XX+Personal+Page+for+MIKE+KLEIN

My country for this course is GERMANY


 * Germany is the most populous European country (apart from Russia), with a population of 82 million.
 * German people are the second biggest consumers of beer in the world (after the Czechs), with an average of 107 litres per person per year in 2010 (or 0.30 liters per day).
 * As of 2012, German athletes have won a total of 1662 Olympic medals (summer and winter combined from 1896 to 2012), i.e. more then any other country in the world except the USA.
 * The German language was once the lingua franca of central, eastern and northern Europe, and remains the language with the most native speakers in Europe.
 * About a quarter of all American citizens claim at least partial German ancestry.
 * The Germans can be credited for the discovery of insulin, the invention of the clarinet, the pocket watch, the automated calculator, the light bulb, television (partly), paraffin, petrol/gasoline & diesel engines, the LCD screen and the Walkman.
 * The term "ecology" was first coined by the German biologist Ernst Haekel in 1866.
 * Germans are among the most avid recyclers. According to a BBC survey, Germany had the third highest recycling rate (48% of waste recycled), only just surpassed by its Swiss and Austrian neighbor.
 * After suffering from one of the highest unemployment rates in Europe (12% in 2006), Germany now has one of the lowest (5.4% in 2012).

O*NET OnLine:
 * 1) O*NET OnLine has detailed descriptions of the world of work for use by job seekers, workforce development and HR professionals, students, researchers, and more.
 * 2) A system such as O*NET OnLine is a valuable national resource for planning, development, and productivity in a national or regional training system because it allows you to find national resources available in a region and employment opportunities within that area.
 * 3) O*NET is a valuable resource for technical training institutions and instructors because it allows the institutions to know what kinds of trades are needed in an area allowing more employment opportunities for workers and instructors alike.
 * 4) O*NET could encourage or support the development in countries that maintain natural resources, such as mining, oil deposits, etc.
 * 5) Countries might discourage the development and distribution of a national system such as O*NET when it would make some people have to relocate to larger cities to find employment, or when there is not enough people with the right education to complete the jobs needing to be done


 * Markit issues its flash PMI for Germany and several other nations:

Marginal growth in output was recorded in the German private sector during June, but latest PMI data pointed to declining new orders and a second successive monthly fall in employment. The seasonally adjusted Markit Flash Germany Composite Output Index posted 50.9, up from the reading of 50.2 in May. Overall growth in output was largely reflective of higher activity in the service sector (51.3), while manufacturing production was broadly unchanged (50.1). Business activity in the French private sector fell at a slower pace in June. The Markit Flash France Composite Output Index, based on around 85%of normal monthly survey replies, rose for the third month running to 46.8, from 44.6 in May. The latest reading was the highest for ten months. Weaker falls in output were signalled by both manufacturers and service providers in June. In the case of the former, the latest decline was the slowest in 16 months, while the latter registered the least marked drop in ten months.


 * A diplomat said that [|Germany] had blocked the next step in the [|European Union]’s membership talks with [|Turkey] over the government’s crackdown on street protests this month. The diplomat from a European Union country said Thursday that Germany blocked the decision to open a new chapter in the long-running accession talks because “there are still open questions.” Pushing ahead with the talks as scheduled next Wednesday would have required unanimous approval at a meeting of top diplomats representing the European Union’s 27 member nations in Brussels on Thursday--June 21, 2013- New York Times On line


 * German officials in Berlin publicly commemorate 60th anniversary of little-known uprising by East Germans against Soviet rule, when more than one million people went on strike and demonstrated on June 17, 1953. June 18, 2013 New York Times On Line.


 * Ethics and Situational Ethics:**
 * Ethics:** a trait that a person has that makes he or she have the desire to be honest, trustworthy, and have integrity in all expects of life.


 * Situational Ethics:** A situation that you can get into that is asking you to compromise your normal ethics and do something that you normally would not do because it would help your company, your position or your boss.


 * 1) While you are trying to gain international marketing access in another country for a product your company produces, you are asked to pay a sizeable sum of money to a government official to gain access for your company to the necessary media coverage. You are told you should place several expensive as in the magazine owned by the brother of the official. How would you react? What would you think and feel? What Cultural factors of the host country and business consequences for your company might you need to consider in deciding what to do? What would you suggest to recommend that your company do?
 * Ethics are different from country to country. What we would feel would be wrong is thought of as normal in other countries. I would react in a manner that would help "seal the deal." I would make a recommendation of making the contribution to the government official and take out the magazine coverage. This is the Price of doing business in foreign countries.

