Xenophobe's Guide to the Germans

by Stefan Zeidenitz and Ben Barko

Teutonic torment

In every German there is a touch of the wild-haired Beethoven striding through forests and weeping over a mountain sunset, grappling against impossible odds to express the inexpressible. This is the Great German Soul, prominent display of which is essential whenever Art, Feeling, and Truth are under discussion.

Angst breeds angst

For a German, doubt and anxiety expand and ramify the more you ponder them. They are astonished that things haven't gone to pot already, and are pretty certain that they soon will.

Longer must be better

Most Germans apply the rule that more equals better. If a passing quip makes you smile, then surely by making it longer the pleasure will be drawn out and increased. As a rule, if you are cornered by someone keen to give you a laugh, you must expect to miss lunch and most of that afternoon's appointments.

Angst breeds angst

Because life is ernsthaft, the Germans go by the rules. Schiller wrote, “obedience is the first duty,” and no German has ever doubted it. This fits with their sense of order and duty. Germans hate breaking rules, which can make life difficult because, as a rule, everything not expressly permitted is prohibited.

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Xenophobe's Guide to the Americans

by Stephanie Faul

This tiny book is packed with funny AND insightful comments about Americans from the perspective of the English.

The Xenophobe's motto is "Forewarned is forearmed," and this guide series gives travelers to foreign lands as much ammunition as possible. In The Xenophobe's Guide to the Americans, Stephanie Faul (herself an American) takes readers on a perceptive, ironic, frequently hilarious tour of the American psyche, from its basic traits to its attitudes about sex, drugs, and gun control. Discussing the American character, for example, Faul states "Americans believe themselves to be the only nation that is truly capable of winning.... Having God on your side in a fight is good. Having the United States on your side is better. To an American, they're the same thing." On obsessions she writes: "There are a few, a very few things that Americans condemn as being beyond the pale. They include: Growing Old ... Being Fat ... Dying."

Perhaps Americans themselves are in the best position to appreciate Faul's barbed commentary, but foreign visitors will surely find plenty to inform as well as amuse in this slim volume. American readers, take heart: there are 18 other Xenophobe titles taking equally irreverent potshots at everyone else, from the Australians to the Icelanders. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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When Cultures Collide

by Richard D. Lewis

A practical guide to better understanding cultural diversity and how to react to other cultures.

The successful managers for the next century will be the culturally sensitive ones. You can gain competitive advantage from having strategies to deal with the cultural differences you will encounter in any international business setting. 

Richard Lewis provides a guide to working and communicating across cultures, and explains how your culture and language affect the ways in which you think and respond. This revised and expanded edition in paperback of Richard Lewis's book provides an ever more global and practical guide not just to understanding but also managing in different business cultures. New chapters on more than a dozen countries - from Iraq, Israel and Pakistan to Serbia, Columbia and Venezuela - vastly broaden the range.

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Understanding Cultural Differences: Germans, French and Americans

by Edward T. and Mildred R. Hall

Insights and practical advice on day-to-day interactions in international business between these three cultures.

Human resource management, at home and abroad, means assisting the corporation's most valuable asset-its people-to function effectively. Edward T. and Mildred Reed Hall contribute to this effort by explaining the cultural context in which corporations in Germany, France, and the United States operate and how this contributes to misunderstandings between business personnel from each country. 

Then they offer new insights and practical advice on how to manage day-to-day transactions in the international business arena. Understanding Cultural Differences echoes and elaborates on Edward T. Hall's classic studies in intercultural relations, The Silent Language and The Hidden Dimension. It is a valuable guide for business executives from the three countries and a model of cross-cultural analysis.

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Understanding American and German Business Culture

by Patrick L. Schmidt

Specific and detailed cultural exploration of the two cultures -- USA and Germany.

This useful guidebook focuses on the different organizational behaviors between Germany and the United States. The comparative method is used so that the reader is able to immediately grasp where the differences are and become conscious of his or her own national uniqueness, an ideal tool for overcoming intercultural misunderstandings. Whether German or American, this book will stimulate your understanding of both sides to an increasingly important partnership-equation. Examples are drawn from both the United States and Germany. Interactive case studies and checklists confirm the main points. A reading list guides you to further learning.

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Riding the Waves of Culture

Understanding cultural diversity in global business
by Alfons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner

One of the classic books about the role culture plays in business and the bestselling guide to cross-cultural leadership.

Since its original publication, Riding the Waves of Culture has been considered the definitive guide to one of the 21st century’s most pressing management concerns―effectively leading people and organizations in an increasingly global business environment.

Today’s business landscape is barely a shadow of what it was only a few years ago, when managers’ main concerns were being aware of cultural differences and preventing embarrassments. Now, you must take it a step further to leverage cultural differences for maximum competitive advantage.

The highly anticipated third edition of this business classic brings you completely up-to-date in a world transformed by radical changes in politics, society, the economy, and technology. Retaining its detailed descriptions of the underlying cultural frameworks that affect day-to-day business, Riding the Waves of Culture, Third Edition, provides new, evidence-based information and insight on:

• M&A―how dealing with (national and corporate) cultural differences can enhance and improve chances of success in these often risky endeavors
• An Increasingly Diverse Business World―including improved and expanded measurements of competences, dilemmas and their reconciliations, servant leadership, innovation, and remote-team effectiveness
• Cultural Convergence―analysis of changes in the past 25 years bringing the world closer to a single “global village”

The ability to lead effectively in a global business environment is perhaps the most valuable skill anyone can bring to an organization. The most thoroughly researched and highly respected resource of its kind, Riding the Waves of Culture doesn’t just help you stay afloat in today’s diverse work environment; it provides the knowledge you need to seize the advantage and compete for the long run.

Cultures and Organizations

Software of the Mind
by Geert Hofstede, Gert Jan Hofstede, Michael Minkov

The revolutionary study of how the place where we grew up shapes the way we think, feel, and act-- with new dimensions and perspectives

Based on research conducted in more than seventy countries over a forty-year span, Cultures and Organizations examines what drives people apart―when cooperation is so clearly in everyone’s interest. With major new contributions from Michael Minkov’s analysis of data from the World Values Survey, as well as an account of the evolution of cultures by Gert Jan Hofstede, this revised and expanded edition:

• Reveals the “moral circles” from which national societies are built and the unexamined rules by which people think, feel, and act
• Explores how national cultures differ in the areas of inequality, assertiveness versus modesty, and tolerance for ambiguity
• Explains how organizational cultures differ from national cultures―and how they can be managed
• Analyzes stereotyping, differences in language, cultural roots of the 2008 economic crisis, and other intercultural dynamics

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Culture's Consequences

International differences in work-related values
by Geert Hofstede

His pathbreaking work explains his international survey of business practices in different cultures. He proposed four dimensions on which the differences among national cultures can be understood: Individualism, Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance and Masculinity. This volume comprises the first in-depth discussion of the masculinity dimension and how it can help us to understand differences among cultures.

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2001 German and English Idioms

by Henry Strutz.

 Here you can find the English translation of your favorite German expression or vice versa.

Understanding idiomatic expressions is vital for gaining fluency in a second language. Both English-speaking students of German and German-speaking students of English will find this dictionary invaluable for improving their conversational skill when speaking in their second language. They'll discover that the book also comes in handy as quick word finder when they read popular newspapers or magazines in the second language. Updated to keep pace with current idioms, this two-part phrasebook translates 2001 expressions from German to English and from English to German. All entries are illustrated with sample sentences.

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