An impossible dream? Hat sich mit den wirtschaftlichen Problemen des Landes auch der Amerikanische Traum ausgeträumt? Nein, denn Präsident Obamas Slogan „Yes, we can!“ zeigt, dass es ihn noch gibt, wie VICKI SUSSENS erfahren hat.

I

n April 2014, Kwasi Enin became a media star. The 17-year-old, whose parents had emigrated from Ghana to the US in the 1980s, applied to all eight of the country’s exclusive Ivy League universities and was accepted by each one — an extraordinary achievement. The media presented the goodlooking young man as an example of the American Dream, the idea that anyone can be successful, no matter what their education or birth (see box on p. 44). Enin’s parents, both nurses, taught him to aim high.

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Now, nothing can stop the Long Island wunderkind from following his dream of becoming a doctor. America is a “can-do” culture, in which achievement against all odds is the highest cultural value, and rallying cries such as President Obama’s “Yes, we can!” are typical. In the past decade, however, Americans have begun to wonder whether they “still can”. Both the American Dream and the idea of “American exceptionalism” — the term used to describe the US’ special place among

medium

nations because of its commitment to liberty, egalitarianism and individualism — have taken knocks. And there achievement [E(tSi:vmEnt] Leistung; hier auch: Erfolg against all odds allen Widrigkeiten [E)genst O:l (Qdz] zum Trotz aim high [)eIm (haI] hoch hinauswollen commitment [kE(mItmEnt] Verpflichtung decade [(dekeId] Jahrzehnt egalitarianism Egalitarismus, [i)gÄlI(teEriEnIzEm] Gleichheitsgedanke Ivy League universities acht private Elite[)aIvi li:g )ju:nI(v§:sEti] universitäten im Nordosten der USA nurse [n§:s] Krankenpfleger(in) rallying cry [(rÄliIN kraI] Schlachtruf take knocks [)teIk (nQks] einen Knacks bekommen

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Mauritius

THE US INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

Global symbol of freedom: the Statue of Liberty

Credit

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION THE US

Job fair: land of opportunity for youth?

is talk of the end of its role as the world’s leader, as China’s star rises. Not far from Long Island, 24-yearold Gracelyn Bateman walks across town to her job in a digital-media agency in Manhattan. She loves this lively, diverse city and says she feels “privileged” to live there. Bateman’s parents had no problem paying for her to study sociology at

an Ivy League university. However, she does not believe she will reach her baby-boomer parents’ socioeconomic status. “It is going to be difficult for my generation to live out the American Dream the way our parents did,” she says. “I do not have a single friend in New York who is financially stable or able to save.” Unemployment for those aged between 16 and 24 is around 14 per

“It is going to be difficult for my generation to live out the American Dream the way our parents did” Gracelyn Bateman, 24-year-old member of the millennial generation, who works in digital analytics in New York City

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cent, compared to the national figure of just over six per cent. Even though GDP is expected to grow by nearly three per cent in 2014 and unemployment has fallen significantly in recent years, real wages have been stagnating since the 1970s. A recent OECD report ranked US socio-economic inequality as the fourth worst of OECD countries, after Chile, Mexico and Turkey. baby boomer [(beIbi )bu:mE] Chile [(tSIli] diverse [daI(v§:s] GDP (gross domestic product) [)dZi: di: (pi:] millennial generation [mI(leniEl dZenE)reIS&n] stable [(steIb&l]

Angehörige(r) der geburtenstarken Jahrgänge [wg. Aussprache] vielfältig; hier: bunt gemischt BIP (Bruttoinlandsprodukt) Generation der Personen, die um das Jahr 2000 herum Teenager waren stabil; hier: solide aufgestellt

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Proud Americans: celebrating Independence Day

Reuters/Corbis

ddp

United States: Fast facts

Media star: Kwasi Enin, 17, is off to Yale

The report’s authors say increasing inequality is stifling social mobility in the US. In the past 30 years, the pre-tax income of the wealthiest one per cent of Americans has doubled, while average incomes have risen by only 0.6 per cent annually and the incomes of the poorest ten per cent dropped by 15 per cent from 2000 to 2010, according to the 2013 OECD Income Distribution Database. annually [(ÄnjuEli] benefit [(benIfIt] database [(deItEbeIs] economic recovery [i:kE)nQmIk ri(kVvEri] poll [pEUl] pre-tax income [)pri: tÄks (InkVm] stifle sth. [(staIf&l]

