...ACCOUNTING AND THE GERMAN CULTURE March 18, 2009 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 REVIEW OF LITERATURE 1 ANALYSIS 2 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 7 LIST OF REFERENCES 8 INTRODUCTION Grenzplankostenrechnung (GPK) is a German-based costing methodology that was developed in the late 1940's and 1950's. GPK is credited to an automotive engineer, Hans George Plaut, and an academic, Wolfgang Kilger. They worked together to identify and deliver a comprehensive methodology to give exact and improve cost accounting information. It is designed to provide a consistent and accurate application of managerial costs that are calculated and assigned to a product or service (Cooper and Kaplan, 1998). GPK has been the staple accounting method used in German-speaking countries for many years now. Is it actually better than the United States traditional accounting management style? REVIEW OF LITERATURE GPKs definition by United States standards is flexible margin costing system. Flexible margin costing, or GPK, is a cost accounting system used by many companies in German-speaking countries and is taught at German universities. It has proven it validity through its ability to give accurate, quick information about companies' financial position. GPK uses marginal costing instead of full costing. It helps to make short-term decision that lead to long-term plans for the organization. They form cost centers instead of activities and processes (Adkins, 2006). ...
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...M10B Handout Briefing Sheet for Case Diagnosis Report (CDR) Assignment Our third and final major graded project requires you to integrate your knowledge of interpersonal communication, conflict management and teamwork. This assignment provides you the opportunity to work with other students from your section on a case study concerning a communication problem, which occurs in a business setting. The case study is elaborated in packet you will purchase along with other required text and course materials. You will work on this case study as a virtual (online) team. The composition of each team will include not more than 4 students. Your section instructor will decide how the team members are selected. The Charge For the purpose of this assignment you, along with other members of your team, will assume the role of human resource and organization development consultants for Henry Tam and the MGI Team. Henry Tam has asked your team to diagnose and develop strategies for managing and solving the communication problems that members of the MGI team have been experiencing. Detailed information describing the nature of the problems as well as the members of the team are available in the HBS 9-404-068 (Henry Tam and the MGI Team) document. Tasks to Be Completed Based on the information provided in this document, Mr. Tam has asked your team to perform five specific tasks. (1) (2) Define and describe the nature of the problems Analyze the problems by providing a detailed explanation...
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...disappointment than just being the defeated ones. It all started in the summer of 2006. The European Championship was just around the corner, and since Germany was going to be the host of this spectacular occasion, everybody was enthusiastic about the upcoming weeks. While final preparations were being made and busy bees were trying to correct the last flaws to present Germany in the perfect light to the rest of the world, the atmosphere was full of excitement and everybody was counting the days until the built-up pressure of anticipation was finally going to be released. It was comparable to a child impatiently awaiting Christmas morning. As the weeks went along, people’s moods seemed to get better and better, the more games the Germans won. It appeared that the team, captained by Michael Ballack and coached by Jürgen Klinsmann was undefeatable the closer they stepped towards the final. Many national teams stayed in Germany during that time such as...
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...Have you ever wondered about Witold Pilecki and how he was a hero? Well you probably haven’t. But if you have, what i am going to tell you will hopefully answer that question. First of all, Witold Pilecki was born May 13 1901. He was born in the Olonets. He was a Polish army officer and a intelligence agent during world war II. So why is Witold Pilecki a hero. One of the few reasons Witold Pilecki is a hero is that he gathered intel on the enemy. One way Witold gathered evidence is “During World War II, he volunteered for a Polish resistance operation to get imprisoned in the Auschwitz death camp in order to gather intelligence and escape.”(https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witold_Pilecki). Another one of the reasons Witold...
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...interesting about our diverse world is something as simple as how healthcare is provided in different regions of the world. Do you believe there is a difference in healthcare in different parts of the world? Well there is quit a complex difference. For example, I’ll explain the healthcare provided in India is quite different from the healthcare provided in Germany. The differences can be viewed or evaluated in different means. For the purpose of this discussion three main factors will be identified and compared. The quality of life in contrast to healthcare provided, the foreseen future impact of the aging population, and the economic impact on the individual society. I will exam and compare the current of future of health care in the India and German societies. Healthcare is important to all in every corner of the world. In some societies healthcare is better than others. Germany has been known for years as a strong society and have always been on the tip of the spear when it comes to technology. To contrast, Germany has make social mistakes in the fast and has not always been in the best light of the world for how they treat the human race as a whole. On the other hand India has been viewed as a very rich cultural society, strong in religious faith. India, does not come to mind when thinking of an economical efficient country. To compare one facet of each society does not represent they society as a whole, but will show the difference in one major portion of each society. India has...
