...Introduction a. Economy b. Business practice c. Customs and Protocols 2. Meet and Greet Etiquette 3. German Management Style 4. Negotiations 5. Conclusion Abstract Cultural challenges will occur when taking an American base company to doing business in Germany. Risks will need to be evaluated and overcome relating to the startup of a business in Germany. To identify these risks major differences and incompatibilities between U.S. and Germany need to be identified to guarantee the successful start of a business. Identify and evaluated opposing customs and protocols, cultural differences in business environment and research any trade barriers. Examine Germany’s meeting and greeting etiquette their beliefs and feelings of personal time and how they coincide with business. Understanding Germans culture, manners, economy and business practices will give a clearer vision on what to do and how to present oneself during a business presentation. These will all be discussed in the following pages to give a better picture on the customs and cultures on business etiquette in Germany. Introduction: The largest challenge in starting a business in Germany is to understand the way they do business and what the workforce is like. Being able to adapt to the cultural aspects of doing business in Germany requires understanding who they are and how they work. Germany is around the size of Montana...
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...Conducting Business in Germany October 15, 2013 Table of Contents Page Introduction 3 Purpose 3 Management Structure 3 Management Style 4 Communication 4 Presentations 5 Meetings 5 Business Attire 6 Entertaining 6 Twenty Tips for Germany 7, 8 References 9 Introduction Germany is one of the world’s largest economies and has a leading position in manufacturing and production. In Germany, greater attention is paid to academic, technical education and its value to business world. Knowing how to conduct business properly in Germany is an important key to closing a business deal. Purpose The purpose of this brief is provide the company’s businessmen with some basic information on conducting business in Germany. This brief will cover following information: Company Management Structures, Management Style, Communication, Presentations, Meetings, Business Attire, Entertaining and Twenty Tips for Germany. Company Management Structure German companies are very structured and that the majority of the power is in the hands of a few senior managers. In the larger companies they do have boards they have a Supervisory Board called the (Aufsichtsrat) which appoints the Management Board which is called (Vorstand). When it comes to these two boards the management board is the final decision maker on policy dealing with management (World Business Culture...
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...Germany Risk Analysis MGT/448 Smita Poddar December 15, 2014 Germany Risk Analysis Germany is the selected target country for DIRECTV’s latest expansion. The German economy, political structure, regulatory, financial, cultural, and competitive landscape requires an objective analysis to determine the appropriate strategy and plan for market introduction. Other parts of the assessment include taxation, marketing mix, distribution options, supply chain, and environmental factors. Political, Legal, and Regulatory Exchange Germany as part of the European Union (EU) is a relatively low risk target for political considerations with Forbes citing the region has the most positive regional outlook with 47% of member countries exhibiting a decline in risk ratings (Rapoza, 2013). A.M. Best (2014) rated Germany as one of the best in nine areas with the only exception attached to labor flexibility. See Figure 1 below. Figure 1 from A.M.Best (2014) Repatriation of Funds Foreign direct investment is setting up a business or the purchasing of assets in a foreign location or across national borders. DIRECTV has decided to initiate business in Germany to allow customers access to entertainment choice and convenience at home. The risk of exchange and repatriation of funds are the penalties involved. Germany has been a country that is highly developed as well as having a high-cost economy. Companies face the risk of 35% taxation in the U.S. for bringing profits back home...
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...Biotechnology Incorporated: Is expansion to Germany a good or bad ideal? At Biotechnology Incorporated we are looking towards globalizing our organization into other parts of the world. One of the countries that our organization Biotechnology Incorporated are considering expanding to is Germany. In this report I will go over the different factors such as the economy, political influences, language, culture, and cost of doing business in Germany. From the research I will gather I will give my opinion on wither Biotechnology will benefit from opening an office in Germany and the type of operation we will chose to do business in Germany. Germany and the Economy The Federal Republic of Germany is the European Union’s most populous country, the EU’s largest economy and the world’s fourth largest economy.8 According to the IMF, Germany has achieved a GDP of $US3.4 trillion in 2011, and enjoys a relatively low unemployment rate of 5.7% which is significantly lower than most EU countries.8 Germany’s economy remains strong, focusing on service sectors, science, technology, and specialized manufacturing and engineering. Germany is also a global leader in the development of environmental technologies, with a focus on energy efficiency and sustainability of resources. In Germany the biotechnology sector is growing at a steady pace. The reason for this growth is because biotechnology has become the basis and driving factor behind many applications in medicine, the food and feed...
