Final IMCCM report Saiphs

Final Report Minor IMCCM

Group 3 - DCG Roman Maininger 21019045 Malte Johanssen 21009996 Veronika Eilers 21014000 Melanie Völkner 21019258 Christina Horstmann 21012652

Stenden University Final Report Group Project DCG ALL-03-01

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Summary

During the minor IM/CCM the project group has been busy with the project to introduce the US

sport clothing brand Saiphs Inc. on the German market.

This project was done because of several reasons. On the one hand to support Saiphs to expand

and to enter the German market and on the other hand to give every group member the chance

to demonstrate that they fulfill every requirement of IBL. These reasons make it a Win-Win

situation.

This project was done by setting up an exhaustive analysis of all internal and external factors of

Saiphs by making different analysis. After being aware of all necessary factors the project group

developed a complete marketing and communication plan as well as a strategy to enter the

German market.

The organization of Saiphs was founded in 2009 in Florida, USA. The most important products

are compression gear and uniforms. They are sold via a web shop, which is also its main selling

point. Furthermore, Saiphs is also working with local sport clubs and schools. In addition to that,

Saiphs products are known for their high quality and great comfort.

Coming to the objectives of this project, it is to say that the project group wants to increase the

market awareness of Saiphs in Germany and to build a well-founded base of customers. Also, to

get perfect knowledge of Saiphs products and a good insight into the company itself is an

objective. Further, it was necessary to gain detailed knowledge of the German sports market by

various research methods as well as research about legal aspects and logistics in the first weeks

of the project. Another objective was to improve the online marketing of Saiphs with regard to

the behavior and habits of the German customers by developing a totally new website for the

German market. Last but not least to start establishing relationships with retailers and sport

clubs in Germany to be on the German market in order to create brand awareness and to make it

profitable as soon as possible.

The identity of Saiphs is to be an innovative company that designs affordable sportswear for

young athletes, while the mission of Saiphs is to produce and sell superior athletic wear for a

more affordable price than competing companies. The vision has been subdivided into three

parts: products, expansion and customers. That means that Saiphs wants to produce and sell

superior athletic wear made in the USA with high customer satisfaction on long and short-term


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base. Further, to enter the European market with a start in Germany and the Netherlands with

the focus on the customers by offering high quality to an affordable price. By this, they have

created the image of a reliable company with products, which improve the workout and protect

the body.

The SWOT analysis showed that the strengths of Saiphs are their (proved) high quality products

for a good price as well as their broad color assortment to fulfill everybody’s wishes. The

universal products of Saiphs are available via the web shop, which gives the opportunity to buy

the products everywhere. Another strength is their customer friendly return policy, even if they

never had any complaints. Last but not least, Saiphs is financially stable, which makes

expansions easier.

Talking about the weaknesses of Saiphs, it is important to say that it is a small company, which is

not known by anybody in Germany. In addition to that, its production is limited and until now,

no marketing campaigns has been started to create brand awareness. Going on, their

distribution network is limited due to lack of corporations with retailers and the actual German

website is not useful for the German market. But these weaknesses can be reduced within a

short period.

The opportunities of Saiphs are the big target market in Germany (at least 27 million registered

sportsmen). Also, sport became more and more important in Germany in the last decades, which

increases the needs of sportswear and compression gear. In addition to that, the weather

conditions in Germany are very favorable for compression gear all year long, as well as its

central position in Europe. Germany is a great country to start their expansion on the European

market. Besides, Germany has a strong economy, even nowadays in times of the economic crisis.

It also offers a great political stability, which reduces the risk for Saiphs and the founded

German-American business clubs have already shown successful co operations between these

two countries.

Threats are the long lead times and problems/difficulties when importing products to Germany,

as well as higher transportation costs and diverse importation laws.

