to keep questioning their relevance. By doing so, we would certainly prevent ourselves from judging our international counterparts on the basis of wrong assumptions leading to inappropriate cross cultural behaviour and critical incidents.

Stereotypes can however be perceived as the first stage of acknowledging the existence of cross cultural differences which is an initial step towards the development of a higher level of cross cultural awareness and competence. However stereotypes need to be questioned, mitigated and never taken for granted if they are to help us to work more effectively in a cross cultural context.

Cross cultural awareness training courses such as Developing Global Competence or Building International Teams can help you to identify and deal with cross cultural differences which will improve your capacity to develop and maintain successful cross cultural relations. By providing you with a foundation of cross cultural understanding, Communicaid’s Cross cultural awareness training courses can ensure you understand your counterparts’ behaviour without having to rely on stereotypes that could lead to cross cultural misunderstandings and negative impressions.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2011

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Post tags: Cross Cultural Training, Culture training for Business & Management, Developing Global Competence, Doing business in Italy, Doing Business in Spain, doing business in Switzerland, intercultural communication, intercultural training, stereotypes, Working Succesfully Across Cultures

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Risk and uncertainty are integral elements of doing business, but they are even more present when dealing with international teams and global counterparts. Attitudes to risk and uncertainty can differ widely from one culture to another and can strongly influence the way we are perceived by others. Cross cultural awareness training can provide an understanding of how cross cultural attitudes to risk and uncertainty influence working practices, cross cultural communication and international management.

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Cross cultural sociologist Geert Hofstede examined how values in the workplace are influenced by culture. Through the research he conducted in the 60s and 70s, Hofstede collected and analysed data from over 100,000 individuals from forty countries. Using these results Hofstede developed a model of five key categories that cultures can be measured against. One of the dimensions called Uncertainty Avoidance looks at how cultures deal with and are influenced by ambiguity, uncertainty and risk. Understanding your global counterparts’ attitudes to risk and uncertainty will help you to understand why they behave, plan and communicate the way they do in international business.

Cultures showing high uncertainty avoidance have a low tolerance for ambiguity and vagueness in most day-to-day situations. In other words, they tend to be risk-averse and favour rules and a well-structured environment over unknown or unstructured situations. People in cultures with a low tolerance to uncertainty will also tend to establish laws, rules, regulations and control mechanisms to prevent any ambiguity or risk. In a business context, this means that in cultures that have a low tolerance to uncertainty you may find:

• Employees tend to stay with one employer for a long period of time
• Decisions are made by consensus
• Traditional gender roles
• Job roles often require a very high level of expertise
• Projects are carefully planned
• Many rules, laws and regulations in place

Countries in Latin America, Japan and Germany are some examples of where there is high uncertainty avoidance.

Low uncertainty avoidance cultures, on the other hand, are open to new ideas and influences. Flat organisational structures are favoured and people are flexible and more willing to take risks.
In a business context, this would mean that:

• People will be more open to innovation and change
• There is an increased willingness and readiness to take risks
• People approach projects from different angles and have a more flexible attitude to deadlines
• There is a preference for flexible rules and informal activities

Countries such as the US, the UK and Denmark are examples of where there is a low level of uncertainty avoidance.

Countries with a common history and similar cultural heritage tend to have many of the same value orientations and therefore share many of the same attitudes and behaviours. Cross cultural awareness training courses such as Working Effectively across Cultures will explain why, for example, Latin cultures show similar degrees of uncertainty avoidance and often therefore have many of the same working practices and communication styles.

Working effectively across cultures requires an understanding of cross cultural values and attitudes towards risk and uncertainty. With this knowledge, international working employees will be better equipped to adapt to other cultural working styles and anticipate cross cultural challenges or frustrations that can stem from different attitudes to risk and uncertainty.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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Post tags: cross cultural awareness training courses, Cultural values, culture courses, Geert Hofstede, intercultural communication, Uncertainty avoidance, Working Succesfully Across Cultures

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Although there was much speculation about whether the Commonwealth Games would run this year, they took place in October for two weeks. After several delays and corruption New Delhi finally managed to get ready for the games. The Commonwealth Games were an excellent opportunity for India to establish itself as an emerging global power, but the path to delivering them wasn’t an easy one.

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The Commonwealth Games are held by the Commonwealth, an association of independent states from all over the world. Its members represent about 30% of the world’s population. The Commonwealth Games feature many different sports and take place every four years in a different country. Often called “The Friendly Games”, the Commonwealth Games are a great opportunity to improve society and general well-being of the members of the Commonwealth. To ensure their success, the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) focuses on three core values: humanity, equality and destiny.

