Difference Between American And German Business Culture

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Cutural Unterschiede Between 1820 and World War I, the largest flow of Germans migrated to the United States of America. They were the largest group of immigrants in the United States at that time. They introduced many things to the Americans, including the first kindergartens, the Christmas tree tradition, and even some of the popular American foods such as hot dogs and hamburgers. Even though there are many similarities between the two cultures now, there are still a numerous differences between them including marriage rituals, religion beliefs, and work ethics. Americans and Germans have different traditions for weddings. The night before the wedding ceremony in America either a rehearsal dinner or bachelor/bachelorette parties can be …show more content…

Despite both countries sharing a strong work ethic, German business culture, in some ways, is stricter than in the United States, and in others, it is far more accommodating of workers. In business dealings, Americans want to get to the point quickly and get the essential information needed, and then come to a quick decision. Even though once that decision has been made, Americans sometimes may see the need to change it later. Generally, America sees risk-taking as a positive characteristic, a sign of initiative, in business. Yet in Germany, risk-taking is viewed as a negative characteristic, a sign of recklessness. In the German business culture, they want to gather as much information as possible and take their time in making the important decisions. Once the decision has been made, Germans are very reluctant to change it later. While the Germans tend to be stricter than the Americans in business, Germans still tend to not work as many hours as Americans. While Americans work more, they tend to be more focused on making money. On the other hand, in Germany there is a work ethic where people take pride in producing quality. Compared to Germany, the United States only requires minimal training for certain jobs. To illustrate, a police officer in America for instance gets about six months of training at a police academy, while the same job in Germany is preceded by a three year schooling and

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