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...his destiny he informs his loyal men that he will fight alongside them, “one final time” (Haney.7642). When the Geat hero Beowulf is about to finally meet his match, he considers the great Thanes above himself and realizes there would have been no success without them. Beowulf evidently illustrates why he is the ideal German because even after all the things he has achieved in his lifetime, he looks back and humbly says the Thanes are greater than him. His reward for all his loyalty to the Camitatus is the acknowledgement from them that his heroic work will never be forgotten. Another example occurs before Beowulf’s battle against Grendel the great dragon as he recognizes that it was different to see the “other rigged out in his gear” and “ready for battle” (1470). As Beowulf is about to fight an underwater battle, he valorously reassures his Camitatus that no matter what happens in this battle, it will be alright. Being the leader of the Geats, Beowulf personally feels responsible for assuring the people and his comrades are safe and by stating it will be alright gives his people hope, just as the whole story of Beowulf tried to provide hope for the ordinary German tribes of the Middle Ages. Twice proving his loyalty to the Camitatus, Beowulf is considered the ideal man and a hero. On the other hand, in the Arthurian Legend just after watching the noblest of knights attempt to wield the sword stricken in the stone, “no other knight” attempted to nudge the blade and the hunting...
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...evil people to ever live. Armed with his lies and manipulation of the Germans, he was able to kill 11 million innocent people. But, who was Hitler really, and how could this happen? Although Hitler became the dictator of Germany, he was born in Austria in 1889. When he was three, however, his family made the move to Germany. Hitler’s family was just like any other typical family at the time. Although, Hitler himself was very introverted and detached from life. In Hitler’s young adulthood he enlisted in the German army to fight in WWI. Hitler was a very daring soldier, and he seemed to realize when it was the right time was to take a risk. Hitler was also a raging nationalist, so naturally, years later when...
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...Advances in Accounting, incorporating Advances in International Accounting 29 (2013) 124–133 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Advances in Accounting, incorporating Advances in International Accounting journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/adiac Continental European accounting model and accounting modernization in Germany Andreas Hellmann ⁎, Hector Perera 1, Chris Patel 2 Department of Accounting and Corporate Governance, Faculty of Business and Economics, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia a r t i c l e i n f o Keywords: Convergence German Commercial Code (Handelsgesetzbuch) International Financial Reporting Standards Act to Modernize Accounting Law (Bilanzrechtsmodernisierungsgesetz) Classification of accounting systems a b s t r a c t Classification techniques based on one or few dimensions are widely used in research studies and textbooks to explain and predict the development of accounting systems internationally. However, their usefulness in international accounting has been limited in today's globalized world. For example, in the context of the EU, IFRS are required for consolidated accounting, while national accounting systems continue to be the dominant system for unconsolidated accounting in many countries. Using Germany as a case study, the objective of this paper is to examine whether Germany can still be classified within the Continental European model of accounting following the Act to Modernize...
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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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...other countries: Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Poland (Chow, 2015). With the biggest population of all the European Union countries, Germany’s population density is one of the highest in all of Europe at over 230 persons per square kilometer. The UK, Netherlands, and Belgium are the only countries in Europe with a higher population density (Chisolm, 2011). The official language of Germany is German. As would be expected, the majority of German citizens speak German (over 100 million people). Some minority languages in Germany include Danish, Sorbian, Frisian, and Romany. Turkish, Kurdish, Polish, the Balkan languages, and Russian are the most commonly spoken by immigrants to Germany. German is the language consisting of the most native speakers in the European Union. Worldwide, as a foreign language, German is the third most taught. Additionally, it is the second most widely used language on the Internet. Over the last 30 years, almost all German citizens have been required to learn at least one foreign language in school. This is usually English....
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...4 Methodology 1 1.4.1 Problem formulation 1 1.4.2. Quality assessment 2 2. Organization 3 3. Communication 7 4. Business Law 11 1. Introduction 1.1 Background description/Problem area SIBA International is a small B2B company founded in 1992, with its main headquarters in Horsens, Denmark. Their main activities are consisted of selling home decorations in the North-Western part of the EU, especially in the market of the company's current location. In order to cope with the stagnant market in Denmark (although a profitable one for them), SIBA hopes along with the development of its market share to be able to engage a market with which it had no stable connection - the German one. Attempts have been made in the past for the desired target country, but without having consistent information regarding the potential customers and without a specialized agent with knowledge in the business domain, the company's approach was unproductive. Germany is characterized by having a high degree of uncertainty avoidance which makes it challenging for the...