For the first time since its existence the Commonwealth Games took place in India. The Delhi Games Village was located in the centre of the city and had a capacity for 8,500 athletes and officials. Sports like aquatics, badminton, and table tennis are just some of the sports that were played in existing and newly built stadiums.

Despite careful planning, the games in New Delhi had several setbacks. Experts were prevented from going from the venues to work because too many passes had been issued. In the meantime, a significant number of tickets for the opening ceremony went missing and many other passes had been issued without performing the required security checks. Is this reflective of a casual attitude towards deadlines from Indian officials or are they just stereotypes?

Some people think that CGF Chief Executive Mike Hooper is partly to blame. Others believe that Indians are generally not very time conscious and therefore have the tendency to miss deadlines and be late with projects. India is traditionally known as a polychronic culture. In other words, people in India tend to prefer to do many tasks at the same time and will often re-prioritise tasks based on what else is happening. Instead of sticking to fixed deadlines, Indians stress the importance of establishing relationships with their business counterparts.

Indians also tend to have a high context communication style and will be more indirect and implicit. Anyone working with Indians should therefore pay special attention to what is not said in conversations. Naturally, this can lead to misunderstandings and confusion and is perhaps another reason why there were so many delays and challenges leading up to the start of the Commonwealth Games.

The success of the Commonwealth Games relied not only on the ability of the Indian government and organisations involved to deliver the required facilities and services on time, but it required successful working with Swiss Timing, a company that deals with sporting events and advertising management systems. Based in Switzerland, Swiss Timing won the tender to ensure that all required systems were in place for a successful event.

The significant differences in the way that Indians and the Swiss work and approach projects made preparing the Commonwealth Games successfully all the more challenging. For one, their attitudes to the concept of time are significantly different. While India tends to be high context, the Swiss are much more traditional in their approach and appreciate a low-context communication style. They are also very monochromic, the opposite of polychronic, and have a fairly strict attitude to deadlines and time.

Although the Swiss are very good at managing time and meeting deadlines, there were some serious problems working with the Indians on the Games. Throughout the delays, problems with facilities and issues with tickets, India risked losing face in front of the entire world. With face being one of the key Indian values and a prominent part of daily interactions, this was a huge concern for the whole country. In the end, the games turned out to be successful despite all of the problems. The head of the organisation, Thomas Fennel, said that the world got a very positive image of India.

The challenges the Swiss and Indians faced in working with each other are just one example of where cross-cultural difference can play a huge role in hindering projects and creating conflict. Different perceptions of time and approaches to completing a task can create serious problems.

Anyone doing business globally should consider cross-cultural differences like these in order to anticipate misunderstandings and ensure successful working. Participating in a cultural awareness training programme like Doing Business in India is just one way to prepare yourself for cultural differences and idiosyncrasies like these. By going through a tailored intercultural training course on the country or countries you work in, you can be more confident that you will be able to avoid cultural clash and conflict which can lead to loss of money, time and credibility.

Craig Hunter, Team England Chef de Mission, said ‘It is like an Indian wedding, we are in Dehli and it will come together at the last minute’. Luckily, he has proven to be right and the games were a success. Showing the world that India is capable of hosting an event of this size and impact was a great opportunity to defend its position as one of the fastest growing economies in the world and will be remembered.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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Post tags: Commonwealth Games, cross cultural communication, culture courses, doing business in India, Indian cultural core values, intercultural communication, intercultural courses, intercultural training, New Delhi, Working Successfully across Cultures, working with Indians

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“Numbers are the way we make decisions now” said Census Bureau Director Robert Grove in a recent interview with Guy Garcia, multicultural consumerism expert. The two speakers commented on the American census data in a conference at the ARF, an open forum for discussions on marketing and advertising. The outcome was an interesting new vision of the American social construct.

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If we are still thinking of Americans as loud, open and boastful people, perhaps it is time to reconsider our stereotypes. The census results are significant because they show major shifts in the cultural make-up of American citizens, from their age to their ethnical background. The record 14.6% of marriages between people of different ethnicities or race is just one example of how the population is changing a rapid pace.

The workplace is a mirror of such demographic change and will experience different approaches to meetings, negotiating, building trust and closing sales as a result, all of which will impact the success of doing business and selling across cultures. The ever changing lifestyle trends of an average American means that marketing and advertising initiatives also need to change. For instance, if Americans are increasingly marrying later in life, having pictures of a young couple advertising a home insurance policy might feel out of place.