2. You are the president of an engineering firm. the firm is negotiating a contract in another country. the engineering firm has not previously worked in this country. A high-ranking official in this country tells you that it is an established and legal custom to give personal gifts to officials who are authorized to award contracts. This official also informs you that no further work will be awarded to your company without such gifts. However, this condition will not be included in the first contract. You learn that other firms have given such gifts to officials. You are also aware that if your company is cut out of the process, your employees' jobs will be at risk. What would you do? Why?
 * I would give the personal gifts to the officials. I have a business to think of and my employees have families to think of. If you don't want to compromise, then don't do business in countries where their ethics differ from your own.

3. You are asked to head a major project in a developing country that will train many native workers, create 100s of jobs in the country, and result in generation of a great deal of income for the country. You also discover that the project raises issues of environmental consequences, health and safety concerns for workers, and child labor issues. will you accept this international development assignment? Why or why not?
 * I would accept this position to help this country train employees and create new jobs. I would try to do it in a way that there would not be child labor issues, but, once again, you are dealing with people that don't have American ethics. You must do things on their agenda.


 * After considering these scenarios, how would you explain the issue of situational ethics in international economic and educational development? What is your personal stance on this matter?**
 * When you deal with situational ethics in International economics and educational development, you must let the country you are developing have some say in the way it happens. They may have limited resources, tools, etc, to handle the situation at hand.

>> historical ethno-linguistic group, originating in Northern Europe and >> identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which >> diversified out of Common Germanic in the course of the Pre-Roman Iron >> Age. The descendants of these peoples became, and in many areas >> contributed to, the ethnic groups of North Western Europe: the Germans, >> Norwegians, Swedish, Finland-Swedes, Danish, Faroese, English, Icelanders, >> Austrians, Dutch and Flemish, and the inhabitants of Switzerland, Alsace, >> Lorraine (German: Lothringen) and Friesland on the continent.
 * INSIGHT: THE PEOPLE OF GERMANY.**
 * Languages:
 * 27 different languages.
 * main language spoken is Deutch
 * minor language include Danish, low German, Sorbian, Romany, and Trisian
 * Religions:
 * Roman Catholic and Protestant
 * Race and History:
 * The Germanic Peoples (also called Teutonic in older literature) are a
 * INSIGHT: GETTING ALONG IN GERMANY.**
 * Personal
 * The German Handshake may be accompanied by the nod of the head
 * While Germans are open and generous with close friends, they ten to be formal and reserved in public. You will not see many smiles or displays of affection in German Streets.
 * To get some ones attention, Raise your hand, palm facing out, with only the index finger extended. Do not wave or beckon.
 * Extended, Direct eye contact is expected when conversing. Failure to meet a German's gaze will give the impression that you are untrustworthy.
 * Never put your hands in your pockets for longer then it takes to retrieve and object. Germans find it insulting when people speak to them with their hands in their pockets.
 * Business:
 * In business matters, Germans do not like the unexpected. Sudden changes,even if they may improve the outcome, are unwelcome.
 * Whether you know German or use your own language, speak in complete sentences. Make it obvious when a sentence is complete; do not let our sentences trail off. In the German language, the most important word in the sentence is normally the final one.
 * No where in the world is punctuality more important than in Germany.
 * Germans do not appreciate humor in a business context.


