Business background in Germany Germany is the largest national economy in Europe and the fourth-largest by nominal GDP in the world. In Germany much greater attention has been paid to academic technical education and its value to business in general. Therefore, companies tend to be run by technical experts rather than lawyers and accountants and that is why German engineers are highly respected people. Diligence and competence are characteristics which are considered key indicators of performance.
Appraisal systems based on the softer competencies as favoured by many U.K. and U. S. firms are still not common in traditional German companies. Business structures Most of the power in German companies is vested in the hands of a few senior managers. Larger companies have a Supervisory Board (Aufsichtsrat) which appoints the management board (Vorstand).
The management board is the final decision-maker on policy matters which affect management. Members of the Management board have shared responsibility for the overall management of the company and this means that the chairman of the company has considerably less personal power than in certain other countries.
Below the Management board level companies observe strict hierarchy within which each individual’s specific roles and responsibilities are tightly defined and specified. Thus, every employee has clearly identified goals to achieve and knows what exactly is expected from him/her. On the other hand, because of the strict hierarchy, German business people are inflexible and slowly adaptive to new situations. German Management Style Managers in Germany are expected to be technically capable in their respective areas and to show strong, clear leadership.
The Essay on The New Service Management Program Of Minnesota Business School Is
The new Service Management program of Minnesota Business School is a very interesting and exciting opportunity for those people who want to devote their career to Service Management industry. The scope of the industry is very broad and continuously growing. It is a very stable branch of global business. Besides the speciality of Service Management is very undefined and can serve the graduates a ...
Managers usually delegate responsibility to the member of the team with the greatest technical competence to carry out the particular task. This member has to be given clear and precise instructions, concerning the task, and it is customary to be left to perform it on himself/herself, without undue interference or supervision of the manager. Once decisions have been made, everybody is expected to carry them out without question, regardless of their agreement or disagreement with the original decision.
People from cultures where the relations manager-subordinates are closer and more outgoing may consider German business people cold and distant. But in Germany the higher in the organization people rise, the more a sense of the “dignity of the position” becomes apparent. Business meetings Germans usually arrive extremely well-prepared for meetings with all the facts and figures at their disposal. This helps them debate their point of view with conviction and support their arguments with well-researched data.
The idea of attending an important meeting with no firm opinion would be quite unusual. Punctuality on meetings is very important for German business people too. Team work Team work in Germany could probably be best described as a group of individuals working with specific leader in order to achieve a certain goal. Within the team, each member has a set, clearly defined role which is adhered to. Team members are respected for their technical ability and functional knowledge and are allowed to perform their tasks without too much supervision (which can be seen as unnecessary intrusion.
The Essay on Business and People Notes.
Business & People Asad De-industrialisations: The reduction of importance of the secondary sector of business activity in a country. Dividend: A payment made to shareholders from the profits made by a private or public limited company. Sole proprietor: One person who owns the business. Horizontal integration: Merger or takeover of another business at the same stage of production in the same ...
Dress code On the whole, Germans dress smartly for business occasions but do not restrict themselves to the dark blue and dark grey suits favoured by many U. K. and Asian business people. It is common for men to wear sports jackets and trousers with a shirt and tie in business situations and for women to wear smart casual clothes. Trousers for women are commonplace. In some of the new technology industries, dress code is more casual – with jeans being seen as acceptable attire. II. UK Business background
The economy of the United Kingdom is the sixth-largest national economy in the world measured by nominal GDP. The last couple of decades have seen a major restructure of the British industry away from the more traditional heavy engineering and primary sectors towards the service and high-tech fields. This process has also coincided with radical shifts with respect to management and company structure. Many of the UK hierarchy and class issues have been replaced by more modern business models – often heavily influenced by US thinking. Business structures
Key decisions in British companies are made by a board of directors. All PLCs must have at least two directors who are appointed by and accountable to the shareholders. The chairperson or the CEO leads the board. Many of the UK’s larger companies have “non-executive” directors who act as outside experts and usually provide links with the government and the civil service. Although traditionally hierarchical in structure, many British firms have moved towards a flatter, less bureaucratic approach which makes it difficult to get a clear picture of exactly who does what in a given company.
Management style Contrary to Germany, in the UK technical skills and competence in business are not that important. Much more emphasis is placed on the man-management skills needed to derive the best results from the team. A manager is expected to have the skills to pull a team together and make it as productive as possible. British people find it difficult to be direct and British managers often give instructions to subordinates in a very indirect way, preferring to request assistance than to be explicit, which can sometimes lead to misunderstandings.
Business meetings Compared to many other cultures, British business people do relatively little preparation for meetings (except for client-facing meetings).
The Term Paper on The British East India Company
The British East India Company was an English and later (from 1707) British joint-stock company formed for pursuing trade with the East Indies but which ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent. The East India Company traded mainly in cotton, silk, indigo dye, salt, saltpetre, tea and opium. Shares of the company were owned by wealthy merchants and aristocrats. The government owned no ...
This is because meetings are often considered a forum for an open debate of a given issue and that, during that open debate, a resolution of the issue would be found. British business people consider themselves punctual, but, in fact, it is pretty common thing to be late for meetings within five to ten minutes. Team work British business people usually make decisions in a team environment.
Team members are friendly, supportive and helpful with each other. If, still, something goes wrong, it is not an uncommon thing to look for someone from the team to blame. However, the “Blame culture” is a mentality which British companies work really hard to change. Dress code There has been a recent move away from the sober, formal appearance and many British organizations have introduced a policy which allows employees to dress smart casual, as long as there are no clients to be met on that day.
