Stefan WillkommerWhat you should know when working with Europeans, especially Germans

What is a BEAMER?

Challenges of working with other cultures

• Initial impressions can be misleading• Behaviour can be interpreted differently• Different rules often apply

“What is normal to us may not be normal in other cultures”

Let’s talk culture

What is culture?

• All the beliefs, values and norms shared by a group of people

• Patterned ways of thinking, feeling and reacting 🡪 culture is learned

• The framework which forms the rules, norms and assumptions which guide behaviour

“The way people do things around here”

Iceberg of Culture

Surface and deep culture

Material thingsBehaviour

Language

Norms

Beliefs

Assumptions

VALUES

7 Lessons for Cross Cultural Interactions

1. Don’t assume sameness2. Be aware that your norms and values might not be shared3. Familiar behaviours may have different meanings 4. Don’t assume that what you meant is what has been

understood 5. Don’t assume that what you understood is what was meant6. You don’t have to like ‘different’ behaviour, but you should try to

understand why it is like it is 7. Most people do behave rationally, you just have to discover the

rationale

Cross Cultural Competence

What is Cross Cultural Competence?

Awareness of • how the values, norms and rules of your own culture influence

your own emotions, perceptions, behaviour and way of acting• the values, norms and rules of foreign cultures and to respect

them

➔ a solid foundation for intercultural learning and acting adequately when dealing with foreigners

EMEA

EMEA

• means– Europe– Middle East– Africa

• Area: 10,180,000 km² (3,930,000 square miles)• Population: 2,100 M • Countries in EMEA: total 124

– Europe: 52– Middle East: 15– Africa: 57 – Biggest country: Nigeria (174M)– Smallest country. Vatican City (839)

Europe

Europe

• Area: 10,180,000 km² (3,930,000 square miles)• Population: 741 M • Countries in Europe: 44• Countries in Europe Union: 28

82,67 Mio residents

4.106 B EUR GDP

1.279 B EUR Export

Germany, Whats that?

Copyright © 2017 TechDivision All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2017 TechDivision All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2017 TechDivision All rights reserved.

BUT

Let’s talk numbers

67 Mio Internetuser

47 Mio Buying Online

48,9 Bil. € Revenue

10% growth/year

Predicted E-Commerce Growth

Over 50% from the 56% will be processed from the top 100 stores

Predicted E-Commerce Growth

What you should know!

Germany – country facts• Size: 86 million people• Capitel: Berlin (3,5M)• Major cities: Hamburg (1,8 M), Munich (1,4 M), Cologne (1 M)• Part of European Union (EU)• Language:

– German– Common second languages: English, Russian

• Currency: EURO• Wordings:

– Hello = „Hallo“, „Guten Tag“– Bye = „Auf Wiedersehen“– Yes = „Ja“– No = „Nein“– Thanks = „Danke“– Please = „Bitte“– Cheers = „Prost“

Germany – cultural facts• Working approach:

– 105% Quality driven– Thinking through the whole project by identifying and fixing problems before roll-out (🡪

Germans have problems to go out with not having 100% quality)– Result oriented

• Style of communication:– Direct– Etiquette & Politeness– More written than verbal– Responsive

• Meeting culture:– Shake hands (with smaller groups)– Sharp In time

• Business attitudes:– Deal focused– Objectivism– Agreements and contracts will be kept and fullfilled as they are

• Don‘ts: Do not compare situations with Nazi-history (not even as a joke)

Germany – travel• Airports: Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin, Stuttgart, Duesseldorf, Hamburg• Trains: well working and fast trains (ICE)• Credit cards:

– Accepted in most shops and restaurants (VISA, MASTERCARD; – DINERS CLUB and AMEX less accepted

• Tip:– Yes (10-15%) in restaurants and for taxi (but the higher the bill, the less % of tip)– Not in hotels, shops

• Dress Code:– WR internal: (business) casual– Customer meeting: Suit or Jacket with or without tie (depending on customer)

Germany – employment facts• Hiring alternatives:

– Permanent contract– Temp Contract– Agency Temp (by invoice)– Freelancer (by invoice)

• Average Annual vacation days: 30• Probation period: up to 6 months• Usual notice period: 3 months to end-of-month or quarterend • Termination:

– For cause (stealing, violence etc.): with immediate effect– Performance, Behavior: written warnings (up to 3) are required („PIP“)– Economic (Business case, social criterias)– Almost all terminations by employer are handled via settlement agreement– Severance payment between 0.5 to 2.0 monthly gross salaries per year of

service• Reference letter is mandatory

Textmaster / Slide Title

• Hello World!

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