Cultural differences in business life between Germany and USA Essay

Cultural differences in business life between Germany and USA - Essay Example In most situations, people do not realize how their own behavior is affected by culture. This is because of the closeness to it and the assumption that everyone is just like them. They expect others to do everything in a manner similar to their own. Communication refers to encoding and sending of a message with proper representation. Message can be verbal, written, non-verbal, and musical form. These various forms of representations have unspoken rules that can cause significant misinterpretations if not properly understood. An individual from a different culture with varied values and rules can cause danger to any encoding. This problem is intensified by the fact that a given message depends on the receiver’s perception and not what the presenter thought. Foster (1992) attest that in conducting daily operations in the business world, communication is considered an important factor. Therefore, when dealing with people of different culture in business, proper considerations should be put in place. These include proper understanding of diverse cultures and ability to handle the various challenges of language barriers. Hofstede (2001) said that most business deals do not mature because prior to interaction, one or both of the parties was not committed to learn cultures of the different individuals involved. To be successful in business life, every individual has to consider the following: proper understanding of different ways in which behavior and business impacts culture. Secondly, major cultural dimensions should be properly understood. Thirdly, individuals should be keen on their own culture and raise awareness about it. Fourthly, and individual should clearly know the different scenarios where their own culture preference can conflic t with that of other people. Fifth, key skills and competencies that boost international success should be identified. Finally, every individual should be sensitive of existing traps and ways to overcome them. 2.0 Cultural diversity In the 21st century, cultural diversity is common in most of the management topics. For proper management, effective communication needs to be in place (Hall, 1959). This requires proper understanding of different cultures of individuals involved. All forms of communication are directly impacted by culture. According to Hall and Hall (1990), individuals view their culture as normal. When they come across people from other different cultures, they are amazed by the unique behaviors. In order to have a clear understanding of diverse perspectives, it is important to have cross-cultural awareness (Hall, 1976; Harris and Robert, 2000). This way, an individual will be able to develop respect for other varied cultures hence suspension of judgment. This knowledg e will boost different business interaction in different situations and localities. It is also important for individuals to know that one approach will not be effective in all given circumstances. 3.0 Comparison of the cultural differences among the Americans and the Germans In business conversation, Hendon et al (1999) and Mattock (2003) revealed that Germans are known to emphasize on content and understates emotions and personal relationships. They respect honesty and openness and prefer using various examples. The fact that Germans give more details results from the detailed explanations