Cultural Orientations and Their Impact on Business Management in Germany: Power, Individualism and Competitiveness in German Business
Cultural orientations and their impact on business management in Germany:
Power, Individualism and Competitiveness in German Business
By Anna Schmähling
Edited for:
Cross-Cultural Comparative Management
Master Course in Spring Semester 2011
At Vilnius University
Vilnius, 2011
Power
Hierarchy with strong departmental influence
From the author´s experience as a German citizen power is associated with strength, masculinity, trust, confidence. Beneath the often not flexible hierarchical society, like in business, it is important to have good negotiation skills. Maybe it is a rudimental left-over need from the times when the German tribes elected their leader, who was a strong but fair decision maker, who tried to find the best solution for all individuals. The Dutch Sociologist Hofestede actually investigated that the Power Distance is moderate (35 points). This fact may be caused by some immanent collective elements in the German Society. Gannon describes Germany with the metaphor “The German Symphony” and he also said that “Germany tends to cluster with those countries that are less accepting of an unequal distribution of power, status, and material rewards in society.“ There proceeds to mention that: “The music and their performers are brought together by the conductor.” So a very great part is playing by the conductor, in business this will be the manager and the CEO at the top. Different from other countries, “the German CEO will generally tell the American to see his or her German counterpart responsible for making decisions in this area”. The “extreme centralization” like in France or in the United States is not used in German business organizations. One can see that the great leader is just responsible for the strategic decisions. He decides what are the “big” goals and objectives of the company. So he needs skills mostly in general management and business. That is why the Germans “prefer a visionary leader who is mature and strong enough
Power, Individualism and Competitiveness in German Business
By Anna Schmähling
Edited for:
Cross-Cultural Comparative Management
Master Course in Spring Semester 2011
At Vilnius University
Vilnius, 2011
Power
Hierarchy with strong departmental influence
From the author´s experience as a German citizen power is associated with strength, masculinity, trust, confidence. Beneath the often not flexible hierarchical society, like in business, it is important to have good negotiation skills. Maybe it is a rudimental left-over need from the times when the German tribes elected their leader, who was a strong but fair decision maker, who tried to find the best solution for all individuals. The Dutch Sociologist Hofestede actually investigated that the Power Distance is moderate (35 points). This fact may be caused by some immanent collective elements in the German Society. Gannon describes Germany with the metaphor “The German Symphony” and he also said that “Germany tends to cluster with those countries that are less accepting of an unequal distribution of power, status, and material rewards in society.“ There proceeds to mention that: “The music and their performers are brought together by the conductor.” So a very great part is playing by the conductor, in business this will be the manager and the CEO at the top. Different from other countries, “the German CEO will generally tell the American to see his or her German counterpart responsible for making decisions in this area”. The “extreme centralization” like in France or in the United States is not used in German business organizations. One can see that the great leader is just responsible for the strategic decisions. He decides what are the “big” goals and objectives of the company. So he needs skills mostly in general management and business. That is why the Germans “prefer a visionary leader who is mature and strong enough
References: * Gannon M. J., Understanding Global Cultures: Metaphorical Journeys Through 17 Countries, 1994 * Hofstede Geert, Culture´s Consequences: comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations, 2001 second edition [ 1 ]. Gannon M. J., Understanding Global Cultures: Metaphorical Journeys Through 17 Countries, 1994, p. 81 [ 2 ]