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...Theodore Dreiser wasn’t American in a true sense of this word. The Dreisers were an international family, for example his father was German and this fact had an impact on Dreiser’s works which were aimed at dispelling the myth of the “American Dream”. He treated the American world and its society negatively and attacked its false ideas, cutthroat competition and lack of responsibility. The extract from “Typhoon” pivots on the same idea shown through Ida Zobel’s life. Ida is a teenager who lives in the USA, in the family of immigrants from Germany. The author knows about the ordinary run of things in such families not by hearsay, that’s why he manages to provide the reader with the most significant feature of it in few expressions: “singularly restricted” and “indifferent”, “extremely reserved” and “orderly respect for labour and order”, narrow, sober, workaday Germans “. No emotions, no colours, no entertainment, no events – if you were a young girl would you enjoy such a style of life? Moreover Ida lives with her father, aunt and stepmother who seemingly have to take care of her from other teenagers because they are “restless, seeking” and all these features lead the degradation of the nation. And the Zobels are the representatives of the German nation which is opposed to the American nation with its “brash gayety and looseness”. This antithesis of German and American worlds could be the key to Theodore Dreiser’s conception of an ideal society, but it isn’t at least for me. The extract...
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...practice? What is something you admire about this group’s people, lifestyle, or society? 1. The German Americans are the largest singles source of ancestry of individuals that are in the United States today. The German Americans settled in the United States in the late 1700’s, they came because of their religious dissenters such as the Amish who were attracted by the proclaiming of religious freedom. Even though the German Americans started coming in the late 1700’s it wasn’t until the 1830’s through 1890 the German immigrant population represented one quarter of the immigration. During World War I most of the German Americans distanced themselves away from their home land, by the ending of the twentieth century the animosity that was towards Germany fell distant. That is because of John F. Kennedy being in Berlin in 1963 and Ronald Reagan in 1987 and they both spoke of uniting Germany. Present days the immigration from Germany is between 5,00 and 10,00 annually. Some customs that the Germany Americans may practice still while in America would be their language. They would even continue to cook their dishes, and open up German bakery stores. Something that I admire of the German Americans would be that even though the Germans in their homeland did horrific things during World War I and World War II, they didn’t act upon it. They stayed true to themselves by being the German Americans they chose to be by coming to...
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...awareness. 2. The two countries I chose were Kenya and Germany. They are very opposite of each other in all things. Managers need to know these things if they are going to meet with Kenyans or Germans. Germans like to be direct and blunt while bluntness makes Kenyans uncomfortable. Kenyans want to get to know you before the business while Germans want to get down to business. If you want to manage all types of people, you have to learn about their culture first. Kenya Kenya is a multilingual country. There are 62 different languages spoken in that country. Kenyans would rather work in groups then by themselves. After shaking hands it’s normal for them to ask about you, your family, and your health. To skip this is considered rude. To show respect Kenyans are to lower their eyes when greeting someone older or of higher status. Kenyans are not direct when it comes to communication, and blunt statements make them uncomfortable. They have emotional control and expect the same from others. Small talk is important to get to know others, before talking business. Germany German is the main language in Germany. Germans are all about planning, knowing what they are going to be doing at a specific time and day. Germans keep doors shut when working. You knock and wait to be invited in. Germans will be direct and...
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...Japanese Companies in Germany: A Case Study in Cross-Cultural Management JAMES R. LINCOLN, HAROLD R. KERBO, and ELKE WITT'ENHAGEN* From a series of qualitative interviews with Japanese managers and German managers and workers in thirty-one Japanese-owned companies in the Dusseldorf region of western Germany, this article discusses differences in cultural patterns and organizational styles between the German and Japanese employees and the problems these pose for communication, cooperation, and morale. First, we deal with cultural contrasts: language issues, interpersonal styles (personability and politeness), and norms regarding the taking of responsibility. Second, we examine the impact on cross-nationality relations of established organizational practice: for example, German specialism vs. Japanese generalism; direct and vertical vs. indirect and incremental decision making. We also discuss efforts by these firms to find compromise systems that would meet the needs and interests of both sides. The third focus is the reactions of Japanese companies in North Rhine-Westphalia to German unions, works councils, and codetermination regulations. In the labor view, Japanese firms overall do no better or worse than comparable German firms. Japanese direct investment in Western economies is concentrated in North America and the United Kingdom. In consequence, a rich journalistic and scholarly literature examines the Japanese experience in the Anglo-American countries, the management...
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