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...important to be aware of not only business in the United States, but also business all over the world. For this reason I was very excited to see that we as a class would have the opportunity to speak with a set of actual international students who know how business is done internationally, specifically in Germany. Of all of the interesting information I learned from the Q and A session, I believe that the most valuable would be Germany’s directness, the value of honesty, and the fact that it can often be much harder to break the ice with Germans. The first tip that I would try to convey to a student interested in doing business in Germany would be that the German people are very direct. The MBA students gave an example of an interaction between a student and a professor. If a student were to be asked a question in class that they didn’t know in America, he said that the student would likely try to “bullshit” his way out of it (Bruggemann, Spindler). This differs vastly in Germany due to their directness. Rather than try to talk themselves out of the question, they would be direct with their professor and admit that they did not know the answer. This type of distinction would be extremely helpful to an American traveling to Germany. Secondly, it is important to note that Germans value honesty. “Germans do not like surprises. Sudden changes in business transactions, even if they may improve the outcome, are unwelcome” (“Business Etiquette”). Honesty goes hand in...
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...to Germany Prepared for Mr. Stephen P. Jones CEO of Grayhat Inc. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 73145 Prepared by Grayhat Inc San Antonio, TX 78245 October 04, 2013 Grayhat Inc. 1247 Industrial Drive San Antonio, TX 78245 October 04, 2013 Mr. Steven P. Jones, CEO Grayhat Inc. 10782 Skyline View Rd Oklahoma City, OK 73150 Dear Mr. Jones: In this document you will find the report you requested in August. I have provided the necessary information and made recommendations on a plan of action to expand Grayhat Inc. network security, software manufacturing, and distribution into Germany. My analysis of expansion into Germany covered several critical areas that will help you decide whether or not Grayhat Inc. should expand and build a manufacturing and distribution plant in Germany. To assist us in making that decision, I looked at the government, economy, culture, and competition. Germany is a technologically advanced country which has a stable economy. My research has led me to recommend expansion into Germany. I strongly believe that Grayhat Inc. can be profitable in the long term and become a successful business in Germany. Grayhat Inc. used several resources in forming my analysis. The Central Intelligence Agency's World Factbook, World Bank Group, and The Economist Newspaper were all helpful in answering my research questions. Thank you for allowing me to conduct research into Germany. If...
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...issues and decide which country is best for PPQ to expand to. When contemplating expanding a business globally, it is important to consider how it affects the business and how it affects the foreign country that you are trying to expand to. There are many things for a foreign country to consider before making the decision to expand to that country. With the business being based out of the United States, the people from the foreign country may face some conflict with the people from the foreign country because of the new people coming into their country. This expansion would affect communities and schools where PPQ decides to start up their global business. The foreign country would also have to evaluate the use of the land and water that PPQ would need in order to start the business in their country. This would also have an effect on the foreign country especially is clean water is already hard to come by. The new site for the global PPQ may also run off the local wildlife in which the population may use for hunting or recreational use or even to live off of. This would also cause conflict for the foreign country. PPQ may encounter many cultural and diversity issues when expanding globally. There are language barriers that would have to be taken into consideration as well as cultural barriers. PPQ would need to learn the language and the culture in order to successfully move the business to any foreign nation. Learning the language and culture would be the best option because...
