Germany

Conducting Business in Germany General Business Practices Personality Traits: · Sensitive to criticism. Avoid embarrassing them at all costs · Very private. Never discuss personal matters during business negotiations. Try to develop good relations, especially for long-term business association.

· Emotional. When challenged, Germans may become very emotional · Logical. Germans do not like to change their ways of conducting business unless a better way is proven · Flexibility. Germans are not very flexible and are not very excepting to risks.

Punctuality: · Arriving on time is a must. Being only minutes late is a grave insult.

· If you must be late, it is essential to contact the person you are meeting with a reasonable explanation for your tardiness · Casually changing times or locations of meetings is unacceptable Meetings · Plan for meetings well in advance. Allow 2 weeks to a month when scheduling a meeting · Preferred times for meetings are between 11:00AM and 1:00PM or between 3:00PM and 5:00PM · Do not schedule meetings on Friday afternoons.

Fda

German soldier's "Auf Wiedersehen" (LOC)

Germans at Princeton -- Weitzer - Lt. Reichenau - ...

Some offices close between 2:00PM and 3:00PM on Fridays · Be sensitive to festival periods. Also, Germans take long vacations during July, August and December.

General Meeting Practices · Very serious. Joking is considered only appropriate while socializing · Decision making is very slow and detailed · Avoid interruptions · Only top management makes final decisions · Contracts are taken very serious. Anything is writing is concrete · Do not break rules. They are taken very seriously and punishment will follow if rules are broken · Decisions can be made at meetings, but when they are made, they are final · Women are treated as equals in Germany, but don?t usually have high positions · Doors are always remained closed. Make sure to knock when entering a room Government...