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jährlich Sozialleistung Datenbank Konjunkturaufschwung Umfrage Einkommen vor Steuern etw. unterdrücken, ersticken

“To many people, what matters is not so much inequality of incomes, but rather inequality of opportunities,” say the authors of the OECD report. They believe the problems are structural and will not be solved by an economic recovery. Instead, policy changes are needed to improve education, to build the skills needed for a more technological and changing workplace and, especially, to reform tax and benefit policies, which are the most “direct and powerful instruments to redistribute income,” says the report. A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found that 71 per cent of those asked blame the country’s problems on federal politics, which has seen

Official name: United States of America Government: Constitution-based federal republic Capital: Washington, DC, 4.7 million (2011) President: Barack Obama (since 20 January 2005) Population: 318.9 million (July 2014 est.) GDP (at purchasing power parity): $16.72 trillion (2013 est.) GDP (real growth rate): 2.8% (2014 est.) Unemployment: 6.2% (July 2014) Inflation: 2.1% (June 2014) Main trading partners: Canada, China, Mexico, Japan and Germany Main ethnic groups: White 80%, Hispanic 15%, black 13%, Asian 4%, Native American 1% (July 2007 est.) Main religions: Protestant 51.3%, Roman Catholic 23.9%, Mormon 1.7%, other Christian 1.6%, Jewish 1.7%, Buddhist 0.7%, Muslim 0.6% (2007 est.) constitution [)kQnstI(tju:S&n] Verfassung est. (estimate) [(estImEt] Schätzung GDP (gross domestic BIP (Bruttoinlandsproduct) [)dZi: di: (pi:] produkt) Jewish [(dZu:IS] jüdisch purchasing power parity: at ~ kaufkraftbereinigt [)p§:tSEsIN )paUE (pÄrEti] trillion [(trIljEn] Billion(en) Sources: CIA World Factbook (https://www.cia.gov/ library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html); “IMF World Economic Outlook Update” (www.imf.org/ external/pubs/ft/weo/2014/update/01); Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm)

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INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION THE US

Interview “Promoting yourself and the work you do is a matter of survival in America”

MELISSA LAMSON is an American intercultural and diversity author and expert who has worked both in Germany and the US. The owner of Lamson Consulting, she has provided intercultural advice to the German foreign ministry. In 2006, she won an award for her work in diversity from the German government. Lamson, who coaches executives in Germany, talks to us about why understanding the US culture is essential to doing business there. What has your intercultural work with Germany and the US taught you? I’m constantly surprised at how differently we look at things. You think business is business, but then you find we have completely different ways of making decisions, prioritizing work, building relationships and getting support for a project. Germans and Americans have the opposite approach to risk-taking, action versus planning and thinking versus doing. What should Germans know about American culture? It is very complex. I recently did a study where I asked German international project managers which country was the hardest to work for and most said the US. Understanding the importance of succeeding at work is essential if one wants to do business in the US. It is the reason Americans self-promote and use extravagant language, and also why, to Europeans, they can seem naive, showy and false. Why do Americans behave like that? Unlike in social democracies, where a social net protects the weak, in America, business is a dog-eat-dog world. The social pact is “work hard and you can succeed”. You can go from rags to riches,

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but you can also quickly go from riches to rags. So all Americans know they can lose their jobs at any time. Promoting yourself and the work you do is therefore a matter of survival. Americans are conditioned at an early age to stand up in front of others and say how great they are. Why do Americans often appear permanently happy? Americans place a high value on being positive and solution-oriented. We Americans really believe that if you are positive, you will attract positive energy. People who talk about problems are seen as negative. There is also pressure on Americans to appear happy. Europeans are often unsure of how authentic this happiness is. Should Germans in America market themselves in the American way? If they don’t, there is a risk they will not succeed. I coach German executives to create a persona. I often use Steve Jobs as an example. He started off shy and was coached to become a big personality. My clients find being this new persona in a foreign language makes it easier. However, the more you adapt to US culture, the more you can start sharing your own way of doing things. approach [E(prEUtS] challenge [(tSÄlIndZ]

