Relationship Between The United States Of America And Germany: Ways Of Interaction

Introduction

The relationship between the United States of America and Germany dates to 1790, following the US independence from Great Britain. Germany then transformed from the Kingdom of Prussia in 1797 to The German Empire of 1871. Relations were terminated in 1917 during World War I. The relationship resumed in 1921 but met another difficult period in 1941 during World War II and the Nazi occupation. Following WWII, Germany was divided into 4 zones, each then occupied by the Allied powers. German lands were separated into East Germany and West Germany based on the type of government control. East Germany was a socialist state controlled by the Soviet Union, and West Germany was a democracy created from the zones of the US, Britain and France. The US developed relations with West Germany in 1955, but it took until 1974 to re-establish a relationship with East Germany. East and West Germany were once again unified in 1990 and remain a single entity today (Germany, 2019).

Germany occupies approximately 357,022sq km, roughly the same area as Minnesota and Iowa combined. The US is approximately 9,833,517 sq. km, 28 times the size of Germany. The population of Germany is ~80.6 million compared to the US at ~327.2 million, approximately 25% of the size (Country Size Comparison, 2019). Germany is the 63rd largest nation in the world and shares borders with Poland, Czech Republic, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands (World Atlas, 2019).

One of the closest and strongest of the European allies, Germany had a GDP in 2018 of 3996.76 billion US Dollars. Comparatively, the US had a 2018 GDP of 20.50 trillion US Dollars (Trading Economics, 2019). Germany and the US have a very friendly trade relationship.

Germany is the third largest exporter in the world after the United States and China and is 47% dependent on exports (Germany, 2019). In 2018, trade between the US and Germany totaled $252 billion, with U.S. exports at $92.4 billion and imports at $159.8 billion. Meaning that Germany is a powerhouse in business (Trading Economics, 2019).

Business Insider claims that 49 million (16% of Americans) are of German descent. This leads to the mutual understanding that the United States has business attributes comparable to German business culture. As a melting pot country, we can take those attributes and imbed them into our daily business.

Significant and Embedded Values with German Culture

When doing work with any foreign country it is important to understand their culture, customs, and values. German culture revolves around structure, hard work, and a forward-thinking mentality. Business etiquette states, “In many respects, Germans can be considered the masters of planning. This is a culture that prizes forward thinking and knowing what they will be doing at a specific time on a specific day. The German thought process is extremely thorough, with each aspect of a project being examined in detail. Careful planning, in one’s business and personal life, provides a sense of security” (Business Culture). This country’s desire for structure stems from their laws, economics, and political structure. All operating with purpose and efficiency.

Compared to the United States, Germany’s approach to business is more centered around results than the way to get to them. Where America focuses more on business ethics, author Bettina Palazzo states, “Almost exclusively the business ethics instrument that is found in German companies are mission statements. And even in these documents the actual words “ethics” or “integrity” or “morality” almost never appear (Palazzo, 196). German companies work more by traditional guidelines of application, theory, and problem solving. Where as the American’s may have a more creative, free flowing way to work towards business goals, German’s value traditional structured routines. The article, “U.S. -American and German Business Ethics: An Intercultural Comparison describes the German business values, “[…]also the German style problem-solving finally aims at action and application. But Germans do not start their activities because they think it might work, but because they have carefully analyzed every aspect of the problem and are sure that the solution, they have come up with is the right one” (Palazzo, 207). Although they may not focus on the same shared vision of norms and values within an organization as America, Germany takes a more tactical approach to business. Being as structured and detailed results oriented as they are, Germans value hard work, accountability, and forward thinking.

Communication being Influenced by Values

Germany is a strong, world-wide economic power and a named member of the “G20”, a global meeting of the world’s 20 most powerful economies. The first step to successful and tactful communications with Germany and their people, is to understand their values.