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...By a raise of hands, how many of us today have done any foreign trade with another country? Nobody, well that’s what I figured. Today I will be informing you about some of the customs of Germany and how you would go about doing business with someone or a German company. I will also talk a little about the luxury car industry in Germany and I’m sure everyone here is familiar with which brands these are. First of all, German is the official language of Germany, who figured. It is spoken as the first language by 95% of population of nearly 83 million people according to Kwintessential. The average German is not very welcoming to tourists because they usually don’t have a clue how to speak German. Germans are often considered the masters of planning. Germans like to always know what they are going to be doing at any certain time of the day. When the business day ends, you are expected to leave the office. If you must stay after normal closing, it indicates that you didn’t plan your day properly. German’s take their days off work very seriously and there is a law that assures no unnecessary noise is made on Sundays and Holidays. No one is seen working outside. That means no washing your car or even hanging up your laundry to dry. Not only are you required to be quiet on Sundays and Holidays, but you are also required by law to be quiet during the posted “Quiet Hours”. Germans take a lot of pride in their homes. They are kept clean and tidy at all times with everything...
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...INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT Topic: Build a strategic HR management program for a German company in which most employees are Christian. Nowadays, business becomes internationally over the world. People can come a foreign country and setting up their business activities oversea. There are a lot of important matters that need to be considered before opening business in the foreign country. Human resource management (HRM) is one of such important matters that essentially contribute to the furture business success. Building a strategic HRM program will be very neccesary from the start for business establishment. The HRM shall be discussed in the following paragraphs, especially for a German company. Summary instroduction about Germany Germany covers an area of about 357,000 square km in the central part of Northern Europe. The German population is estimated at 80.5 millions. Christianity is the dominant religion, with 65 to 70 percent of the population. The official language is German. Germany was a founding member of the European Community in 1958. It is part of the Schengen Area, and has been a member of the eurozone since 1999. It is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, and the G20. Germany is a highly developed country in the EU. Germany in Hofstede cultural dimensions According to Hofstede model, Germany has cultural dimensions such as: low power distance, high individualism, high masculinity, high uncertainty avoidance and high longterm orientation...
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...EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report was commissioned to do an analysis of Germany and make a recommendation as to whether or not to a large Canadian company should expand its foreign operations in Germany. The country was analyzed based on its Macro Environment – country description, Political situation and stability, Legislation, Economic conditions and Cultural issues, as well as on its Factor Endowments. The findings show that Germany has an overall stable and healthy economy with excellent advanced factors of production – especially in regards to productivity and innovation. With new ties to Canada, through CETA, legislation will be easier to deal with. The country also has a similar culture and stable politics. The risks of falling GDP and low FDI do not outweigh the benefits and FDI should soon increase with Germany’s new agreements with Canada and is soon to do a similar deal with the US. It is recommended that foreign operations be expanded into Germany. Operations should proceed cautiously with wages that are stagnant in Germany and try to provide a fair wage to encourage further training and enhance the economy. COUNTRY’S MACRO ENVIRONMENT Country Description: Germany is a highly developed and wealthy OECD country [33] and is the fifth largest economy in the world in terms of PPP [17]. Its GDP/capita in terms of PPP has been on an upward growth trend since 1985 and was just below Canada’s in 2012 (Appendix 1). However, neglect has led to infrastructure that...
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...CULTURE BUSINESS CLIMATE- GERMANY Appointments with German Audience Meetings in Germany are strict agendas with their starting and ending times. Be sure you are on time for all you appointments with the German audience, that’s because Germans pride themselves on being excellent planners. If you show up 30 minutes too early, this is seen by the Germans as you either having poor planning skills or you are disrespectful of their time either way this diminishes your chances of doing business with the Germans. Casually changing the time and place of an appointment is not appreciated. If you show up too late, you definitely won’t get a chance for a second meeting with that German audience. Conversations The German society is highly fact oriented. Short and small talks with strangers does not have a significant place in German society. Giving compliments is not part of German business environment and can often cause embarrassment and discomfort, in fact, be taken with suspicion. This fact oriented culture makes a very clear distinction between time spent to develop business and personal relations. For that reason, even if you are staying for several days, don’t expect German colleagues to take you out every evening for dinners or an evening program. They usually will assume that you need to have time to yourself after business hours, since this has high priority for them in their culture. During the conversations, it is very important to maintain direct eye contact while speaking...
