Cross-Cultural Interaction A profile of German Negotiation Su Han & Mohit Vatta & Umar Abrar

Country Profile Name: Federal Republic of Germany Capital: Berlin Geography Area: 137,926 sq. miles (357,092 sq.km) Neighbors: Denmark to the North, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, France to the West, Switzerland, Austria to the South, Czech Republic, Poland to the East.

Population Population: 82,365 million (2006) Ethnic groups: About 8.8% of the population are of foreign origin. The largest groups are from: Turkey (2.4%) other (Serbo-Croatian, Italian, Russian) (6.1%) Religion: Protestant (34%), Roman Catholic (34%), Muslim (3.7%), unaffiliated or other (28.3%) Language: German; English is widely spoken throughout the population Government Head of State: Federal President: Horst KöhlerFederal President Head of Government: Chancellor Angela Merkel Governing parties: Christian Democratic Party/ Christian Social Union, Social Democratic Party Opposition: Alliance'90/ The Greens, Free Democratic Party, Party of Democratic Socialism

The German Negotiator  Language of Business  Deal-focused  Orientation to Time  Nonverbal Communication --The handshake --Gestures Deal-focused --Moderately Formal Monochronic-- Reserved

Business Protocol Forms of address  Southern Germany – Formal behaviour shows respect to people with high rank, professional titles and academic qualifications  Doctorates are very important in Germany  Polite to address people with his/her academic or professional title- E.g. Dr. Wilhelm Schmidt would be referred to as Dr. Schmidt or Herr Doktor AND a female PhD qualified person would be referred to as Frau Doktor  Women over 20 years are addressed as Frau regardless of marital status  Formal pronoun for business relationships: Sie  Informal pronoun for business relationships: Du

Reserved Communication Style  Counterparts are likely to be reserved and not show enthusiastic public displays  Southern Germany- people are more expressive  Germans avoid big gestures, animated facial expressions or conversation overlap  Interrupting another speaker is deemed very rude Dress Code  Men: Dark suit with a conservative tie  Women: Suit or dress  Business cards are less formal than in East Asia  Cards are exchanged after greeting your counterpart and shaking hands

Meeting and Greeting  Handshakes are assumed necessary when you meet or leave a person  A soft handshake can mean a number of bad things: Weakness, lack of eye contact means shiftiness, unreliability and dishonesty  To be taken seriously and greeted in a friendly manner by the opposition party, the handshake should be accompanied with a broad smile Business Gifts  Germany is not a gift-giving culture  Negotiators feel uncomfortable if presented with an expensive gift  Appropriate gift would be an item representing your country/region

Wining and Dining  Clear separation between business and pleasure is maintained  Likely to interact less on business entertainment than other visitors who come from relationship-oriented cultures  Business should not be discussed during breakfasts or dinners

Social Etiquette Manners  Man precedes woman  Politeness Gifts  Wine from good vintage  Flowers  Chocolate Dinner at home  Arrive 15 minutes before

Negotiating Behaviour Marketing a presentation  Detail & facts  Referencing Bargaining Range  Realistic negotiation Preparation  Thorough  Steadfast

Decision Making  Deliberation and conferring  Time consuming process The contract  Legal aspect  More word/cast in concrete.