Understanding values allows for the ability to appeal to someone and what they hold in high regard and ensures you won’t offend someone by doing what you may see as normal in an American business meeting. An example of this is admitting weakness and failure. Self-deprecating humor can be used in American business meetings to build rapport, or to cut through tension. This tactic would not be nearly as effective in Germany, as culturally, admitting failure is a form of weakness. Even when joking, admitting failure can lose your credibility, self-respect and end valuable partnerships in the eye of your German business counterpart (Zimmerman, 2018). Privacy is also imperative; sharing secrets of your business field trade or them gaining knowledge of you leaking private conversations is another way for communications with the German to fall apart.

While in America offering private intelligence to another company may be a way to gain respect, in Germany it is a form of violating trust, given privacy is a cornerstone value for their culture (Zimmerman, 2018). Presentation during meetings is also held to a different standard. Punctuality is very important, showing up late is a good way for communications to fall apart, and it is a sign of disrespect and lack of character (Zimmerman, 2018). How you hold yourself is also significant. Stoicism and a sense of precision are effective characteristics when dealing with German counterparts. Projecting this in body language and non-verbal actions, can appeal to the values and goals of Germans to encourage a more beneficial and trusting relationship.

As stated above Germans place a high value on structure, punctuality, and privacy. The Germans are not ones for changing things after a deal is made so the agreement must be swift and concise. All aspects must be thought out and put together in a timely manner. All in all, to be effective, you should be direct, to the point, and organized.

Infrastructure and Legal Issues to be Considered

Germany has a strong presence in the economic world markets, as of 2018, they rank as the largest investor country in all of Europe. They respectfully hold the rank of the 3rd largest exporters in the world and have held that rank for the last 6 years. Germany’s business structure is strong, and their own people keep them thriving. Because of their high standard of education and personal growth, over 81% of their population hold a bachelor’s degree or have some post high-school or vocational training (Voigt, 2019). The first-world averages, like the United States and England, rate in the low 60% percentile. Germany’s rigorous education system could be linked to their higher IQ scores, which in turn could correlate with their diverse fields of work.

Germany remains consistent as an innovative champion in their own research and technology. They are backed by Billions of Federal funding from Germany’s own Research & Development to continuously improve and grow. Therefore, German business infrastructure is fast moving which leads to the requirement for laws in business. Business law provides structure much like family rules apply to families to keep them from interpersonal conflict. As learned in business school, retention in employees is more important to the company than having to re-hire someone, which could be considered a failure to a German based company.

German Business Norms relating to infrastructure.

Recently in 2016, Germany’s Federal Government’s raft of reforms established new tax laws that benefited foreign investors. They have significantly reduced their corporate tax levels as incentives for global venture capitalists. Germany remains steadfast in their own political infrastructure that pours out to their global market. Their political position within their own country, Europe, and the world, remains stable and strong. Germany is a modern country that creates and maintains a governance that reflects our social and economic climate. They are known to have a “First Class Infrastructure” in every single level of their country. Starting from the corporate level and their political frameworks down to their transportation networks and community involvement. Germany is a sophisticated country to do business with. They are advanced with their economic, social, and political frameworks.

Germans will work with people from other countries and act similarly “nice” like how American’s are known to act. Germans will relate to Americans and their standard of culture based on the United States schooling system and corporate America. This discovery came from the book called The Culture Code: An Indigenous Way to understand why people Around the World they as do written by Clotaire Rapaille. What happens in the book is a relation to vehicles that can be picked apart in the essay. The view is that German population sees North America representing freedom. Freedom comes from the image Jeep presents with its history in WW2 in which the United States of America Won the war because of our view on life.

Stating the obvious and being direct is good for business to prevent behind the back or under the table operations. Time is money to all cultures and to be appropriate to the German Culture we want to not be messy by having documents ready to sign. The importance of being ready for the meeting allows all to tap into the main idea that was solidified. Clean dress helps make healthy business environments across the globe. Cleanliness starts in the kitchen, bedrooms, and bathrooms. The result of showing off hard work to others is by keeping oneself clean rather than no care on appearance. Even the style of shoes matter in terms of what people respect. Things should be put well together rather than mindlessly throwing things together in a hurry. Rather there should be research done to know what is appropriate for the life being lived.