International organisations are slowly beginning to recognise that a multicultural population like that of the US has a strong impact on marketing and business. A more diverse cultural background means that consumers’ preferences and habits are more varied and marketing campaigns must pay a lot of attention to the new social expectations and attitudes. However many organisations don’t realise that increasing immigration and the inevitable transformation of society means that cultural differences are present not only abroad but at home so they often fail to adapt their marketing campaigns accordingly.

Increased awareness of your potential clients’ requirements and expectations across cultures is the new way forward when doing business both abroad and at home. Adapting your sales and marketing techniques effectively to a multicultural consumer base requires a unique set of cultural skills and understanding.

Being culturally inclusive and aware is more than choosing a set of images that include a range of ethnically diverse people. Cultural awareness for marketing means being able to identify consumers’ unique cultural values, attitudes and preferences and being able to adapt the product or advert accordingly. Cross cultural awareness training courses such as Selling across Cultures will help you develop the cultural skills required for an effective marketing campaign aimed at a multicultural population.

The US is not the only country seeing such changes to the cultural composition of their population and workforce. Migration on a global scale affects most nations. Some countries such as the UK have a long history of dealing with multicultural differences with many waves of different nationalities migrating to the country over the years. Others, such as Italy, are new to the diverse and bulky flux of migrants and are facing new challenges in industries like clothing retail which is struggling against a strong Chinese competition.

These cultural differences can easily lead to miscommunication and tensions, ultimately causing loss of time, money and revenue to an organisation. An intercultural training course such as Developing Global Competence can help you to reduce the dangers and pitfalls that a multicultural working environment presents. A global economy requires marketing initiatives to be informed by cultural awareness the world over. Ultimately, capitalism is driven by diversity so successful business will be led by the ability to effectively adapt to such changes and cultures.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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Post tags: American, Courses - Cultural Training, Cross cultural awareness training, cultural, Developing intercultural Competence, diverse, intercultural communication, intercultural training, multicultural, Selling across Cultures, US culture

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Whether we meet someone for three seconds or thirty minutes, studies show that our first impressions do not change very easily. In a Western context, one of the first things we do when meeting someone is shake their hand. As a result, the handshake has acquired special significance in revealing certain traits of our personality.

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Some people worry whether their handshake is making the right impression but now they can be comforted by the results of a research project conducted by a group of scientists working for Chevrolet. They claim to have found the formula for the perfect handshake: a firm grip and three vigorous shakes. But is this the best handshake for every context, whether formal or informal or between men or women? Does this hold true for people around the world?Knowing how to shake someone’s hand in just the right way requires the ability to observe, adapt and understand the other person. Are they in a position of authority? Do they appreciate more masculine values such as competition or individualism? Have you ever met them before? Are they a man or a woman? What culture do they come from?

These are just some of the questions you need to answer to determine what kind of handshake the other person expects. In the end, you might find they don’t expect a handshake at all! All of these factors are extremely important to consider if you want to make the right impression. If you are working globally, you could argue that the most important factor is their cultural origin.

When doing business both in your own country and abroad, being able to correctly interpret and appropriately use the right non-verbal communication is vital. Whether it’s a handshake or eye contact, using the most appropriate behaviour will make a positive first impression with your international counterparts. A simple gesture like the Ronald McDonald statue in Thailand that welcomes Thai customers with the typical local greeting the wai can make all the difference in the world.

Where the greeting gesture is apparently the same from one culture to another, it’s important you understand whether it is used in the same way. Many cultures will shake hands when greeting, but the way this is done can vary dramatically. In most Western cultures, for example, a strong handshake conveys trustworthiness and confidence but in most African countries the same message is conveyed with a weaker handshake.

Intercultural training courses such as Doing Business in the UK will give you the knowledge and skills you need to identify when a handshake is appropriate or not, and if it is, how it should be performed. Intercultural training courses can also give you the confidence and awareness you need to make the right first impression which will lead you to a long-term profitable cross-cultural relationship.