 * INDIVIDUAL COUNTRY RESEARCH ADN PRESENTATION PROJECT:**
 * GEOGRAPHICAL DISCRIPTION:
 * Germany is a country in west central Europe that stretches from the Alps, across the North European Plain, to the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. Germany has the second larges population in Europe. The Territory of Germany covers 357,021 km (137,847 squared miles consisting of 134,836 miles of land and 3,011 sq miles of water). Germany shares borders with 9 European countries: Denmark in the north, Poland and the Czech Republic in the east, Austria and Switzerland in the south, France in the southwest and Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherland in the north.
 * HISTORICAL SYNOPSIS:
 * Events in Germany have often dominated the European stage, but the country itself is a relatively recent invention. For most of its history, Germany has been a patchwork of semi-independent principalities and city-states, occupied first by the Roman empire then the Holy Roman Empire, and finally the Austrian Habsburgs. Perhaps, because of this, many Germans retain a strong regional identity, despite the momentary events that have accured since.
 * GENERAL EDUCATION SYSTEMS DERCUPTION:
 * Germany has one of the worlds highest levels of education, technological development and economic productivity. Since the end of the WWII, the number of students entering universities has more than tripled, and the trade and technical schools are among the worlds best.
 * TECHNICAL/ WORKFORCE EDUCATION DESCRIPTION:
 * Germany has one of the best technical/ workforce education programs in the world. They do it by early engagement with youth about career fields. Multiple pathways for youths; more than half of the population in training for state recognized industry endorsed standardized training. Companies engaged in the conversation, at the table and making financial investments in training for future as well as current workers, cluster strategies that bridge the link between economic development and workforce development. Internships for high school students, innovative education models (college in three years while being paid by companies). Emphasis on stem: quick adoption of innovation into occupational training, provision of training linked to available jobs.
 * BUSINESS CUSTIOMS AND PRACTICES:
 * Nowhere in the world is punctuality more important than in Germany.
 * Arriving just 4-5 minutes late can be insulting to a German executive, especially if you are in a subordinate position.
 * Germans write the date by writing the day first, then the month, then the year. Example: December 3, 2010 would be written 3.12.10.
 * If two Germans sign a business letter, or if more than one German is consistently copied on an email, this indicates that both of them must be in agreement before a decision is made.
 * Do not schedule appointments on Friday afternoons, some offices close by 2-3 p.m.
 * FACTORS THAT MAY HAMPER OR IMPACT DEVELOPMENT OF WORKFORCE EDUCAION AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT FOR NATIOANL PRODUCTIVITY.
 * I do not believe there are any factors that may hamper or impact development of workforce education and business development for national productivity because Germany has a great educational system to train for these issues. Both standard education as well as vocational education.
 * POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, AND SOCIO-CULTURAL DESCRIPTION:
 * [|Germany] is a [|federal] [|parliamentary] [|republic], and federal [|legislative power] is vested in the [|Bundestag] (the [|parliament] of Germany) and the [|Bundesrat] (the representative body of the [|Länder], Germany's regional states). There is a multi-party system that, since 1949, has been dominated by the [|Christian Democratic Union] (CDU) and the [|Social Democratic Party of Germany] (SPD). The [|judiciary of Germany] is independent of the executive and the legislature. The political system is laid out in the 1949 [|constitution], the //[|Grundgesetz]// (Basic Law), which remained in effect with minor amendments after 1990's [|German reunification]. The constitution emphasizes the protection of [|individual liberty] in an extensive catalogue of [|human rights] and divides powers both between the federal and state levels and between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches
 * Germany’s economic freedom score is 72.8, making its economy the 19th freest in the 2013 Index. Its overall score is 1.8 points better than last year, with improvements in six of the 10 economic freedoms including financial freedom, the management of government spending, and labor freedom. Germany is ranked 10th out of 43 countries in the Europe region and has become one of the 20 freest in the 2013 Index
 * Demonstrating impressive resilience, the German economy has withstood the global economic uncertainty and the European sovereign debt crisis. The government has held firm to policies emphasizing sound public finance, keeping public spending under control through deficit-cutting efforts. Earlier labor market reforms that raised working-hour flexibility and reduced structural unemployment have contributed significantly to sustaining the relatively robust job market during the economic slowdown, and there appears to be strong momentum for recovery.
 * POPULATION/ DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTURESTICS:
 * Population: approxamently 81,305,856 as of July 2012
 * Age Structure:
 * 0-14 13.2 % (male: 5,499,555, female: 5,216,066)
 * 15-24 10.9% (male: 4,539,977; female: 4,339,221)
 * 25-54 42.2% (male: 17,397,266; female:16,893,585)
 * 55-64 13% (male: 5,236,617; female: 5,354,262)
 * 65 years and over 20.7% (male: 7,273,915; female: 9,555,392)
 * Median age:
 * Male: 44.2 years
 * Female: 46.3 years
 * Total: 45.3 years
 * Population growth rate: -0.2%
 * Birth rate: 8.33 births/ 1000 population
 * Death rate: 11.04 deaths/ 1000 population