germany and its culture

7/29/2019 Germany and its culture

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DEUTSCHLAND


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GERMANY

Capital : Berlin

Official Language : German Language

Population : 8,17,26,000

States : 16

Area : 3,57,021 sq. km

Ethnic groups : 81% Germans,7% other

Europeans,4% Turks,2%Asian,6% others


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Languages :GermanTurkish, Kurdish, Polish, Russian

Ethnic Make-up : German 91.5%, Turkish2.4%, other 6.1%

Religions : Protestant 34%, Roman

Catholic 34%, Muslim3.7%, other 28.3%

German Currency is EURO

1 EUR = 70.74 INR


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It is the second largest exporter and third

largest importer of goods.

Service sector contributes approximately 71%

of the total GDP, industry 28%, and agriculture

1%.

Germany has the world's fourth largest

economy by nominal GDP


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COMMUNICATION

Germans are very private

Titles are very important

shake hands at both the beginning and end of a

meeting

Business decisions are not made over the phone


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Gift Giving Etiquette

If you are invited to a German's house, bring a gift such

as chocolates or flowers.

Yellow roses or tea roses are always well received.

Do not give red roses as they symbolize romanticintentions.

Do not give lilies as they are used at

funerals.

If you bring wine, it should be imported, French orItalian.


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Dining Etiquette

Arrive on time as punctuality

indicates proper planning.

Never arrive early.

Never arrive more than 15 minutes later thaninvited without telephoning to explain you have

been detained.

Send a handwritten thank you note the followingday to thank your hostess for her hospitality.


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Business Meeting Etiquette

Appointments are mandatory and should be

made 1 to 2 weeks in advance.

Meetings adhere to strict agendas, including

starting and ending times.

Although English may be spoken, it is a good idea to hire an

interpreter so as to avoid any misunderstandings.

There is a strict protocol to follow when entering a room:

. The eldest or highest ranking person enters the room first.

. Men enter before women, if their age and status are roughly

equivalent.


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DO take plenty of business cardswith you and ensure they include

full details of your background,

qualifications, and titles.

DO maintain direct eye-contactwhen addressing Germancolleagues, especially during initial

introductions.

DO use the formal version of you(Sie), unless someone specificallyinvites you to use the informal

It is usually best to let your

German counterpart take

the initiative of proposing the

informal form of address

DONT discuss personal mattersduring business negotiations, as this is

considered to deviate from the task at

hand.

DONT try to surprise them.Germans do not like surprises.Sudden changes in business

transactions, even if they may

improve the outcome, are

unwelcome.

DONT use exaggerated or indirectcommunication styles during business

meetings with you German

counterparts. It creates an impression

of insincerity.


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Hofstede Model of Germany


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POWER DISTANCE

Power distance is defined as the extent to which the less

powerful members of institutions and organizations within

a country expect and accept that .

Highly decentralized and supported by a strong middle

class

Germany is not surprisingly among the lower power

distant countries (score 35).


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Individualism

The fundamental issue addressed by this dimension is thedegree of interdependence a society maintains among itsmembers .

The German society is a truly individualistic one (67).

Communication is among the most direct in the worldfollowing the ideal to be honest, even if it hurts and bythis giving the counterpart a fair chance to learn from

mistakes.


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Masculinity / Femininity

The fundamental issue here is what motivates people,

wanting to be the best (masculine) or liking what you do

(feminine).

With a score of 66 Germany is considered a masculine society.

Performance is highly valued.

People rather live in order to work and draw a lot of self-

esteem from their tasks.


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Uncertainty avoidance

The extent to which the members of a culture feelthreatened by ambiguous or unknown situations .

Germany is among the uncertainty avoidant countries

(65).

Details are equally important to create certainty that acertain topic or project is well-thought-out.

Germans prefer to compensate for their higheruncertainty by strongly relying on expertise.


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Long term orientation The extent to which a society shows a pragmatic future-

oriented perspective rather than a conventional historicalshort-term point of view.

Societies with a short-term orientation generally exhibit great

respect for traditions, a relatively small propensity to save,impatience for achieving quick results, and a strong concern

with establishing the Truth i.e. normative .

The Germans score 31, making it a short term orientationculture .


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germany and its culture

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