n.05_September_October.2009.Englisch._

Countrylife:

m.",

Romanlans

stililiveIn

smallvfrlages

veryspecialdynamicthattheothercountriesinthere-

giondon'tha\'e.Thereisa certain Balkancannines..,

loveofwheeHngaoddealing,nenvorkingandhospiral-

10:.PeoplearegeneraUyweileducaredandHkeromake

uscoftheopportunitiestheysec.Corruprionisnotrhe

brutalcorruprionofthemafiayoufindinBulgariaor

Russia- especiallyarlowerlevelsoforganizations,ir

isa "sympllthcticcorrupcion" ofgivingprt:scntsnow

3nJagainrhathelpsevenrhemosrcomplexthingsro

work.ForcigllersseemroloveRomania,andlIlanypeo·

piewhogorothecountrystaylangerrhanplanned-

orevenforever.

HowhasRomaniadevelopedeconomically?

Romaniabeganasa sourceofcheaplabourforproduc-

tion.Althoughsomeeompanieshavemovedawayro

othereounrrieswhere[hecostoflabourislower,mally

havestayed.Thisisespeciallytrueinthe:luromorive

business,eventhoughwagesarerising.Samecompanic..<;

areserringupresearchanddevelopmcnrinRomania,

and,inmanycompanies,productiviryishigherinRo·

maniarhaninWesternsites.Joblossesarelessdramar·

iethaninorhcreouorriesandeconomiegrowthcontin-

ues,althoughara rowerlevelthaninrcccmyears.Ncw

companiesarestilleomingtoRomania,partieularl,.in

thec1ecrricalandgasindustriesandinthefieldofinfra-

structure.

WhatcanyoutellusaboutthewayinwhichRomani-
anscommunicate?
Romaniansareindirectintheirc0l11l11unication.This
beg;nswiththefaetthattheRomanian"yes"isnorncc-
essarily"ycs"- it canhavemanydifferentmeanings,
whichGermansoErenfindveryhardtuinterpret.This
is,nodoubr,conneetedwiththedesiretoavoidconfliet.
Manyproblemsarenotaddresseddin.-ctly,ortheyare
memionedsoindirecrlythatGermansdon'tevennoticc
rhem.Thiscancauseproblems,astheRomanianrhinks
chathehastaisedanissue,butdidirsodeJjcate1vthat
t.hemessagewasnotreceivedbytheGermanpartner.

512009

Feedback,opencriticismorGerrnan-styleanalysisof

problemsdon're.'Cistfor Romanians. Ir'sdifficultfor

themto;lCiueaooyra probleminordertufinda solu-

tion,orrosa)'noandrhenrejccrsomerhing.Theyhave

problemspresenringthemse1vcsorforcing[heirideas

[hrough.Thiscanbt:problemarieina jobinterview,

whcntheGermanmanagerislookingforCX3Crlythese

qualiries.lfthecandidateisshyanddoesn'rhavede.lt

answcrstoquesrions,rhentheGermanmanagermayre-

jecthirnandrhuslosesomeonewhomaybeverygood

arhiswork.ThisiswhyI recommendthatGerman

managersdointerviewsrogerherwiththeirRomanian

colleagues.

WhatareRomanianmeetingslike?

Germansoftenfindrhemeetingsverylongandrather

eonfuscd:lndwithoutdearresults.Ir'snota goodidea

totrytoimerrllpt[hemeetingabruprlyandgetpeople

tofoeusonadearplan.Theani~coleadthemeeting

while,atthesametime,allowingpeapletoexpress

themselves. Romanians generally think whilc they

speak,andif youStopthis,theywillswitchoffahogeth-

erandnolongercontributetothediscussion.Evenmi·

nOfthingscancausepeopletofeelbadorhurt,andthis

thendererminesrheirbehaviour.Theydon'tsa)', like

manyGermans,"Ihaverobeprofessionalandbehavc

ina consjsrenrway." lnstead,rheyletrhemselvesbc

goveroedbyrheirfeelings.Romanianscanheveryemo-

tionalandloudinmeeringsandextremelydireetwith

eachorher:Germanseanseerhis<lS~andaresur·

prisedtimtrheRomanianscanbesodirectwirhcach

otherbutsoindirecrwithmemo

CanyoudescribetheRomanianpresentationstyle?

Romaniansaporeciareconrenrandseriousness.Butit is

essenrial[()beaeeepredasa personbeforeyoustart.

Thisisalsoimponanrintraining- youcan'rsimply

say,"Hello,I'lllHans" andthensrartthepresenrarion.

Theparricipamswillnotreallypayattention,asrhey

willbew3tching)'outhewhoJetimerotrytopickup~

BusinessSpodight 31