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...Introduction Entering into a new market place is a great idea you came up with in our last meeting. It will allow our automobile company to grow and expand. Germany is a top candidate I would consider doing foreign direct investments in. Germany has the best automotive industry in Europe. They have social stability and the currency is strong. Their automobile manufactures produce 17% worldwide. The automobile industry is thriving in Germany and our company can participate in the thriving. They have the world’s most auto industry patents. Germany’s Gross domestic product in 2012 is predicted to be .7% and in 2013 it is predicted to be 1%. It is Europe's number one automotive market. At least 35% of all passenger cars manufactured and almost 30% of all new registrations come from Germany. Germany has the most OEM (original equipment manufacturer) plants in Europe. 30 of the OEM plants produce for major brands. In 2009, the German auto industry exported auto products worth over EUR 150 billion. Refer to Figure 3. Competition Our main competition in Germany would be Audi, BMW, Daimler, Iveco, Ford, Opel, MAN, Neoplan, Porsche, Volkswagen. It would be in our best interest to become partners with one of these companies if we enter into the German market. Foreign direct investments will be discussed in the “Recommendation” section of the paper. Refer to Figure 2 for the worldwide competition. Workforce and Labor Germany’s automobile workforce is around 723,000. That...
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...establishing a Greenfield production facility overseas. Acme is expanding its international program. The two selected foreign countries for which the steering committee has proposed to start operations in are Germany and Japan. A comparative analysis between the two counties will include the currency of each country, trade policies, and cultural variables that can affect the operations and profitability of the production facility. This paper is meant to discuss which of the two countries are recommended to begin the production facility in. Germany Germany, a federal republic, has the largest population of all the European Union, or EU. Germany has the world’s third largest economy, and it produces automobiles, engineering products, electronic equipment, communications equipment, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. The most widely spoken language in the EU is German (Germany, Europa, 2013). Currency / Trade Because Germany is a part of the EU, its currency is the euro. Germany has relatively few non-tariff barriers and has an intact three-tiered system of public, private, and cooperative banks. Germany has a heavily regulated labor relations and the launching a company with complete licensing requirements requires no minimum capital (Germany, 2013 Index, 2013). Culture Germany is a planning culture who is all about forward thinking. There is a lot about the greeting, meeting, and eating with the...
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...although some regions of the country also speak Spanish. Portuguese is one of the most difficult languages in the world, it is important to have a translator present when in that country. A translator form Brazil is preferred but not mandated. Greetings in Brazil are informal and meetings there are also. Personal meetings are a must when doing business with Brazil as the people do not like to do business only in an electronic nature. That is not to say once the meet and great is done, they will not maintain the future communications that way. Major decisions however, need to be done in a face to face meeting. That country gives a peaceful and pleasant experience with no racism as it is greatly integrated with centuries of culture. This may be why the corporation has chosen to build the world tallest skyscraper there. China The Chinese take great pride in their day to day lives, living by Confucianism, a way of life taught by Confucius. They are humble yet formal. The Chinese are shrewd negotiators and the pricing of the construction materials should be done prior to the expected start date. Electronic communication is an acceptable way to do business with them as the...
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...Germany is a great economic influence of the countries in the world. In the whole Europe, Germany has the most powerful economy. Apart from that Germany has the most advanced and efficient system of manufacturers. Germans pride their country on national products produced. Germans have achieved success by hard work and efficiency. The quality of products is recognized throughout the world. Moran, Harris, Moran (2011) In today’s global business environment, developing successful business strategies and valuable business relationships, based on an awareness of this German culture, is essential. To be successful obtaining the great results from a business relationship with a German company, we have to observe and understand their social rules, etiquette and values in order to deal with them better. It is important to observe and understand many of the social rules in order to make a positive impression on your German hosts. It is probably a good idea to understand how Germans view business. Germans maintain a stronger separation between home and office than Americans do. ‘Work is work and play is play’ is an important distinction in their culture. Randlesome (1994) Germans have a reputation for being industrious, hard-working, reserved. They are meticulous and exact and often very militaristic in the preciseness of their actions. The Germans are not an outward people. They tend to be very private. Moran et al. (2011) Though their daily routine brings them into close contact...
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