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Let’s make a deal. Germany.
1. Never underestimate the importance of punctuality in German business culture. Be prepared to make an appointment for more things. Germans don’t usually feel comfortable discussing especially serious things “on the go” so don’t expect to be able to just drop into the office unannounced for any detailed discussions. Make your appointments well in advance. Give at least one or two weeks notice for an appointment made by telephone; allow at least a month for an appointment made by mail.
2. The preferred times for business appointments are between 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. or between 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. Casually changing the time and place of an appointment is not appreciated. Allow at least 24 hours, if you can, to change or cancel appointments. Be prepared to offer a plausible explanation.
3. Bring plenty of business cards. Unless you are exclusively dealing with Germans, it is unnecessary to have the reverse side translated into German. When designing your card keep in mind that German businesspeople will want to learn as much about your background and qualifications as possible.
4. Germans are very straightforward and direct, especially in the business environment. It is part of their normal communication behaviour for someone to openly ask for clarification. This is to prevent complications later when it is revealed by accident that someone had not understood instructions or expectations.
5. The German side will arrive at the meeting well-informed, and will expect the same from you. Even at initial meetings where, in your culture, you may spend most of the time getting acquainted and building a personal relationship between you and a potential business partner, expect the Germans to address issues, problems and facts through very technical communicative behaviour.
6. Because Germans are schedule-oriented for a most efficient management of business time, expect their business communicative behaviour to be very agenda-based. Germans tend to be intensely analytical thinkers requiring lots of facts and examples from the other side to back up their position. Objective facts are the basis for truth in German business culture, and legalistic, rational reasoning is the cornerstone of business negotiations and communication. Ultimately, personal feelings and relationships cannot be relevant to business negotiations, as this can compromise the fairness or integrity of the deal.
7. Contracts, therefore, are certainly final after signing. Manoeuvring for further concessions is not possible if both sides being have agreed on it. Attempts to continue negotiations or revise fixed terms will create distrust and suspicion and may be grounds to terminate the agreement.
8. German businesspeople tend to be traditionally cautious of new ideas and concepts. Institutional change comes very slowly and often quite reluctantly. Provide lots of logical argumentation and concrete examples to back up your proposal based on facts and data. Similarly, flexibility and spontaneity are not prominent traits in German business culture.
9. Detailed planning has enormous value in German culture and is a principal characteristic of German business cooperation. As with all points where priorities and technical expectations differ significantly between parties, it is essential that both sides do their homework beforehand and perhaps schedule a few informal initial mini-meetings to address these issues and set some basic ground rules that everyone can agree on.
10. Having said all that, ensure you have plenty of data and other empirical evidence to support your proposals and arguments. If you are conducting the meeting in German, keep the language simple and direct.
11. Germans will sometimes look for deficiencies in your products or services and will quite openly draw your attention to them if they in any way don’t correspond to your claims. This is one of the toughest aspects of German communicative behaviour you will encounter in personal or professional contact with Germans. This form of direct disagreement and criticism is possible in social interactions not because people don’t feel uncomfortable when they hear it, but because such a statement is based on objective, impersonal truths. Ultimately, the value lies in pointing out a mistake to someone so that it can be corrected. This is a characteristic “low context” communicative behaviour that works because it is based on isolating and clarifying objective facts.
Notes:
“on the go”-на ходу
through very technical communicative behaviour-посредством самых современных технических средств связи
“low context” communicative behaviour-способ общения на низком уровне
II. Письменно ответьте на следующие вопросы:
1. What are the preferred times for business appointments in Germany?
2. Are Germans very straightforward and direct?
3. Contracts in Germany are certainly final after signing, aren’t they?
4. Does institutional change come very slow or fast in Germany?
5. Why is it essential that both sides conducting negotiations do their homework?