Body language and gestures such as handshakes can tell you a lot about a person so being able to interpret them correctly and having a disciplined and yet flexible demenour can make a significant difference to your success. A greeting like a handshake is often the first bridge you create towards your future business counterparts so you must make sure you consider how it should be done in that context.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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Post tags: Courses - Cultural Training, Cross Cultural Training, cross-cultural awareness, Developing intercultural Competence, greetings, intercultural communication, intercultural training, Working Succesfully Across Cultures

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In a recent article published in the Telegraph, Annabel Kantaria, a British expat living in Dubai, talked about the delight of coming back home from an international assignment. From the reassurance of being on streets with more disciplined drivers to the joy of seeing the milkman delivering milk bottles every day, Annabel’s joy of being back in the UK is genuine.

Coming back home will often bring with it the joys of comforting things like Annabel’s examples but there are many challenges as well that returning expatriates need to overcome. Re-adapting to their home country after being away for a year or more can be difficult and confusing for former international assignees.

© istockphoto.com/ Shao Weiwei

Catching up with friends, rediscovering familiar places and enjoying things such as food or weather can be a true joy for international assignees that have been away from home for a while. However, this feeling of joy can be dampened by challenges which often surface after this initial period of uninterrupted bliss.

Developing cultural skills and knowledge before an international assignment is increasingly recognised as a necessity in order to effectively deal with the cultural differences. After an international assignment, however, most people don’t think about the changes or cultural differences they will find on their return home and therefore they don’t do anything to prepare themselves for them.

In fact, most expatriates returning from long term assignments find that the environment they were so familiar with has changed while they’ve been away. This often results in feelings of confusion or frustration when they see that they have missed things during the years of their international assignment.

Simple things like not seeing friends who have moved away or being unable to go to a favourite pub because it no longer exists can have a major impact on returning expatriates. Re-adapting to the cultural habits, traditions and even values in the home country after experiencing a different culture on their assignment can also be challenging and make them feel like a stranger in their own country.

Many returning expatriates also face challenges getting back into their professional life. Former international assignees sometimes find it hard to get recognition for the success they have achieved abroad. Often the skills they have developed by working with other cultures are also underestimated and unappreciated by their manager. The lack of recognition and under appreciation can lead to frustration and hinder the re-adaptation process.

How can returning expatriates cope with these challenges of re-adjusting to their home country after being away for so long? Staying in touch with their friends, families and former colleagues through virtual communication can be a good start to ensure that they are not forgotten. Too often the expression ‘out of sight, out of mind’ holds true for international assignees on an expatriation. Returning home once in a while is another good way to avoid a challenging reverse culture shock.

Professionally, returning expatriates can also assess their skills and discuss the experience they have gained with their manager on a regular basis so they see how they are developing throughout the assignment and are ready to welcome them home and harness their new skills and knowledge.

Communicaid’s cross cultural repatriation training programmes can also help returning expatriates to cope with reverse culture shock and the process of readjusting to their personal and professional life in their home country. Repatriation training will help former expatriates and their family members discover the hidden challenges of coming back home and any aspects of the culture which may have changed since they lived there. Cross cultural training provides excellent opportunities to discuss any specific concerns about coming home and provides a full update on any changes to the home country since leaving.

Staying in touch, returning for home visits and cross cultural repatriation training courses are just some of the key things returning expatriates can do to reduce the impact of reverse culture shock and ensure their experience of coming home is filled with more joyous things like seeing the milkman every morning.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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Post tags: Courses - Cultural Training, cross cultural communication, cultural training for expatriates, intercultural communication, Repatriation Training, reverse culture shock, Training for international assignees

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The appearance of international leaders coming from what Westerners usually call the “emerging countries” is creating new trends in the globalisation phenomenon. Once dominant companies are now being bought by Chinese, Brazilian or Indian companies and managers are increasingly recruited from these and other countries, creating new intercultural challenges.

© istockphoto.com/ Urban Cow

The merger between Arcelor and Mittal in 2006 is perhaps one of the best examples of this new trend. Arcelor, a powerful western steel company was bought by Mittal, an Indian steel manufacturing consortium owned by the Indian businessman Lakshi Mittal. This transaction faced heavy resistance and the French, Spanish and Belgian governments expressed their opposition alongside most of the Arcelor board members. Guy Dollé, the Chief Executive of Arcelor at the time, even described Mittal as a mere “company of Indians”.

This international merger shows us the difficulty many westerners have in accepting the fact that tomorrow’s decisions makers, managers and leaders will not only be German, British and North American but also increasingly Chinese or Indian. As these new international managers come onto the scene, they will bring with them their own unique cultural values and working practices which can be quite different to what most westerners are used to.