Continuing with the branch analysis, the project group executed the PESTEL analysis to gain

knowledge about the important factors as the political, economic, social, technological,

environmental and legal situation in Germany. The outcome was that Germany is a democratic

and federal republic, which secures a kind of liberty to the people and assured a politically stable

environment. Further, the economic situation in Germany is still stable with a GDP growth rate


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of 0,3 % and a relatively small unemployment rate of 6,5 %. In addition, the infrastructure in

Germany is perfect and offers great opportunities for Saiphs. Regarding social factors, it is

important to know that the consciousness for a healthy life has increased immensely, thus also

for sports and sportswear. Also, according to Hofstede, the German culture is known for

avoiding risks and demanding high quality, which is an opportunity as Saiphs products have the

“Made in U.S.A” sign.

Concerning technology, it is to state that Germany is one of the leading countries regarding

technology and has great potential to maintain this position up to 2020. As well in Germany

usually every person has easily access to the internet, which is of great importance as the web

shop is Saiphs’ main selling point. Talking about environmental and legal aspects, it is to say that

the climate in Germany offers great opportunities and its location is very favorable. The legal

situation in Germany is very structured and Saiphs has to deal with certain laws, some of them

already now like the anti-discrimination law and some of them later, if they are totally

positioned on the German market, such as the employment law.

Regarding the general German sports market, it is to say that it is now a very favorable moment

to enter the market because of its well performance. For the first time since 2007 the annual

revenue of the market has been higher than 6 billion Euros including a positive forecast for the

upcoming years.

With the aid of Porter’s 5 forces model, the project group made a competition analysis. The

outcome was that there is a threat of substitute products, as customers might use just regular

clothing to keep the body on temperature, as well as in this branch there is always the threat of

new entrants. The intense rivalry among existing players could be an opportunity for Saiphs, as

the big players as Nike, Under Armour, and Adidas compete with each other so that Saiphs can

benefit from this situation. Finally, the customers in Germany have a lot of power and a big

influence by demanding lower prices and higher quality.

Talking about the competitors, one can say that there are already the big companies on the

market as Under Armour, Nike and Adidas, who offer great products, but the prices of their

products are very high as well. In general the products of these companies are at least 15 Euros

more expensive than the Saiphs’ products.

Due to the fact that the company Saiphs does not provide any information about their suppliers

respectively distributors, it is difficult to analyze it but one can say that these actions are


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handled quite simple. There is a small stock and the products are shipped via regular mail to the

customers.

Coming to the field research an online survey has been developed with the goal to get a realistic

picture of the behavior, habits, and preferences of the target group. The survey consisted of ten

questions in total and has been a great success concerning the expectations of the project group

regarding to the developed strategy and its response. It has been filled in more than 400 times

within a week. The questions were about sex, age, sports in general, money spent on sports- and

compression gear, buying habits, and preferences.

In addition to the survey, the project group also did personal interviews and field trials to

analyze the needs and wishes of the customers and to get a picture of the market. These

interviews and trials were made via telephone respectively personally. For example, the project

group held a presentation at the soccer club SF Lotte, a semi-professional club in Germany,

whose first team will be sponsored via compression shirts during the next season. In addition to

that, there are other clubs in Hamburg and Cologne that are also convinced by Saiphs products

and are very interested.

The strategic marketing plan is divided into four parts, the product strategy, the promotion

strategy, the distribution strategy, and the price strategy. The product strategy includes the

development of a new look book of Saiphs products for the German market, which is published

on the Internet and is used for presentations to potential customers like sport teams and

retailers.

Saiphs most important product group for the German market is the compression gear. Basically,

there are two different kinds of it, the light weight and the pro weight. The light weight are made

of 85% nylon and 15 % elastane, these products are very light and almost give the feeling of not

wearing anything at all. The pro weights are made of 88% nylon and 12 % elastane. These

products are firmer and stronger to protect the muscles. In total, there is a wide range of

products including shirts and shorts, which are available in short or long sleeves. The uniforms

of Saiphs are made of 100% polyester and are constructed with the most cutting edge moisture

management technology available.

The products of Saiphs are cultural neutral; the reason for this is that Saiphs only needs to adjust

the size definitions, as Europe and the USA have different measurements. This makes the market

entry process way easier. Talking about innovation, the compression gear of Saiphs gives the

most possibilities. An idea could be to find ways to make it even lighter in order to be even more


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comfortable and efficient. Another idea might be to make the gear better, especially for warm

weather.

