Understanding the Intercultural Differences between Germans and the French in the Working Environment

Inhaltsangabe:Abstract: “In an ideal world, the policemen would be English, the car mechanics German, the cooks would be French, the bankers Swiss, and the lovers Italian. But in the real world, we must not forget that there are also policemen that are German, car mechanics that are French, cooks that are English, bankers that are Italian and lovers that are Swiss” (wwwanalytictechcom). Internationalisation and globalisation have an enormous affect on every day life. The number and intensity of contacts – in business life, school, apprenticeship, advanced training or in private life – between people from different cultures is ever-increasing. Due to a growing number of international companies and mergers, working together with foreign colleagues has become a usual occurrence for many people. It is therefore a central topic of the 21st century to cope with cultural diversity and develop intercultural competence. Looking back at history, interaction between cultures is nothing new. Interstate contacts and intercultural processes have always been the result of political, military, economic and religious actions. In the majority of cases, the enlargement and stabilisation of the power structure were the fundamental causes for these processes. Due to an expanding transportation system and technological progress, globalisation has entered a new dimension. Nowadays, information can be passed on across the globe easily and inexpensively; exchanges between schools, universities or businesses have become a stable feature; travelling around the world is no longer the privilege of the rich. Accordingly, there are several areas of life affected by cross-cultural interactions; a very complex one is the working environment, which is the subject of this thesis. Understanding the dynamics of international business encounters requires a fundamental shift from comparative studies of cultural differences to the study of intercultural interactions. The decisive issue in international management is not the existence of differences, but the way behavioural differences are perceived, interpreted, and managed by members of different national cultures. This research will clarify the intercultural aspects of business relations between French and Germans. Why is this relationship of such great interest? As the European Union grows, the idea of a European identity is spread among its member countries. Although these countries have a relatively close geographical [¿] von Pill, Sarah-Jane