Doing Business with Germans: Their Perception, Our Perception

by Sylvia Schroll-Machl

Sylvia Schroll-Machl writes about German cultural standards. Although her work is empirically ascertained and presented in a systematic way, she is able to maintain a certain self-critical levity. Her target groups are Germans and foreigners, who vocationally have something to do with Germans. Her goal is to promote mutual understanding and to offer assistance for intercultural interactions.

Genres: Business

221 pages, Paperback

First published May 2, 2003

Reviews

[Uwe Hook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Doing Business with Germans is a "must read" for anyone who has contact with Germans, whether in business or any other sphere of life. Sylvia Schroll-Machl explains the norms and values of German society; their historical development as well as their expression in everyday life. During her extensive experience as an intercultural researcher and trainer she has gathered numerous case studies and anecdotes which vibrantly illustrate the rocky road of intercultural travel. Many of these are amusing in themselves, many will elicit a laugh of recognition, "That's just what happened to me!"

In her introduction, the author has a special section headed: "Let me say the following to my German readers." This section is the first eye-opener for the non-German reader, because it explains one of the areas of German sensitivity that is emotionally hyperloaded: the reasons that Germans feel uncomfortable when people talk about "the Germans" and why they resist any discussion of German traits.

As objectivism (being objective, downplaying social-emotional factors) is one of the central German culture standards, understanding what feelings they are eliciting in their German counterparts can remain a constant challenge to the non-German. The author's ability to explain not only why Germans act in a certain way, but how they feel in a given situation. is particularly valuable for the non-German reader

[Ralf Weiser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful review of how to do business with Germans in Germany and how to decipher them when they do business abroad. Insightful to say the least.

[Stef · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all I have to say that I am German. I read this book for an intercultural course during my studies. After reading it I had the feeling that being German is the greatest punishment one can get on this planet. On the other hand as a German you know that you are like the Germans described in the book. But let me start at the beginning.

The book started with an introduction of what information about Germans are in the book and why there should be a book about German behaviour. After that there is a chapter of culture standards. Question like what culture standards are generated are answered here. The main part of the book is about the German culture standards. Each standard has a description, recommendations of how to deal with that, pros and cons of each culture standard and a historical background.

During the description of each standard there were lots of example situations to emphasize the point just made. Especially in the beginning I felt so sorry for the non-Germans in these examples because I could see what went wrong but at the same time I knew I wouldn't react differently if I was that German person. To the end of the book it got a lot easier to look neutrally at those situations.
Still I never really lost the feeling that being German is seen as a bad thing. Therefore I enjoyed reading the pros and cons of the culture standards. It made me feel better of my nationality. The pros were really positive and were able to show the good sites.
I loved reading the recommendations of how to deal with the standards. I think putting them into action really improves one's intercultural competences.

I can recommend reading this book to everyone who likes to know why Germans act the way they do. With reading this book I think everyone can understand our actions better because our motives behind it get explained.
On the other hand I can recommend this book to all Germans to understand why so many non-Germans think about us in such a bad way.

I like reading the book even though I got a little depressed after reading it. I still would do it again and I also think I will remember some of the recommendations when I am confronted with intercultural situations.

I grant 5 out of 5 stars.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book for gaining a handle on the cultural values which drive the German culture and belief system. Very helpful for expats and those involved in cross-cultural dealings.