Herangehensweise Herausforderung; hier: Problem consulting [kEn(sVltIN] Beratung; hier: Beratungsfirma diversity [daI(v§:sEti] Vielfalt dog-eat-dog [)dQg i:t (dQg] jeder gegen jeden executive [Ig(zekjUtIv] Führungskraft naive [naI(i:v] [wg. Aussprache] persona [pE(sEUnE] Persönlichkeit, Image prioritize sth. etw. nach Priorität [praI(QrItaIz] ordnen rags to riches: go from ~ vom Tellerwäscher zum [)rÄgz tE (rItSIz] Millionär werden (rags Lumpen) rift [rIft] Kluft showy [(SEUi] protzig, prunkliebend shy [SaI] schüchtern, zurückhaltend

Give an example of the language Germans should use. Germans introduce a product saying: “We are very satisfied with this interesting product developed by our experts.” For Americans, “interesting” means “boring”. I teach them to say something like: “This is an exciting, life-changing product with huge competence behind it, which you cannot live without.” What about possible misunderstandings? A German executive recently told me she never realized how much Americans feared losing their jobs. If management spoke about “problems”, the staff thought they were about to be fired. In America, “problem” means “disaster”. In Germany, it merely means something that needs a solution. How do you handle mixed meetings with different cultural expectations? I recently attended a meeting between a German and US firm that had joined together and they asked for feedback. I told them I would do it separately. Germans want to hear the negative things first so they can avoid problems, so I told them: “There were really quite a few problems and certain areas could turn into disasters.” I had to focus on solutions and be positive for the Americans, so I said: “It was a very productive meeting, but we still have a few challenges and we need to create work teams to find solutions.” What is the worst mistake one can make in America? Criticize America! Avoid political discussions, even if you know Americans who live in Germany, and they criticize the US themselves. What unites Americans is an enormous sense of pride and protectiveness about their country. It’s a case of: I can criticize my own brother and sister, but if you do, it will create a rift between us.

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Alamy (2)

Labour unrest: workers speak out against unemployment

a stalemate in recent years between the ruling Democrats and the Republicans on important issues such as debt, health care, financial-sector regulation and climate change. “The public seems to have moved beyond the plaintive cry of ‘Feel our pain’ to the more angry pronouncement of ‘You are causing our pain’,” Democratic pollster Fred Yang told The Wall Street Journal. Younger voters, in particular, are disillusioned with traditional politics and increasing numbers describe themselves as independents. More multicultural, egalitarian and informed than any generation before

after all [)A:ftEr (O:l] beat the odds [)bi:t Di (Qdz]

schließlich es entgegen aller Wahrscheinlichkeit schaffen debt [det] Schulden, Verschuldung decline [di(klaIn] Rückgang, Verschlechterung diversity [daI(v§:sEti] Vielfalt egalitarian [i)gÄlI(teEriEn] egalitär, dem Egalitarismus verbunden glass ceiling „gläserne Decke“, [)glA:s (si:lIN] unsichtbare Barriere health care [(helT keE] Gesundheitswesen issue [(ISu:] Frage plaintive [(pleIntIv] wehleidig policy organization hier etwa: Organisation [)pQlEsi O:gEnaI)zeIS&n] für öffentliche Politik pollster [(pEUlstE] Demoskop(in), Meinungsforscher(in) pronouncement Erklärung, Verkündigung [prE(naUnsmEnt] stalemate [(steI&lmeIt] Patt(situation) think tank [(TINk tÄNk] Denkfabrik