Perceptions of time, orientations toward hierarchy, approaches to decision-making or styles of communication are all elements of business which will be different. For employees of global organisations, having managers from different cultures means they could face intercultural challenges they may not have experienced before. Providing them with intercultural training courses before the new manager takes the role will help them to understand their managers’ style and expectations while it will also improve their ability to adapt to these new working styles. Failure to understand or adapt to another intercultural style may result in misunderstandings, conflict or poor performance.

Managers from countries like China or India coming to manage employees in the UK or Germany will face similar intercultural challenges. Understanding what their teams expect of them and knowing how to motivate, lead and manage them effectively requires a high level of cultural understanding and knowledge. Intercultural training provides managers with specific intercultural strategies and appropriate management tools that will help them achieve success in their different global projects.

Providing international employees and managers access to specific intercultural training programmes like Working Effectively across Cultures or Effective Global Leadership is crucial for global organisations employing multicultural teams or managers from other cultures. Enhancing the intercultural awareness and understanding of employees and their managers will not only reduce cultural misunderstandings and conflict but it will create a good working atmosphere allowing organisations to harness the benefits that their multicultural population brings.

With intercultural training, organisations such as ArcelorMittal can look towards joint ventures or M&As with other cultures more favourably so that Guy Dollé’s quote about the ‘company of Indians’ would instead be seen as a positive force rather than a negative one.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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Post tags: ArcelorMittal, Courses - Cultural Training, Cross Cultural Training, cross-cultural challenges, intercultural communication, intercultural training, Leading across cultures, merger and acquisition, Working Succesfully Across Cultures

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Morocco’s strategic position on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea makes it a key gateway to Southern Europe and North Africa. Morocco’s location, fast growing economy and increasingly modern infrastructures are attracting more and more foreign investment. Understanding Morocco’s unique set of cultural values and attitudes and how they impact business and social culture is extremely important for any organisation doing business in Morocco. The following are some of the key challenges of doing business in Morocco.

© istockphoto.com/ Narvikk

Collectivism
Morocco is known as a highly collectivistic country. When doing business in Morocco this is something that may present a challenge. A traditional Moroccan family is very extended and includes children, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. The father tends to work the most to support the whole family and each member of the family has its own specific task to support the families well being.

Importance of Relationships
Directly linked with Moroccan collectivist attitudes, relationships and connections are vital for anyone doing business in Morocco. Suppliers and potential customers are more likely to sign contracts with people they already know and being introduced by agents or third parties can be a shortcut to success. Doing business in Morocco can as a result be more time consuming and frustrating for people coming from a culture which emphasises performance over relationship.

Islam
Islam is practised by an overwhelming majority of Moroccans and has an impact on every aspect of life in Morocco. Foreigners doing business in Morocco should be aware of the dedicated time to prayers or other religious events such as Ramadan when the country’s economic activity and business slows down. Islam also impacts relationships between men and women so female entrepreneurs should be aware of the appropriate behaviour and dress code when doing business in Morocco.

The Concept of Face
The concept of face is really important in Arabic countries and Morocco is no exception. Damaging your counterpart’s dignity or honour and causing him or her to lose face will seriously harm your business opportunities in Morocco. Harsh criticisms, negative feedback or direct confrontation should be avoided at all costs when doing business in Morocco.

Communicaid’s cultural awareness training programmes such as Doing Business in Morocco or Living and Working in Morocco can help you and your organisation to avoid cultural faux pas and key challenges of doing business in Morocco. Tailored cross cultural tools and strategies provided in cross cultural training will ensure more successful communication and interactions when doing business in Morocco.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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Post tags: Courses - Cultural Training, Doing business in Morocco, intercultural communication, intercultural training, living and working in Morocco, Moroccan business culture, Moroccan working practices, Working with Moroccans

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The Kingdom of Morocco offers many advantages to foreign investors and entrepreneurs. A popular tourist destination, Morocco is home to magnificent landscapes, warm weather and beautifully preserved architecture and culture. Morocco’s strong tourist industry and flourishing economy is attracting an increasing number of companies doing business in Morocco. Below are some of the key benefits of doing business in Morocco.

© istockphoto.com/ Lorna Piche

Proactive Business Climate
With the help of international organisations such as the IMF and the World Bank, Morocco has worked hard to develop its economy over the last few years. The country is now open to the international market and is a major trade partner for France and Spain. Morocco’s GDP steadily rose by almost 4.5% every year since 2000 which is a better result than most European countries. Telecommunications and other IT infrastructures are developing fast and the network in major cities is composed of almost 100% fibre optics links, giving Morocco a modern and innovative edge.