The promotion strategy includes that the project group developed several social marketing

tools, such as Facebook and Twitter, which activities are all organized via Hootsuite. Social

network marketing is essential and therefore, the project group did this work very detailed. In

connection to it, the project group developed a draft version of a new Saiphs’ homepage with the

plan to build an even better one on long term. In addition, the project group developed a list for

Google adwords to make it easier to find on searching machines. To not only reach Generation Y,

which is always connected with the internet, the project group planned to set banners and

billboards in different stadiums (of clubs that are working with Saiphs), but this makes only

sense when the company is known. Therefore, the sponsoring deal with SF Lotte is a very

important start. There will be a Saiphs’ advertisement on their homepage and products can be

purchased in the local fan shop. Another effective promotion tool is posters in public transport

in Cologne, Germany’s most important city regarding sports. The posters and billboards will only

display the Saiphs logo and a QR code, which leads directly to the website. Therefore, brand

awareness and purchasing options are offered. Finally, it is important to promote the products

personally; therefore visits by sport teams are of great significance.

To be successful on the German market, the supply chain has to be reconsidered. Due to the fact

that Saiphs is still unknown, it is difficult to cooperate with retailers. Therefore, the distribution

is done via sport clubs in different areas. Thanks to this, promotion and distribution can be

integrated, which can be seen by the agreement with SF Lotte, where Saiphs products can be

purchased now. Nevertheless, Germans prefer to purchase their sportswear at retailers, thus, in

the future, it is inevitable to cooperate with them. So, the three places of purchasing will be sport

clubs, retailers and the web shop.

The price strategy of Saiphs should be a mix of two strategies - on the one hand, the market

oriented method and on the other hand, the cost-plus method. By combining these strategies,

Saiphs would still be able to make profit and stick to their roots as offering high quality products

for an affordable price.

Talking about the communication plan and strategy, the project group thought of three ways to

promote the products. These are promotion at sport clubs, point of sale promotion and

promotion in public transport. These three ways will lead to brand awareness and to the website

of Saiphs and its social media presence. So, by this, there will be brand knowledge and


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purchasing options as already mentioned earlier. There are also other ways of promotion as the

developed Facebook campaign, where the customers can win Saiphs gear by taking pictures with

their Saiphs clothes and share them and the Saiphs page on their Facebook profile. This is

challenging, which fits to Generation Y and it creates a Win-Win situation for everybody. Saiphs

gets new awareness as well as potential customers and the participants get the chance to win

new sportswear.

When talking about logistics, there are two scenarios that need to be described. One is the actual

and the other is the desired one, once Saiphs is settled on the German market. At the time, when

Saiphs has totally entered the German market and when the number of orders has increased, the

logistic system has to be reorganized and then various factors play a role respectively transport,

shipping, importation, etc. These factors are, amongt others, the production costs, transport and

handling costs at the harbor, shipping, insurance, customs, taxes and warehousing costs. Some of

these are fixed and some are variable costs, which is also very important to take into

consideration.

The estimation of costs of the first year, when introducing the products and settling down in

Germany, the costs for 15.000 items would be 84.000 Euro in total. This would increase the costs

per item by 5,60 €, which would still fit in the pricing strategy and would still result in a good

revenue. The current situation is totally different and leads to shipping costs of 1 € per item and

long lead times.

Coming to the cultural factors, one can say that German business partners are more direct and

focused on work rather than on relationships. Furthermore, Germany and the USA are both low-

context cultures and with more or less the same Power Distance Index. The German and

American business etiquette is quite similar; however, there are some things, which need to be

taken into consideration. Concerning greetings and business dresses German and American

business people are acting very similar. A handshake and suits are common in both countries.

The hierarchy in business life is of great importance in both countries, which backups the theory

of Hofstede concerning Power Distance. Moreover, one has to differ between work life and social

life; a work colleague does not necessary have to be a friend. When doing business in Germany,

Saiphs will especially have to consider that there is a formal and informal way to say “you” (Sie,

du). As Germany is considered to be more monochromic, they also expect more space between

one another, which is especially important when it comes to business life.