Legality of doing business with German’s is dependent on following the rules abiding by each country. Don’t follow the rules and the deal will get lost with consequences. Consequences range from personal well-being to federal government. That was shown immediately after Uber was introduced to the country. Germany has a reputation of strongly regulating their many levels of infrastructure. Finally, after a 3-year battle, in 2017 Uber won its court case against the Higher Regional Administrative Courts of Hamburg and Berlin. Originally the country of Germany banned the app-based transportation service on the basis that it went against their Competition Law. They also decided that “Uber’s business model leads to a breach of the German Passenger Transportation Act”, Uber obviously miss-stepped and found themselves in a 3 year long legal battle with the Federal Government (Voigt). Because of this legal battle Uber is currently only in a handful of cities, and their expansion has been slowed. Thankfully things have resolved on both sides, and Uber is looking to expand into additional areas of Germany in 2019 (Busvine).

Political Issues Influence on Business

In Germany, the political landscape is changing. As with the rest of the world we see an ever-growing urgency for clean sustainable business practices. Climate change is a big issue in Germany, just like it is in other parts of the world. With Angela Markel stepping down, Germany will have new political leaders step up after Markel’s 15 years of leadership end.

The Green Party and other smaller political parties are gaining in parliament and they may bring about change. For years the politics have been dominated by 2 parties, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who are considered center right, and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who are considered center left. Because of these 2 parties holding majorities there hasn’t been significant change in the past 15 years.

Germany is broken down into 16 states, these different states have different governments, and in turn can have different laws/customs (Deutsche Länder). Wherever you’re looking to do business you need to research into the customs and laws of that Länder. For example, in Bavaria they are very strict about their working hours. In Bavaria nothing is open on Sunday, and residents call it “the holy day”. The typical working hours are strict, they are Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., then a 2-hour lunch break, and work resumes from 2-4 p.m.. Saturdays vary by business but usually there are limited hours, and as mentioned above there is no working on Sunday (some restaurants/bars are the exception). When Germans aren’t on the clock you can’t expect them to work. In the United States it’s common to work on projects and other work after hours at home, but in Germany, it just doesn’t work that way.

While working with a company that is headquartered in Germany, they usually will flex their work hours to accommodate a country they may be working with, all while still working only an 8-hour day. Since they are 6 hours later than the US, associates in Germany will start at 9 or 10am and work until 6pm so they can maximize the hours they have to be able to communicate with associates here in the US. The morning in the United States is the afternoon in Germany so by flexing German work hours they can communicate effectively. Germans also value the holidays they get. The US has a holiday here or there, but Germany has times when they are closed for business for a week or two at a time and they call it “Holiday” where they do not work or respond to emails.

Rules & Guidelines for business with Germans

When working with a German Company, there are some guidelines to consider to make the work flow smoothly. Germans are known for wanting order and having a timeline. They are a very detailed culture looking at all aspects of a job while taking the time to make sure it will function as they expect. The work produced in Germany is usually always top notch, which is why a lot of companies like to work with Germans. Germans are very family orientated and usually do not work on weekends while also only working a regular 8-hour work day.

Germans are also very punctual people and so when working with them it is advised that you log into your meeting or arrive in person, so you are ready when the meeting is supposed to start and that you are not late. Germans also take a lot of pride in being well dressed. They are not always dressed up, but they always want to be dressed well even when they are wearing Jeans. This is something that people need to consider when working with Germans because your appearance is one way in which they are judging you and what your work may be like. Another guideline to be careful of is that you know your work and what needs to happen at what time frames on the timeline as Germans do not like work surprises. Companies from outside Germany usually work well with Germans because of these reasons. Companies know what to expect and know that projects will get done well and in a timely manner. Based on an understanding of respect learned in homes during adolescence and young life. Being kind goes a long way and when things don’t turn out, there is the choice of making things correct without anger or ‘walking away’ to avoid verbal altercation.

Conclusion

Germany is a strong ally in trade and politics. Understanding how to interact on the World stage in a positive, respectable manner is critical to effective business growth and collaboration. Acknowledging our similarities and differences positions our leaders and businesses in an essential position of growth and productivity. Germans have created a productive work environment that is respected across the globe with many innovations to better civilization.