German Business Conditions and Infastructure

High Culture:

• Germany has a rich history of authors, poets and literature dating back to the countries earliest recorded texts in the 8th century. In recent years, around 94,000 titles are published or re-published annually, Germany is established as one of the world’s leading book nations. The International Frankfurt Book Fair, held every October, is considered the international pub­lishing world’s most important meeting.
• The Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to German language authors thirteen times (as of 2009).
• There are many sides to cultural life in Germany. This includes around 300 theaters and 130 professional orchestras. The 630 art museums feature diverse, internationally renowned collections.
• Theater and Cinema have been and continue to be prevalant in the culture. The Germans have a well-established network of state, municipal, traveling, and private theaters. Movies such as 1998's "Run Lola Run" established Germany as a respected cinematic force.
• "Run Lola Run" is one of my personal favorites. Here is a link to a trailer for the movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ea0mG4ahRk

Germany’s reputation as a strong musical nation continues to be based on names like Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Handel and Richard Strauss. Students from around the globe attend the countries renowned music academies. Music lovers are attracted to the many annual music festivals from the Wagner Festival in Bayreuth to the Donaueschingen Festival of Contemporary Music.
There are 80 publicly financed concert halls in Germany, the most important being in Hamburg, Berlin, Dresden and Munich as well as Frankfurt/Main, Stuttgart, and Leipzig. The Berlin Philharmonic is considered to be the best out of 130 symphony orchestras in Germany. Below is a link to scenic pictures of Germany set to a very moving piece of music: Moonlight Sonata, by Beethoven.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_Jjxv7EDgE

Religion & Folk Culture:

• Christianity is the predominant religion for about 65% to 70% of the population. This includes both denominations of Lutheran-Protestantism and Calvinism united in the EKD (Evangelical Church in Germany) and the Roman Catholic Church that are concentrated in specific regions.
• Other minority religions include: Islam (about 4 % of the German population), Judaism, and Buddhism (both of which represent less than 1% of Germany’s inhabitants)
• Holiday's include: Easter, Christmas, Valentines day, Mother's & Father's day, New years day, May Day, Oktoberfest,Fasching, or Carnival and Erntedankfest( Thanksgiving) to name a few.
• Germany claims some of the most renowned composers, producers and performers of the world. It is the largest music market in Europe, and third largest in the world. Modern music that has come out of the country includes bands such as the Scorpions, Helloween and Kreator (who's popularity increased in the 1980's) and, more recently, bands like Rammstein ( I have personally seen in concert) and Tokio Hotel. Heavy metal music has been a part of the youth culture in Germany since the 1970's.
• The Rock am Ring festival is the largest music festival in Germany, and among the largest in the world. German artists also make up a large percentage of Industrial music acts, which is called Neue Deutsche Härte. Events like Wave-Gotik-Treffen and M'era Luna Festival Bring over 30,000 people each. In addition, the country hosts Wacken Open Air, the biggest heavy metal open air festival in the world.
• The cuisine of Germany is known for Pastries, beer, Sausages(wurst), Strudels and Kraut. However, modern German's appreciate healthy, well-prepared foods served with care. "Brot" or bread is served with every meal and a very important staple in the German diet.
• The country is also well known for it's excellence in wine and beer making, manufacturing and marketing. Many Pinot varietals, Reisling and Gerwustrameiner are among the most popular German produced wines. Pilsner, Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier and Spaten Oktoberfest are among the most popular beer styles created by the Bavarians.
• From its modest beginnings, the traditional German clothing, Lederhosen, has led into a huge fashion market. Germany is one of the leading countries in the fashion industry. The fashion industry in Germany has produced 1,300 companies with more than 130,000 employees. A total revenue of 28 billion Euro is generated by the German textile industry. Almost 44 percent of the products are exported. In turn,the textile branch is the second largest producer of consumer goods in Germany, after food production.