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The most significant difference between the two countries is the attitude towards risk. Germans,

in general, are more concerned and prefer security instead of taking risks, which is obvious

when making contracts with retailers, for example.

So in fact, there are not many differences between the German and American business culture.

Doing business in Germany should be relatively easy for Americans, when considering the

named topics and differences and taking all important aspects into consideration.

In contrast to the business culture, there are still differences in the way sport is organized and

the favorite kinds of sports between the two countries. While in America, sport is organized via

schools and universities, in Germany there are many sport clubs in the different areas per

city/town. With regard to preferred sports, American football is the most popular in America,

while Germans prefer soccer.

To give a conclusion, the project group can say that Germany offers good opportunities

concerning the potential target group and important environmental factors. The German sports

market is booming and there is a high chance of success. All in all, the project group is convinced

that, if Saiphs will take all the analyses, the risks and suggested strategies, which are provided by

this report, into consideration and follows the already started way, Saiphs will succeed in

Germany and get a big foot in the market.


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Table of content

Summary ................................................................................................................................................ 1

Table of content ..................................................................................................................................... 8

Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 10

1 Company ...................................................................................................................................... 11

1.1. Identity ............................................................................................................................................ 11

1.2. Mission ............................................................................................................................................ 11

1.3. Vision ............................................................................................................................................... 12

1.4. Image ............................................................................................................................................... 12

2 Objectives ..................................................................................................................................... 13

3 Desk Research .............................................................................................................................. 14

3.1 SWOT analysis .................................................................................................................................. 14

3.2 PESTEL ............................................................................................................................................. 17

3.3 Market analysis ................................................................................................................................ 21

3.3.1 General analysis of the German sports market ........................................................................ 21

3.3.2 Market analysis of local retailers ............................................................................................. 22

3.4 Competition analysis (Porter’s 5 forces model) ................................................................................ 22

3.4.1 Threat of substitute products .................................................................................................. 22

3.4.2 Threat of new entrants ............................................................................................................ 22

3.4.3 Intense rivalry among existing players ..................................................................................... 23

3.4.4 Bargaining power of suppliers ................................................................................................. 23

3.4.5 Bargaining power of Buyers ..................................................................................................... 23

3.5 Competitors analysis ........................................................................................................................ 23

3.6 Suppliers/distributors analysis ......................................................................................................... 24

4 Field Research .............................................................................................................................. 25

4.1 Survey .............................................................................................................................................. 25

4.2 Personal interviews .......................................................................................................................... 26

4.3 Field trials ........................................................................................................................................ 27

5 Strategic marketing plan .............................................................................................................. 28

5.1 Product strategy .............................................................................................................................. 28

5.1.1 Current products ..................................................................................................................... 28

5.1.2 Ideas for future adaptations .................................................................................................... 29

5.2 Promotion strategy .......................................................................................................................... 30

5.3 Distribution ...................................................................................................................................... 32

5.4 Price strategy ................................................................................................................................... 33

6 Strategic communication plan ...................................................................................................... 34

6.1 Dagmar model – current situation ................................................................................................... 34


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6.2 How do we approach our (potential) customers .............................................................................. 34

6.2.1 Marketing idea, with the use of Facebook as communication channel..................................... 36

7 Logistics ........................................................................................................................................ 37

7.1 Desired situation .............................................................................................................................. 37

7.2 Current situation .............................................................................................................................. 39

8 Cross cultural comparison between America and Germany......................................................... 40

8.1 General business matters ................................................................................................................. 40

8.2 Differences in sport habits ............................................................................................................... 45

9 Implementation trajectory ........................................................................................................... 47

10 Financial consequences of the marketing plan ......................................................................... 48

11 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 49

12 References ................................................................................................................................ 50

13 Appendix .................................................................................................................................. 53

13.1 SWOT ............................................................................................................................................... 53

13.2 Survey .............................................................................................................................................. 54

13.3 Results of Survey .............................................................................................................................. 55

13.4 List of contacts ................................................................................................................................. 59

13.5 Saiphs - Look Book ........................................................................................................................... 62