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The good life: afternoon drinks at a rooftop bar

them, they are practical rather than ideological, and they support individual policies rather than political parties, says Michelle Diggles, a political analyst from the US think tank Third Way, who believes they will change politics. A 2013 Pew study on American attitudes also found that, while 48 per cent of Americans believed the US was the greatest country in the world, only 32 per cent of millennials had this view. But is America really in decline? After all, the American Dream has never worked for everyone. In the past few decades, anti-discrimination policies have been created to remove the glass ceiling for disadvantaged groups. Yet whites still enjoy greater

social mobility than blacks. Only 17 per cent of black children born to middle-income families exceed their parents’ incomes, compared to 37 per cent of white children in the same income group, according to a report by the Brookings Institution, a policy organization in Washington, DC. However, the American Dream remains fundamental to America’s sense of self. It is an ideal that says the highest human achievement is to do one’s best. “This is why ambition, self-promotion, success and beating the odds are so highly valued in America,” says intercultural and diversity expert Melissa Lamson (see interview on p. 42). Lamson adds that pride in these values is what unites Americans

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Corbis

Digging deep in Texas: extracting oil from shale

The American Dream

J

ames Truslow Adams (1878– 1949), an American historian, coined this term in his popular book The Epic of America, published in 1931. He wrote that the American Dream has attracted tens of millions of people from all nations to the US, but that it was much more than just a dream of making money: “It has been a dream of being able to grow to fullest development as man and woman, unhampered by the barriers which had slowly been erected in the older civilizations, unrepressed by social orders which had developed for the benefit of classes rather than for the simple human being of any and every class. And that dream has been realized more fully in actual life here than anywhere else…”

coin sth. [kOIn] epic [(epIk] erect sth. [I(rekt] historian [hI(stO:riEn] unhampered [)Vn(hÄmpEd] unrepressed [)Vnri(prest]

etw. prägen Epos etw. errichten Historiker(in) ungehindert nicht unterdrückt

across all levels of society. In his recent book, The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America (see box on p. 45), George Packer, a journalist at The New Yorker, describes the gradual breakdown of the US social contract, whereby institutions that are meant to promote social justice have broken down. However, he says that while the US goes through an “unwinding” every generation or so, each decline brings renewal, energy and a new unity. In one sign of renewal, US may-

ors have stepped in where federal politics have failed. The US Conference of Mayors, an organization that represents city leaders, recently formed a task force to fight inequality in their cities. “We recognize that rising inequality and declining

opportunity are threats to our fundamental values and to the nation’s economic growth,” the mayors said in a press statement. More than 30 mayors have promised to secure better wages, improve early childhood education and expand internet access for low-income residents, as well as make their cities better places to live in. In south Texas, another local initiaccess [(Äkses] declining [di(klaInIN] early childhood education [)§:li )tSaI&ldhUd )edju(keIS&n] mayor [meE] press statement [(pres )steItmEnt] research director [ri(s§:tS dE)rektE] social contract [)sEUS&l (kQntrÄkt] step in [)step (In] unity [(ju:nEti] unwinding [)Vn(waIndIN]

Zugang geringer werdend frühkindliche Bildung Bürgermeister(in) Presseerklärung Forschungsdirektor(in) Gesellschaftsvertrag einschreiten Einheit Abwicklung

“We want to make sure we get the most out of [the shale] boom” Thomas Tunstall, research director, Institute for Economic Development, University of Texas, San Antonio

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THE US INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION

For more information BOOKS Chasing the American Dream: Understanding What Shapes Our Fortunes, Mark Robert Rank, Thomas A. Hirschl, Kirk A. Foster (Oxford University Press) Gray Mountain: A Novel, John Grisham (Doubleday) Unternehmenserfolg in den USA: Strategie, Markteintritt, Kultur — die größten Fehler, die besten Praxistipps, Melissa Lamson, Ralf Drews (Springer Gabler) The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America, George Packer (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) WEBSITES Lamson Consulting: www.lamsonconsulting.com World Values Survey: www.worldvaluessurvey.org

