A S U C C ESS FU L D A IM LER C H R Y S LER M ER G ER IN

TH E P R ES EN T D AY
N Shriram
Nacera Daoudi
Ashish Patil

W H AT W EN T W RO N G
Products in different segments
Not a merger of equals
Cultural issues
Communication anxiety
Distrust from sharing technology
Protecting turf by Germans
Work culture differences
Poor liasion

Stereotypes
Cultural training created stereotypes
Germans stiff and formal
Americans casual and unorganized

This time around

No training
Sensitization to backstage behaviour
Inform about value orientations
Provision of prototype ideas

Loose Structuring
Different approaches to uncertainty
Americans embrace it
Germans avoid it

New layer of personnel to mediate

Executive secretaries to German

managers
Tasked with preparing managers for
meeting
Americans to be asked to stick to
agenda
New concerns forwarded by mail for next

Interpreter
Language issues
Germans afraid of missing subtleties
Americans want to know what Germans

think

An interpreter present in every

meeting
To advise either party
Americans get sense of side talk
Germans may just stop using German
Germans get feedback on English

Trust Issues
Both countries have individualistic

cultures
Yet relationship important here to
break ice
Industrial visits hosted by managers
Germans to show Americans German

plants
Americans to show Germans detroit

Better appreciation of

complementarities

Titles and Surnam es

Americans on first name basis
Germans on title + surname
Unusual for Americans
To resort to first name uninvited with

strangers
Ask to use formal address with Germans

Those Germans comfortable with

first names
Let them volunteer to be called by first

names

D om estic Chyrsler M anagers

Few had worked abroad
Daimler managers had global

experience
Let Daimler managers make most of
the trips
Gets them perks and bonuses
Issue of inequity in pay addressed
Americans comfty in US
Germans already used to being
expats

Q ualifi
cations and Pay
Germans value formal qualifications
US senior executives worked their

way up
Get all Chrysler CXOs PhDs
Grants to universities
In exchange for honorary doctorates
After all they have immense experience

Rem uneration
Germans opaque pay structure
Link pay to performance
In US not uncommon
In Germany probably resistance
Explain that its the only way to justify

pay

Point out the extra sales from

Chrylser cars
European markets ripe for mass market

cars

TH AN KS