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Cultural differences when doing business between Denmark and the UK
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UK |
Denmark |
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Tip 1 British companies tend to develop managers to be 'generalists' rather than 'specialists’ |
Tip 1 The drive for egalitarianism is strong in Danish business circles. This leads Danes to be consensus-oriented |
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Tip 2 Recent years have seen many people moving job and employer on a reasonably frequent basis |
Tip 2 In common with other Scandinavians, Danes seek consensus through detailed discussion and the search for a negotiated agreement |
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Tip 3 British organisations have moved towards a much flatter system of management |
Tip 3 Denmark has few truly multi-national companies but boasts hundreds of highly respected players in niche-markets |
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| Tip 4 Job descriptions in the UK are often very imprecise leaving a potential vacuum in ownership of task and decision. | Tip 4 Danish success has been largely built on high levels of design, creativity and technical excellence |
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| Tip 5 Managers like to be seen as part of the team rather than removed from it | Tip 5 Employees have, traditionally, tended to stay with one company for much of their careers and job-hopping has been somewhat rare |
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Tip 6 The value of pure academic education is viewed with some suspicion. Respect is earned through experience rather than qualification |
Tip 6 Structures tend to be much flatter than in many other countries with wage differentials reflecting this |
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| Tip 7 Managers find it difficult to articulate direct instructions and will often couch instructions in very diplomatic language. | Tip 7 Managers are expected to be 'primus inter pares' (or 'first amongst equals') rather than figures of authority who give direct instructions to subordinates |
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| Tip 8 There are a lot of meetings in the UK and they often fail to produce the desired decision | Tip 8 Promotion tends to be determined through achievement rather than through relationships or networks |
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Tip 9 The British do less empirical preparation for meetings than other nationalities - seeing the meeting as a forum for debating potential solutions |
Tip 9 People are expected to be well prepared for meetings and to be able to argue their own point of view convincingly | |
| Tip 10 Meetings are reasonably formally structured, roughly following a predetermined agenda and keeping more or less to time | Tip 10 Pre-meeting lobbying could be viewed as mischievous and underhand | |
Tip 11 The British like to be part of a companionable team |
Tip 11 Meetings can be long and are certainly plentiful - due in no large measure to the consensus-seeking process |
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Tip 12 Members of a team are expected to take an holistic interest in the project, rather than confining themselves to their allocated role only |
Tip 12 Debate is often very direct and this is seen as a positive style of communication. Overly diplomatic or coded-language will be viewed with suspicion |
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Tip 13 The British place diplomacy firmly before directness and will try to avoid engendering negative emotions |
Tip 13 Danes make good team players - so long as they understand and approve of the team 'rules‘ |
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Tip 14 The British can misinterpret direct speech as rudeness, aggression and arrogance |
Tip 14 Communication across functional lines tends to be very open and leads to an expectation of being kept constantly 'in the loop’ |
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Tip 15 Humour is acceptable and expected in virtually all business situations |
Tip 15 Levels of foreign language speaking are very high with many people speaking two or three non-native languages |
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| Tip 16 Self-promotion is not appreciated in the UK. It is far better to self-deprecate. It is, of course, acceptable to be positive about your company and products | Tip 16 Humour is an oft-used communication tool in Denmark | |
| Tip 17 Meetings will often begin with a good amount of seemingly meaningless small talk | Tip 17 Body language can be somewhat limited which makes the interpretation of responses difficult for people from more expressive cultures |
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| Tip 18 Women play an increasingly prominent role in business life - especially in service industries | Tip 18 A high percentage of women work in Denmark and many reach the highest levels of organisations | |
| Tip 19 Formal dress codes are still predominant although changes are starting to occur in this area | Tip 19 Danes tend to work contractual hours and make a strong separation between work and private life | |
| Tip 20 Colleagues will virtually always use first names amongst themselves. It is considered very formal and distancing to use surnames. | Tip 20 Dress codes tend to be reasonably informal in Denmark although this can vary across industrial sectors. |
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| Anne Sofie Danekilde, Marketing & Events Manager at The DUCC |
New people = new times = change!
At the DUCC office there have been a few changes during the last couple of months. I, Anne Sofie Danekilde, started as the new Marketing and Events Manager November 1st 2011 and Marie Mølbak-Andersen started as our new intern January 4th 2012.