13.6 Facebook ......................................................................................................................................... 63

13.7 Twitter ............................................................................................................................................. 64

13.8 Hootsuite ......................................................................................................................................... 65

13.9 List of Social Media Data .................................................................................................................. 66

13.10 Website ....................................................................................................................................... 67

13.11 AdWords for German Website ..................................................................................................... 70

13.12 Website Banner ........................................................................................................................... 71

13.13 Sponsorship agreement ............................................................................................................... 72

13.14 QR Code ....................................................................................................................................... 73

13.15 Price list ....................................................................................................................................... 74

13.16 Power Point Layout ...................................................................................................................... 75

13.17 Business Card ............................................................................................................................... 78

13.18 Power point of cost analysis......................................................................................................... 79

13.19 Table of Cross Cultural differences ............................................................................................... 86


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Introduction

During the minor IM/CCM, the project group DCG received the project to introduce the US sport-

clothing brand Saiphs Inc. on the German market.

Saiphs Inc. is a company, which has been founded in 2009 in Florida and is focused on high

quality sportswear for an affordable price. The desire of the board of directors of Saiphs Inc. is to

expand and to conquer the German and Dutch market in order to increase their sales and

turnover.

To be able to do this successfully, the project group set up a complete Marketing and Business

plan including the segments of communication, distribution, strategic management, and cross

cultural factors.

Why did the project group ‘DCG’ draw up this report? This report has been written because of several aspects. On the one hand, as mentioned before,

to support Saiphs to expand and to let the company grow and to enter the German market. On

the other hand, which makes it a Win-Win situation, it gives every member of the project group

the chance to demonstrate that they fulfill on every requirement of IBL.

How did the project group ‘DCG’ do that? During the last five months the project group ‘DCG’ worked on their task, to set up a complete

business plan for Saiphs to enter the European market with the focus on Germany.

The project group started with an exhaustive analysis of all internal and external factors of

Saiphs by making a SWOT-analysis. After being aware of the current situation, the opportunities

and threats, the project group focused on building up a strategy and a marketing communication

plan. Therefore, the project group developed an online survey to be able to get a picture of the

target group and to determine the next steps concerning the strategy.

After analyzing the market and determining the strategy, the implementation took place, which

means that the project group went for it and got in touch with potential clients, as sport clubs

and retailers. This was done to create a customer base and to get brand awareness in Germany

to establish the company in this market.

In addition to that, the project group set up new communication channels and possibilities for

customers to get and stay in touch with Saiphs, such as Social Network, a new website, and

contact by E-mail and telephone.


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1 Company

First, it is important to get a general picture of the company, which will be described in this

chapter of the report.

The organization of Saiphs is an US based sports clothing company, which exists since 2009, and

has its headquarters in Florida, United States of America. The most important product group are

compression gear and uniforms. They are sold via a web shop, which is Saiphs´ main selling

point. In addition to that, in the United States, Saiphs also works with school sport teams or local

sport clubs. Moreover, the products of Saiphs are known for their high quality material, which

feels great against the skin and contains properties to keep the muscles warm.

Now, the goal is to enter the European market via Germany and the Netherlands. In the past,

Saiphs already started to enter the Dutch and German market, but the actual response has been

rather low. Additionally, they did market research in the UK to gather information about

possibilities for a market entry.

1.1. Identity

The corporate identity is based on the assumption that an organization is seen as a natural,

social person and that its behavior is evaluated like that.

The identity of Saiphs is to produce high quality sport clothes for an affordable price. They see

themselves as a modern company designing for young athletes, sportsmen and different sport

teams. Their materials have often been tested and their products were developed in cooperation

with Dr Amy Hobson in order to guarantee high quality.

1.2. Mission

The mission of Saiphs is to produce and sell superior athletic wear for a more affordable price

than competing companies that offer comparable high quality. In order to meet the needs and

wishes of all customers, as well in the Unites States of America as on international level, Saiphs

uses high quality material that feels great against the skin and especially keeps the muscles


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warm, which has been proven by Dr. Amy Hobson, MD from Seattle, Washington1. The focus of

the company is compression gear and uniforms, so the goal is to best respond to sport teams,

retailers and private customers, who are the company´s main customers.

