Business and Social Etiquette Practices to Expect in Germany

Tristan Strickland

MAN 3025: Principles of Management

Marvin Karlins

April 17, 2022

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As many of us are coming to the end of our time in school we are quickly approaching

the next step in our professional journey. Internships will come to an end and full-time positions

will open giving a wide range of opportunities to allow professional growth. Those positions

may range from entry level, mid-range, or even high-level specified positions and for those lucky

enough to get the opportunity positions abroad will open up for those qualified enough to

complete the task at hand.

What is Business Etiquette?

The most conventual and commonly accepted definition would boil down on how to

behave within the confines of society or a general group. But how does etiquette apply to

business especially that of over seas business. If you get the opportunity to some day work over

seas business etiquette is extremely important in strengthen the relations between the host

country firm and the members from the home countries firm. “Business etiquette refers to the

requirements and expectations of social and business behavior, practices and conduct that are

prescribed by social convention, and a code of ethical behavior among professionals” (Virginia

Tech, 2022). One of the best countries to look into the Business Etiquette practices is one of the

most countries in our culture: Germany. As we know from years of history classes the country of

Germany has not been painted in the best light, so when moving over there for work it is crucial

that one quickly adapts to the standard Business etiquette practices to build a strong foundation

for the relationship.

How Different is American and German Business?

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When you looking across the span of business in Europe you can somewhat compare it to

the span of business in America. Overall general practices will remain common from state to

state or country to country but when you dive deep into the cultures you will major cultural

differences. The way business in Florida and New York or German and England is conducted are

not the same even though there’s a relative closeness geographically compared to that of

Germany and the States. Moving to a new place is always going to be nerve racking because

there’s so much, we don’t know especially language barriers but “if you are not fluent in

German, … one way to successfully conduct business is to become knowledgeable about the

country's customs and manners” (Sabath ,1999, pp. 9).

Allow there will be many new ideas and theories to adapt to there will be some that are

consistent with life in America so good and some not so. Both countries have negative

stigmatisms surrounding women in the workplace due to previous ideologies many years ago,

although the conditions if both countries are improving it could be much better. In Germany

women in the work force were hit hard by the rise of Hitler and the subsequent years following

pushing them to take more of a stay-at-home role and those who kept their jobs would only later

use them when Germany was “reunited” (Flamini ,1997, pp. 42-45). Women in America also

experienced similar situations during WW2, during the war many jobs were opened for them to

work only to be pushing outed by the return home of soldiers (Engel ,1997, pp .47-50).

One of the biggest differences one can see between German and American workforces

is the pride and respect the Germans have for their work, this doesn’t mean that there is a lack of

respect within the states but the German people take business very seriously. The German people

have high regard for titles (Riemhofer, 2019, pp. 61) and status, as well as experience. There are

careful steps taken to ensure that an employee coming in is qualified to work rather than run a
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cycle of hiring one unqualified applicant after another just to fill the spot “to fill a vacant post, an

applicant usually has to have successfully completed the requisite courses, whether it be a

technical course, a graduate degree or advanced on-the-job training”. (Flamini ,1997, pp. 39).

German Business Culture

The first step to finding success in Germany as an American transfer is to gaining the

trust of those around you weather, you’re a manger or on the same level as your colleagues.

Gaining trust boils down to the respect towards colleges and effort you give to your work

alongside maintaining a professional level of formality (Atma Global, 2011a). Building a strong

work relation is more important in Germany compared to America where personal relationships

are highly valued. Neither method is correct from one compared to the other but strong work

relationships does tend have more benefits on work place productivity.

For those given the role of manager in a German firm there will be a much harder curve

for cultural adaptation. Managers are held to higher standards compared to what we would see in

many other countries and are expected to follow many of the same rules as their subordinates.

According to the Foreign Manager video managers are not expected to stay late at work as it is a

sign of incompetence or lack of understanding rather leave and arrive to work on time. Managers

should also not look to try and force any relationships before they have gained trust but at the

same time be able to clearly and effectively relay important decisions and ideas to everyone

under them as it is standard practice to keep everyone involved no matter their rank (Atma

Global, 2011b).

Like most business structures those in Germany also follow a hierarchal structure

although how different compared to that we see in American business will differ depending on
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the organization you work for. Unlike what we see in some businesses over here there is a strong

focus on the titles and roles a person carries. It’s important to acknowledge all titles of those you

work with as well and distinguish your own. Titles carry meaning and show the level of expertise

and capability of the person they belong to, so while titles do rank one within the structure of the

organization it does not directly mean that they are more or less important than one of their other

coworkers (Atma Global, 2011c).

There are many other facets when trying to maintain a high degree of business etiquette

in Germany. Do not compromise your own individuality but maintain a high level of honesty

with good behavioral aspects (European Comission, 2019).

The focus needs to remain on your college, customer, or however else you are interacting

with multitasking may be a great source of completely work in a timely manner but can be

highly offensive when talking to another person. Not matter how small the conversation gives all

of your focus to anyone within the conversation (European Comission, 2019).

