Information does not flow freely around a strong hierarchy but follows the hierarchical lines. Thus a subordinate will give information to their boss (who may pass that to his boss) who will then pass it horizontally to a counterpart in a different function before it is pushed down the chain again to the relevant party. When the information is sent back, it follows the same path in reverse.
Typical Bavarian
The Bavarians are very proud of their regional heritage. In fact, many, perhaps most, Bavarians see themselves as Bavarians first, then as Germans.
U.S. Cities With the Friendliest Neighbors
From Florida to Hawaii, these cities take care of each other.
Do you have good neighbors? While some people out there barely see or speak to the people dwelling in the next house or apartment, there are some places in the U.S. where community and neighborliness is paramount.
A recent Housing and Urban Development study showed that while neighborhood crime rates are lower in the U.S. than they’ve ever been before, strong community bonds are closely associated with safe neighborhoods where people have a sense of community well-being.
So, where can you find these safe, friendly neighborhoods? A storage company called Neighbor, which is basically the Airbnb of storage companies, recently analyzed and compiled a list of the top 25 cities that pride themselves on looking out for each other, doing favors for one another, and generally acting like good neighbors in a traditional sense.
Volunteerism and US Civil Society
Everyone in the public and nonprofit sectors has a role to play in fostering volunteerism, and engagement can pay dividends for all.
As a former public sector leader now working in the social sector, I have witnessed the tremendous impact volunteerism has on American society—on both the people providing social services and the people receiving them.
These altruistic interactions often serve a broader purpose: They bond together neighbors and communities in a common cause, and enable us to see and appreciate each other’s humanity.
When we recognize the humanity in each other, we lay the foundations of understanding, empathy, and compassion. These then form the building blocks of a healthy civil society in which citizens are more likely to focus on what unites us than what divides us.
What Germans think they are good at
YouTube comments:
“After having lived for 4 years in the US I learned to appreciate some German traits. What comes to mind is efficiency, being detail oriented, having a long attention span, being direct and mostly honest, and – very surprising for me – compared to the US the relation to your superior is much more on an equal footing (okay not everywhere), despite calling your boss by their firstname in the US, work life balance, time for your family Politically, trying to find a balance between economic growth, workers rights, social security and sustainability (trying is the word here). On a material level, certainly bread (in all variations), beer, engineering of course, Sahnetorte (cream cake), Wurst (sausages as well as cold cuts); plumbing, online-banking, … Examples of what we still have to learn: seeing the good things (we are perfect in looking for “das Haar in der Suppe”, finding fault in everything); sometimes letting go of safety in favor of taking risks.”
“My sister lives in Munich and, although I’ve never lived there, I’ve visited Germany multiple times. Germans do many things very well. The towns are clean, safe, and well run. People are polite and civilized. Food is delicious and the beer is out-of-this-world. The women are so good-looking! My sister enjoys a high quality of life over there – she says that social services are comprehensive and stress-free to deal with. And all this without mentioning German achievements in science, medicine, engineering, commerce, and the arts. It’s a fine country. p.s. John Kampfner’s book on Germany is excellent.”
“As an Italian, I can say that Germans are the best when it comes to public facilities, infrastructure, punctuality and public order.. they also make the best beer you can find.. They need to improve fashion and social attitude perhaps (Not all of them are “cold” though) I would love to live in München one day!”
What Can Germans Teach Us About Privacy?
Asking delicate questions in Berlin, the capital of personal data protection
In Berlin this week, I’ll be trying to better understand how Germans are thinking about the surveillance debate that has roiled the free world in recent months. Conventional wisdom has it that citizens of this country are particularly attuned to the importance of privacy due to Stasi excesses during Communist rule.
Has the resonance of the issue been overstated, as some observers suggested after the recent parliamentary election, when Chancellor Angela Merkel triumphed even as privacy advocates in the Pirate Party seemed to lose ground?
Wary Germans hate sharing their data. Will they use a Covid-19 tracking app?
LondonCNN Business —
European governments are racing to develop apps that can track the spread of the coronavirus to prevent a second wave of infections when the economy reopens.
Germany is further along than most, and hopes to have an app ready to download within a few weeks. But details are scarce, and if the app is to succeed, Germans will have to overcome a widespread reluctance to share data with authorities that is rooted deep in the country’s history during the Nazi period and under Communist rule in East Germany.
“The skepticism of Germans in terms of data protection is remarkable when it comes to sharing data [with the government],” said University of Mannheim Professor Sebastian Siegloch, who has studied German attitudes toward surveillance and privacy.
What is Bringschuld?
According to German law (§ 269 BGB) the obligation to deliver is one of the three types of obligation that determine the place of performance. In this case, the debtor must render the service at the creditor’s place of residence. This is where performance success also occurs.
Ms. X would like to redecorate her apartment and buys a couch from a furniture store. Due to the nature of the purchase contract, the company owes Mrs. X the delivery of the piece of furniture. The debt is only settled in Ms. X’s apartment, until then the furniture company is liable for the loss of or damage to the goods.
What Are Organizational Silos?
For a business to be successful, it’s important for employees to share ideas and work well together. Organizational silos can affect how employees interact with one another. As a manager, understanding the pros and cons of organizational silos can enable you to communicate effectively with every member of your team. In this article, we discuss the definition of organizational silos and how you can dismantle them.
What’s behind employee knowledge hoarding
I’ve observed a growing problem in today’s workplace where employees hide, hoard or simply don’t provide information to others in their organization. It’s disruptive and contributes substantially to the lack of productivity. Although employers have tried multiple solutions to the problem — meetings, team building, knowledge management systems — the issue remains largely unresolved.
Human beings are a complicated bunch, and, as it turns out, there are multiple reasons that can cause this breakdown in the flow of information from person to person, level to level or team to team. The fix depends largely on determining which specific issues are driving the behavior in each particular instance.