1.3. Vision

As the project group DCG works for Saiphs, the visions of the two parties are congruent. Further,

the vision has been subdivided into three parts that are of special interest for the company –

Products, Expansion, and Customers.

Products: Saiphs wants to produce and sell superior athletic wear made in the USA and focuses

on compression gear and complete uniforms for sport teams, retailers and private customers. By

this, Saiphs wants to assure high customer satisfaction on the long and short term.

Expansion: Up to now, Saiphs has focused on the US American market, especially Florida. The

long term goal is to enter the European market. Therefore, the project group DCG has been hired

to expand the brand awareness of Saiphs and to establish a good base of customers on the short

term in Germany. In addition to that, another project group has been hired to do the same on the

Dutch market to use those two countries as a gateway to Europe on the long-term.

Customers: The customers of Saiphs are of central interest, so meeting their needs and wishes is

a primary goal. In order to do so, exclusively high quality material is used. The quality and

importance of it has also been proven by a doctor from Seattle2.

1.4. Image

Saiphs is seen as a reliable company that offers good quality for an affordable price. Especially

the fact that there are hardly any returns confirms the good quality of different products and

leads to a good image of the company. Their products are modern and up-to-date and always

focus on the customer to improve their workout and to protect their body.

1 http://www.saiphs.com/site/index.php?main_page=page&id=28 2 http://www.saiphs.com/site/index.php?main_page=page&id=28&zenid=m83ocdusv37dhs16p9eo0ckhl1

http://www.saiphs.com/site/index.php?main_page=page&id=28

http://www.saiphs.com/site/index.php?main_page=page&id=28&zenid=m83ocdusv37dhs16p9eo0ckhl1


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2 Objectives

Having clear objectives of the project is essential in order to reach good results at the end of this

minor. Those will be named in the following:

• The main objective of the project group is to increase the market awareness of Saiphs in

Germany and to build first relations with customers until the end of the minor (January

2013) for the company´s directors in order to successfully sell their products in

Germany.

• Get good insight into Saiphs and knowledge of their products within the first week of the

project via the directors and other information sources like the website. Needed

information includes their unique selling points, characteristics of the products, available

colors and sizes, the market strategy for the American market, shipping methods and

cost prices.

• Gain detailed knowledge of the German (sportswear) market by different research

methods within the first 6 weeks of the project.

• Also during the first 6 weeks, do research about regulations with regard to importation

to the European Union, shipping and payment methods and other laws that have to be

considered.

• Improve online marketing of Saiphs within the first 8 weeks of the project. The German

version of the website needs an update and improvement and also other online

marketing opportunities have to be analyzed and developed.

• After the first 6 weeks of the project the research will be completed and a market entry

plan and marketing strategy for the German market have been developed, with a special

focus on online marketing.

• In continuation of the market research and development of the market entry plan and

the marketing strategy, constantly get in contact with possible business partners and

clients in order to establish first relations with customers for Saiphs.

• On base of all the named actions, start getting in contact with different sport clubs on the

German market in the second half of the project (November 2012), to develop brand

awareness as soon as possible.


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3 Desk Research

In this chapter, the project group will make detailed research in different areas. This includes the

SWOT, PESTEL, market, competition, competitors, and supplier and distribution analysis.

3.1 SWOT analysis

When entering a new market, it is very important for Saiphs to make an analysis of its strengths,

weaknesses, opportunities and threats. In the following, the project group will explain the

different factors that influence the success of Saiphs while entering the German market.

Additionally, you can find in appendix 13.1 a tabular overview of the SWOT analysis.

First, the project group analyses the strengths of Saiphs. Saiphs produces and sells sportswear.