This concept may seem counterproductive in America culture but is huge in Germany,

small talk is an almost non-existent concept in Germany but that is often how we get to know

each other in America. To overcome this be willing to engage in more substance conversations

of a broad spectrum of “normal” German topics like sports, travel, or even what beers to try

(European Comission, 2019).

German Social Culture

Other than just business etiquette you must adapt to the social standards because now you

are not only and extension of the company you work for but your home country; neither of which

you would want to shine a negative light on.

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I have been lucky enough to have had the chance to visit Germany on several different

occasions and speak and work with several different Germans about the difference between our

two countries, as well as experiencing many of the topics within this paper. The German people

are a very proud and hard-working group of individuals both in and out of work their culture

almost demands this type of work ethic from everyone. Because of how stunted the economic

infrastructure of Germany was following the events of WW2 (Tsaplin, 2017) it’s reasonable to

understand why they have a much stricter view on the work life balance than Americans who

comparatively have a focus on work for the importance of leisure time.

Every country and their many subsets of people groups all have some form of cultural

stereotypes surrounding them. Germany is among a small group of European countries that is

seen as a strict, callous, and aggressive but in fairness these attributes are exaggerated heavily.

Because they tend to be serious coupled with the desire for organization to refrain from making

mistakes, they may in fact come across rude but in all actuality it’s the pressure of wanting to fit

in and succeed on the first try so they can be accepted by those around them (Sabath,1999,

pp.113-120).

One of my favorite stories from my time in Germany that instantly crushed all

preconceived stereotypes I had was on my second night staying there. On the first day we landed

it was full of meeting and de-briefings and all of that other fun stuff as a seventeen-year-old

“intern” you want to be apart of. At that point I was convinced that all these people cared about

were the rules and making sure the event went completely to plan with no flaws, I was in fact

right about that. But after an exhausting first two days of work and meetings we were heading

back to our host home with our host family asking general questions about the area we were in.

As the discussion progressed, we got on the topic of the fact that we were in an automatic car
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while almost every other vehicle is manual. The driver laughed and gave told us what I believe to

be the most hilarious reasoning one could think of; the only reason he drove an automatic was so

he had a free hand to eat ice cream with instead of having to shift gears. After that simple maybe

five-minute conversation I realized that they were extremely nice and funny it just took a little bit

of effort and time from both sides to open up and share that with each other.

There are several other forms of etiquette that blend both the business and social aspects

of life in Germany ranging from how to dress to body language to simple expressions and

gestures. It’s important to realize when moving abroad for a jump to gain as much research as

possible about life in that country so you don’t stick out as the stupid American. Germany

alongside serval other European countries over the years have been considered to becoming

more Americanized especially since English is slowly becoming the seconded most common

language in many countries so having to completely adopt a new way of life is becoming less

likely. While those of us who find jobs abroad it doesn’t mean we have to forget our ways as an

American but become more culturally aware of our surroundings, use common sense to avoid

causing cultural rifts, and be willing to learn from mistakes and the new ideas from what ever

country we move to.

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References:

Atma Global (Director). (2011a). Germany Developing Trust [Film]. Atma Global. https://video-

alexanderstreet-com.ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/watch/germany-developing-trust

Atma Global (Director). (2011b). Germany Foreign Manager [Film]. Atma Global. https://video-

alexanderstreet-com.ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/watch/germany-foreign-manager

Atma Global (Director). (2011c). Germany Power Relations [Film]. Atma Global. https://video-

alexanderstreet-com.ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/watch/germany-power-relations

Career and Professional Development at Virginia Tech. (2022). Business Etiquette.

http://career.vt.edu/develop/business-etiquette.html#:~:text=Business%20etiquette%20refers

%20to%20the,down%20to%20demonstrating%20good%20manners.

Engel, D. (1996). Passport U.S.A. : Your Pocket Guide to North American Business, Customs and Etiquette.

World Trade Press. http://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/lib/usf/detail.action?

docID=3051604&pq-origsite=primo

European Comission. (2019). International Business Etiquette – definition and tips.

http://businessculture.org/business-culture/business-etiquette/

Flamini, R. (1997). Passport Germany : Your Pocket Guide to German Business, Customs and Etiquette.

World Trade Press. http://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/lib/usf/detail.action?

docID=3051608&pq-origsite=primo
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Riemhofer, A. (2019). Doing Business in Germany : A Concise Guide to Understanding Germans and Their

Business Practices. Business Expert Press. https://ebookcentral-proquest-

com.ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/lib/usf/detail.action?docID=5736200

Sabath, A. S. (1999). International Business Etiquette : What You Need to Know to Conduct Business

Abroad with Charm and Savvy. Career Press.

http://web-p-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/ehost/detail/detail?

nobk=y&vid=1&sid=c7cbabf9-5109-40a1-a352-

2874b61008d2@redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ==#AN=25108&db=nlebk

Tsaplin, E. T. (2017). INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIES OF BUSINESS INCUBATION: THE USA, GERMANY AND

RUSSIA. International Journal of Innovation, 5(1), 1.

https://doi.org/ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/10.5585/iji.v5i1.130