ative is bringing jobs and growth, this time to the Eagle Ford shale region, the heart of America’s shale gas and oil boom. “We want to make sure we get the most out of this boom,” says Thomas Tunstall, research director at the Institute for Economic Development of the University of Texas in San Antonio. Tunstall is working with the Eagle Ford Shale Consortium, a group of city and county officials, businesses and research organizations set up to boost development in the region. University of Texas studies show that the shale industry in south Texas supports more than 116,000 fulltime jobs. Plans are to take advantage of the boom to develop infrastructure, by building roads, revitalizing downtown areas and diversifying the local economy to attract other forms of business and agriculture. The shale revolution is a sign

of hope in America — although a controversial one — which in some ways, sums up the US struggle with itself. Growing energy independence is helping to reduce the US petroleum trade deficit and means reduced dependence on politically unstable suppliers in the Middle East. The boom is also attracting US petrochemical firms back home and benefiting the local manufacturing sector. But opponents of fracking — which uses

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highly pressurized liquids to fracture rocks hundreds of metres below the earth’s surface to release oil and gas — believe that the energy industry is insufficiently regulated and that serious environmental damage is being done in the process (see Business Spotlight 1/2014). Sharon Wilson, an anti-fracking activist who had moved to Eagle Ford in the 1990s to live out what she calls her “American Dream” in the countryside, moved away after friends and neighbours became sick. “It’s not right for firms to put families’ health at risk,” she wrote in her blog. “Americans are better people than that.” George Packer says the only thing that never changes in the US are the voices: “American voices, open, sentimental, angry…” As long as Americans are raising their voices, change and renewal will come. And as Kwasi Enin’s case shows, the American Dream is still alive, even if it is not BS particularly well. boost sth. [bu:st] chase sth. [tSeIs] consulting [kEn(sVltIN]

etw. ankurbeln etw. (nach)jagen Beratung; hier: Beratungsfirma county [(kaUnti] US etwa: (Land-)Kreis environmental damage Umweltbelastung, [InvaI&rEn)ment&l (dÄmIdZ] -schäden fortunes [(fO:tSEnz] Schicksal fracture sth. [(frÄktSE] etw. aufbrechen highly pressurized unter hohem Druck [)haIli (preSEraIzd] (stehend) novel [(nQv&l] Roman petroleum [pE(trEUliEm] Erdöl raise one’s voice seine Stimme erheben [)reIz wVnz (vOIs] release sth. [ri(li:s] etw. freisetzen research director Forschungsdirektor(in) [ri(s§:tS dE)rektE] revitalize sth. etw. neu beleben [ri:(vaItElaIz] shale [SeI&l] Schiefergestein shale gas [)SeI&l (gÄs] Schiefergas sum sth. up [)sVm (Vp] etw. zusammenfassen; hier: für etw. sinnbildlich sein supplier [sE(plaIE] Zulieferer/Zulieferin survey [(s§:veI] Studie, Umfrage trade deficit Außenhandelsdefizit [(treId )defEsIt] unstable [Vn(steIb&l] instabil unwinding [)Vn(waIndIN] Abwicklung

Good to know To promote your product or business, use exaggerated sales language. “Interesting” means “boring” in the US. Try “life-changing”, “exciting”, “huge impact”. Self-promotion is seen as essential for getting ahead in the US. Managers often get coached on how to build an exciting persona. Avoid using the word “problem”. In the US, it can mean “disaster”. Talk about solutions, not problems. Focusing on problems can seem negative to Americans, who place a high value on being positive. Never criticize America. Americans are very protective of their country. Be especially careful about discussing politics in work situations. In the US, success is measured by profit, so Americans tend to regard tasks as being more important than relationships. Keep a professional distance with business partners or colleagues. Once you have gained the trust of US partners, you can introduce your own way of doing things. It is possible to balance both cultures in a relationship. exaggerated [Ig(zÄdZEreItId] get ahead [)get E(hed] impact [(ImpÄkt] persona [pE(sEUnE] sales [seI&lz]

übertrieben, überzogen vorwärtskommen Wirkung Persönlichkeit, Image Vertrieb

Listen to more about the US on Business Spotlight Audio plus Test your knowledge of US English in Business Spotlight plus www For more on the US, go to

www.business-spotlight.de/us

Vicki Sussens is a feature writer who edits the Intercultural and Management sections of Business Spotlight. Contact: [email protected]

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