Its products are known for the good quality for an affordable price, which is an advantage in

order to compete with brands as Adidas or Nike. The quality is proven by a doctor from Seattle,

Washington and also by the fact that there have never been any returns. Furthermore, the

sportswear of Saiphs has a broad color assortment, so everybody’s needs can be fulfilled. The

material of the product is also tested and fulfills sportswear conditions perfectly as it is

breathable, anti-bacterial, and able to wick. The universal products of Saiphs are available via

the web shop, which gives the opportunity to buy the products nearly everywhere. In addition,

Saiphs also offers a good return policy3. For example, if a customer is not satisfied with the

product, or if he/she ordered a wrong size, there will not be any problem to return it within 30

days. Also, in case of manufacturer defects, even after usage, a customer may return the products

without any problems.

As a last point, Saiphs is financially stable, which makes it easier to enter the market regarding

new marketing strategies and building up customer relations.

Summing up, Saiphs offers products of high quality for an affordable price, which is interesting

for a wide target group and therefore, it is assumable that Saiphs will have success, when

entering the German market.

As every company that enters a foreign market, Saiphs also has to consider its weaknesses. One

of them is the fact that Saiphs is a small company, which is not known at all on the German

3 http://saiphs.com/cms.php?id_cms=11

http://saiphs.com/cms.php?id_cms=11


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market. With regard to production, it will be difficult for Saiphs to compete with great brands as

Adidas or Nike, as their production is limited. Then, until now, Saiphs has not started any

marketing campaigns to attract new customers and make them aware of the new American

brand. In addition, internet has become essential, so a good web presence cannot be left out.

Saiphs already has a German website, which shows its products, its history and further

information. However, the way it is set up now, it cannot be used for the German market, thus

adjustments are required.

Going on, as Saiphs is still unknown on the German market, their distribution network until now

is still limited due to lack of corporations with retailers. Up to now, Saiphs does not have an

actual stock in Europe, so the shipping takes at least two weeks plus the time needed for the

production.

Finally, one can say that there are some weaknesses, however, most of them can be reduced

within a short period as marketing campaigns can be started, which make the brand more

known and the production can also be enlarged.

Coming to the opportunities of Saiphs, the project group can say that there are quite a lot when

entering the German market. First, there will be a big target market with more than 27 million4

registered sportsmen in Germany as most of the Germans are sportsmen and there are also

many sport clubs and retailers. Especially in the last decades, sport has become more and more

important in Germany and this is why there is a high demand of sportswear and compression

gear. Team sports are very popular in Germany, which enlarges the need for uniforms. They

need those uniforms while playing soccer, volleyball, basketball, etc. In general, uniforms in

German teams change every year. So, the demand for uniforms increases again. Another

opportunity of the German market is favorable weather conditions that allow wearing

compression gear all year long.

In addition to the need of the products itself, Germany is also a great country to start exportation

to, because it has a central position in Europe, which makes it possible to export to the other

European countries as well. Besides, Germany has a strong economy, and even in times of the

economic crisis in Europe, it is still very good situated in the international world of economy. In

combination with the strong economy, Germany as a federal parliamentary republic based on a

representative democracy also offers a political stability (Instability risk of 3,8 out of 105), a

legal security, and tax incentives (investment grants, tax benefits, low interest loans or loans 4 http://www.dosb.de/fileadmin/fm-dsb/arbeitsfelder/wiss-ges/Dateien/Sport_in_Deutschland.pdf 5 http://viewswire.eiu.com/site_info.asp?info_name=social_unrest_table&page=noads

http://www.dosb.de/fileadmin/fm-dsb/arbeitsfelder/wiss-ges/Dateien/Sport_in_Deutschland.pdf

http://viewswire.eiu.com/site_info.asp?info_name=social_unrest_table&page=noads


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with a state guarantee for exporters6). In the past, there have also been founded German

American business clubs7, which are the proof of a successful cooperation between the two

countries.

To come to a conclusion of the opportunities on the German market, one can say that Germany is

an attractive market, because there is a high demand on sportswear and has currently the most

favorable economic situation of all European countries.

Finally, the threats Saiphs will face when entering the German market will be analyzed. There

are not only opportunities, but also many threats when a company wants to enter a new market.

