| PREFACE
The book “Business Etiquette in Europe” is
based on the results of many years of intensive research
into all the aspects of occupational behavior in Europe.
It is the first book on the German book market to provide
a unique and comprehensive account of the most important
customs of the every-day business setting as well as the
behavioral norms within the various cultural contexts of
Europe.
The study at hand takes recourse to more than two hundred
and fifty interviews with managers, long experience, and
exclusive research to highlight the complexity of European
business etiquette. This resulted in a book which combines
traditional rules of good manners with the modern, present-day
innovations in occupational behavior within Europe. It
also brings the business world of executives into focus.
In the course of my communicational training activities,
I found out how important it is for career-oriented people
to know how to act appropriately in certain situations,
how to interact with our European neighbors, and how to
demonstrate appreciation in customary ways in different
countries. This insight and repeated requests to elaborate
on this topic have urged me to compile a book that is close
to life.
Structural changes, globalization, and mergers with European
companies add new requirements to the list of managerial
skills of employees. This is because different culturally
conditioned cognitive and behavioral patterns come to interact
with one another more frequently due to the increase in
international activities. Working on an international scale
requires change management procedures, and opens up a completely
new field in human resources development: Training in intercultural
competence.
To speak English or Spanish fluently is simply not sufficient
for communicating without complications in Europe. If you
reflect upon the different European ways of doing business,
the varying interpretations of body language, the diversity
of business customs within the European cultural setting,
then you will realize how easy it is to get embroiled in
misinterpretations and misunderstandings with negotiating
partners or customers when you cannot judge your business
partners’ cultural behavior and manners correctly.
Numerous international business projects, mergers, and
takeovers fail because the various partners of an international
team are unable understand each other. Business customs
which quite obviously share the same roots as the norms
of their embedding cultures have thus come to develop their
own unique codes and protocols.
To hear “You are so German!” in the era of
globalization may gnaw at the egos of some managers. Being “typically
German” is an attribute that means nothing else than
being fussy, inflexible, and humorless. Ensuing intercultural
misunderstandings may also bring old prejudices into play.
Due to their unusually narrow focus on business results,
German executives are frequently unable to discern between
virtues that are appreciated in neighboring European countries
and those which are received as unpleasant.
Extract
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