Business Etiquette & Social Culture:
-Power Distance: As a decentralized country and the fact it is supported by a strong middle class, Germany is comparatively among the lower power distant countries . A direct and participative communication and meeting style is common, control is disliked and leadership is challenged.
-This is an individualistic based culture that is highly masculine in that society is driven by competition, achievement and success. “live in order to work” seems to be the motto. German's draw a lot of self-esteem from their tasks. Managers are expected to be decisive and assertive. Status is often asserted by material objects such as cars and clothing.
-Germans prefer to compensate for their higher uncertainty avoidance by strongly relying on expertise.

-Gender roles: The country is ranked 11th in the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2008. The role of women in politics remains high with 36.6% of their Parliament including women. Salary gaps between males and females are among the worst in Europe.
-Germans have some fairly standard greeting rituals. For instance "guten tag", "good day," is the best way to greet someone. Bringing flowers to a dinner party is expected and there are laws regarding "quiet hours" and quiet Sunday's"
-Germans tend to stand and sit further apart than other cultures. Germany is also a low-contact culture, meaning, there is little physical contact beyond hand shaking.
When meeting and departing, people expect a firm handshake (one or two vigorous pumps) with direct eye contact. Germans believe that a soft handshake reflects weakness and lack of eye contact indicates shiftiness, unreliability or even dishonesty (AcademicDepau, 2003).

Financial Business Environment:

• Financial Infrastructure: Germany uses the Euro as currency and currently the exchange rate with the USD is: 1 Euro(s) = 1.089 US Dollar(s). The determination of the rate is formulated through supply and demand.
• Located in Frankfurt,the Deutsche Bundesbank (German for German Federal Bank) is the central bank of the Federal Republic of Germany. Because of its strength the Bundesbank is the most influential member of the ESCB or European System of Central Banks.
• The country has 2,400 separate commercial banks with more than 45,000 branches throughout the country which employ over 700, 000 people.
• The Frankfurt Stock Exchange accounts for over 90 percent of the turnover in the German market and a very large share of the European market. This stock exchange is the world's 10th largest by market capitalization.
• The majority of bond (or Bund in German) market participants are institutional investors, such as banks pension funds, ad insurance companies.
• Germany's regulations and bureaucratic procedures can be a difficult hurdle for companies hoping to enter the market. Complex safety standards can complicate access to the market for many U.S. products (export.gov, 2014) There is also a German import turnover tax which requires goods imported from non-EU states pay an import turnover tax (Einfuhrumsatzsteuer).

Transportation & Infastructure:
Germany has 539 airports, 41,981 km of railway and 645,000 km of roadways. Waterways all have major merchant ports and include: the Rhine River, which carries most goods, the Main-Danube Canal that links the North Sea and Black Sea. There are over 3,847 merchant marine carriers for these water ways. There is very little physically standing in the way of businesses importing and exporting with Germany.

Germany has one of the world's most technologically advanced telecommunications systems and over 65.125 million. Power stability is high and communication abilities are strong

References:

• Facts about Germany(2015, April 8).Culture and Music. Retrieved from www.tatsachen-ueber-deutschland.de/.../main-content-09/music.html
• Elliott, Dan(2012, March 26).Run Lola Run Trailer(Video File)
• M., Tony(2010, Nov. 14).Germany,classic music,Beethoven,Moonlight Sonata(Video File)
• German Culture (2012).German Food. Retrieved from http://germanculture.com.ua/library/weekly/german_food.htm
• The Hofstede Centre (2015). Germany. Retrieved from http://geert-hofstede.com/germany.html
• AcademicDepau.(2003, May 6).Non Verbal issues. Retrieved from http://academic.depauw.edu/mkfinney_web/teaching/Com227/culturalPortfolios/...
• Export.gov (2014, July 11). Germany:Trade Regulations, Customs and Standards. Retrieved from http://export.gov/germany/MarketResearchonGermany/CountryCommercialGuide/Tr...
• The World Fact Book(2015). Germany. retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gm.html