Open Abilities Institutе 

                             

 

 

Igor Zyrianov   

British, German, Russian, Danish - compare nationality in business

       

            This paper includes my thought on my possible assignment in the Ukraine and some discussions of the Danish, German, Russian and British.

            Several years ago  I saw an advertisement about consultancy job in the CIS in the Economist. It is a Danish consultancy company DARUDEC. I sent my CV and after 2 weeks  received a telephone call in which one representative asked me I would prefer to go : Kazakhstan or Ukraine ?

             After that, they sent me all the information about this project, positions vacant and asked to target a selected position. I found that these people were very open-minded and we talk freely. So, I sent my final CV and got a letter. The company submitted the proposal to the EU and sent it in order to obtain a grant from the EU.

            At the same time I saw another advertisement in the Economist

It was a German company. I sent them my CV and later received a telephone call, they asked for my agreement to add my CV to their proposal for the EU.

            I understood, that these company are fighting for European Union money and, "comme d'habitude", I was between two big elephants.

            Immediately I was interested in Danish and German characters and ways of behaviour because I found the Danish to be very open to new people and ready to communicate. I tried to find some information about Danish and German people on the level of stereotypes and used English as a reference :

            Danish people (highly legalistic), like Germans begin with the conclusion of an argument, proceeding to the support points and returning to the conclusion not as the Anglo-Saxons, who begin with a series of concrete or pragmatic observations and proceed directly to "logically inferred" conclusions.  

 

            Compare nationalities

For Danish and German people compare with Russians (British too) in business :

  preparation  attraction interpersonal style strategy
Danish   good high relaxed empirical
German   excessive  low rigid  sequential
Russian  average high flexible empirical
British inadequate high flexible empirical

             About negotiations I found information about British and German

             British use the problem solving approach, anticipated status and role and medium interpersonal attraction.

            Germans make distributive bargaining, instrumental appeals, concessions and low interpersonal attraction. Uncertainty avoidance index : 51 for Denmark a little higher then 47/48 for England. and 29 for Germany.

             After that I prepared myself for the next possible communication with Danish and German companies. For each of them I will act  according to the information about stereotypes, feeling and information which I will receive during the first personal contacts.  

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