Austria: Let's Make a Deal! - Part 2
From ExecutivePlanet.com
More guidelines
If you make a presentation, it should be succinct and methodically thought out and you should expect pertinent questions for clarification but not a wide-ranging discussion. Ideally you should also make your facts and figures available in the form of a point-by-point printed handout to supplement and reinforce the presentation. Besides reducing the risk of any possible breakdowns in communication, this documentation will also assist your Austrian counterparts in distributing information to others in the company who did not attend the presentation but who may yet be key figures in reaching a decision. Obviously, it would be very helpful if such bullet-points could be in German, especially if your original presentation was made only in English. This is all part of the cardinal virtue of thorough preparation.
Austrians bring a direct approach to negotiations for the most part. There is little tolerance of euphemism and circumlocution and less understanding of the British preference for irony and allusion. A conference room is not the proper forum for humour or personal opinions.
Austria has a formal, structured and conservative business culture; it is less flexible, more ritualised and more 'old fashioned' [or, at least, very attached to the 'old' way of doing things] than most Western European countries. Change is not thought to be implicitly good for its own sake, and the reasons for doing things differently from the way they have been done, unless obvious, must be set out clearly. Indeed, Austrians can become very uncomfortable, even emotional, if their sense of normal service, order and organisation is threatened.
Allied to this traditional approach is a devotion to fairly inflexible systems and procedures. Teamwork is not especially important but organization is central to the way Austrian companies function. Delegation amounts to issuing orders (in writing) from on high and yet Austrian business is driven primarily by targets rather than purely by rigid process.
Decision-making can be slow and a potential cause of impatience because Austrians tend to be risk-averse and make decisions methodically and with tremendous precision. However, precisely because responsibility for decision-making lies only with those at the very top, it does mean that any action plan is likely to be implemented immediately. Plain-speaking, open negotiations that end in agreement deliver prompt results. Austrians aim for mutual benefit in their business dealings and expect their respect and trust to be reciprocated. Agreements are solid even in their pre-contract stage and there should be no need to chase them up.
A corollary of Austria's bond with tradition is the survival of an influential class system. Hierarchies are powerful even though they may not always be readily apparent. Membership of the right stratum of society is a critical determinant in the life one leads, and allegiance to one's group and its ways is a powerful force in Austrian behaviour. Knowing the right person in the right place is instrumental in getting tickets for the opera, invitations to state balls and, of course, getting on in business. This does not mean that personal relationships play a dominant part in Austrian deal-making but there remains a certain old-style paternalism, transformed into the modern notion of 'social partnership', that is founded in an atavistic conception of loyalty both in one's personal life and in business.
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