Geographical Location
Morocco shares borders with Algeria, the Western Sahara and the Northern Atlantic Ocean. Morocco’s north coast is on the Mediterranean Sea, a short distance from Spain and France making it easier to access Europe. With approximately 1,835 kilometres (CIA Factbook) of coastline, Morocco is a great location for transnational merchandise fleet. Morocco counts 24 ports which manage for 98% of the country’s external trade.

Increasingly Educated Workforces
King Mohammed VI and his government have made education one of their priorities and deployed strategies to modernise and enhance the quality of education since 2005. Morocco counts several high ranked universities which have developed key partnerships with Canada and European schools. These improvements in the education field create new business opportunities for foreign investors as there is now a more skilled workforce they can rely on when setting up business operations or outsourcing activities to Morocco.

Stable Government
Since the country achieved its independence from France in 1954, Morocco has experienced a long period of peace and stability. Successive administrations since have focused on developing the economy and the welfare of Morocco and its citizens. This stability is reassuring for foreign investors as there is less risk of their investments being jeopardised by a military coup, riots or political uproar.

These benefits of doing business in Morocco as well as many others mean that global organisations can take advantage of this fast developing and ideally located country. Harnessing the benefits, however, requires an understanding of the cultural differences and their impact on the professional environment in Morocco. Communicaid’s cross cultural training programmes such as Living and Working in Morocco or Doing Business in Morocco can help you to adapt quickly to Moroccan business and social culture and allow you to take advantage of the benefits of doing business in Morocco.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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Post tags: Courses - Cultural Training, Cross Cultural Training, Doing business in Morocco, intercultural communication, intercultural training, living and working in Morocco, Moroccan business culture, Morroco business practices, Working with Moroccans

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Strategically positioned at the heart of Europe and a key player in both the EU and NATO, Germany has the fifth largest economy in the world. Its strongest exporting sectors – chemicals, vehicles, machinery and household goods – set standards of quality and efficiency not just within Europe but globally, making doing business in Germany a priority for international organisations worldwide.

© istockphoto.com/ Asier Villafranca

While politically Germany is a federation of regions, each with unique traditions and customs, German business culture is characterised by a set of core drivers that affect business interactions with German nationals in a number of ways.

Task Driven and Fact Focused

German businesspeople will usually prioritise tasks over relationships so the German workforce tends to be very committed, focused and professional. This is evident in the extremely high standard of technology in German flagship companies. When doing business in Germany you and your organisation can count on dealing with highly skilled individuals who will give their best to ensure all objectives and deadlines are met. All aspects of operations undergo careful planning which greatly reduces risk and uncertainty of doing business in Germany. Furthermore, the general preference for hard facts and extremely linear and logical thought processes when making decisions and planning guarantees end products of the highest standard.

Direct Communication Style

German business culture relies on a direct style of communication. As a result, while German businesspeople can be perceived as blunt and possibly rude, when doing business in Germany you will almost always get a prompt and honest answer to your questions. What may be perceived as a direct criticism should be instead seen as a constructive and objective comment, aimed at the project in question rather than the person responsible for it. Meetings, negotiations and other business interactions with German nationals will develop in a straightforward manner. Emphasis is usually placed on reaching a common solution that is at once technically efficient, cost effective and satisfying to all parties involved.

Excellent English Skills

Whatever the position of your German counterpart within the organisation, he or she will most likely be highly proficient in English. This helps eliminate the cross cultural risks of not sharing the same language when doing business in Germany, so global organisations relying on English as an international language can profit from the excellent English skills in Germany. Although they tend to have excellent English skills, your German business counterparts will appreciate you speaking German, particularly if you are selling them your product. As the famous German Chancellor Willy Brandt once said “If I’m selling to you, I speak your language. If I’m buying, dann müssen Sie Deutsch sprechen!”

The benefits of doing business in Germany stem from its strong economy and business sectors, the high level of skills of Germany’s workforce, as well as from the core values of German business culture. If your organisation is doing business in Germany, its success will depend on a sound understanding of these values and on the ability to decipher their influence on business interactions which you can gain through cross cultural awareness training courses and initiatives.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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Post tags: Courses - Cultural Training, Cross Cultural Training, Doing business in Germany, German business culture, German cultural values, intercultural communication, intercultural training, Intercultural Training Germany, working successfully with Germans, Working with German colleagues

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