First, Saiphs has to think about the fact that they produce in America, which results in long lead

times and problems when importing the products to Germany. Also, there will be higher

transportation costs and the importation laws in Germany are quite diverse. Besides, it is

important to know that Germany has higher tax rates (VAT 19%; tax rate up to 45%)8 than the

USA (VAT 0%; tax rate up to 35%)9. In addition to this, the fact that America and Germany have

different currencies can affect a risk of the exchange rate.

As mentioned earlier, Europe is in an economic crisis at the moment, so there is no proof that the

German economic stability goes on like this. Furthermore, Saiphs will face a mature market with

a lot of already existing competitors, which have a big power on the German market as Adidas,

Nike, and Under Armour. Finally, next to the cultural differences (which will be explained in

chapter 8), there is also the difference of size between the two countries.

As one can see, Saiphs will also face many threats when entering the market due to cultural

differences, the European economic crisis and the fact that the German market is mature.

Still, when summing up the whole SWOT analysis, the project group is convinced that Saiphs has

a high chance to be successful when entering the German market as the company itself offers

many strengths. Those, in combination with the high amount of opportunities the German

market stands for, will convince the German customers.

6 http://www.worldwide-tax.com/germany/ger_invest.asp 7 http://www.agbc.de/index.php?home 8 http://www.taxrates.cc/html/germany-tax-rates.html 9 http://www.taxrates.cc/html/us-tax-rates.html

http://www.worldwide-tax.com/germany/ger_invest.asp

http://www.agbc.de/index.php?home

http://www.taxrates.cc/html/germany-tax-rates.html

http://www.taxrates.cc/html/us-tax-rates.html


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3.2 PESTEL

As Saiphs wants to enter the German market and establish a good position in the German mind-

set, it is essential to find out about current political, legal and economic situation in Germany.

Furthermore, technological and social aspects play an important role in order to figure out

whether the products fulfill the Germans’ needs.

Political

In order to find out about the current political situation in Germany, it is important to analyze

several factors concerning stability and policies very carefully.

As far as the type of government is concerned, Germany is a democratic and federal republic

which secures a kind of liberty to the people. So, political stability is guaranteed, not only

because of the republic, but also due to the parliamentary democracy where power is separated

and different parties operate in the system.10 Further, it is almost assured that Saiphs does not

have to fear corruption which is important for unknown companies on a new market.

With regard to Saiphs, this means that they can expect a politically stable environment including

a stable work environment with an increasing purchasing power.11

Economic

Looking at the economic environment and the related figures, it is said that the overall economic

situation of Germany is still in an economic upturn, with a GDP growth rate of 0,3%, so the

economic forecast is very positive.12 Furthermore, the “Gini coefficient”, which states the income

distribution in a country, is 27 in Germany, which means that income is equally distributed,

which suggests a strong middle class, so people are able to buy the products of Saiphs. Also, the

unemployment rate in Germany has decreased in the last years and is currently at 6,5%, which

are 2,79 million people13, which leads to an increasing purchasing power.

Another important factor for Saiphs to know is the well founded infrastructure and excellent

traffic connections including railways, highways and maritime routes, which offer good

opportunities for Saiphs to distribute their products everywhere in Germany, and everyone is

able to obtain the products, whether people live in the city or in an urban area.

10 http://www.theodora.com/wfbcurrent/germany/germany_government.html 11 http://www.frm-united.com/Political_stability.35.0.html?&L=1 12 http://www.frm-united.com/Strengths.34.0.html?&L=1 13 http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/1319/umfrage/aktuelle-arbeitslosenzahl-in-deutschland-monatsdurchschnittswerte/v

http://www.theodora.com/wfbcurrent/germany/germany_government.html

http://www.frm-united.com/Political_stability.35.0.html?&L=1

http://www.frm-united.com/Strengths.34.0.html?&L=1

http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/1319/umfrage/aktuelle-arbeitslosenzahl-in-deutschland-monatsdurchschnittswerte/v


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Concluding that Germany is one of the most important European markets with a high income

and a large population, the potentially large target group in Germany may offer the possibility

for a successful introduction of the products.

All in all, it is said, of an economical point of view, that there is a great potential for Saiphs to

export compression gear and uniforms to the German market.

Social

In order to find out about the potential target group on the German market, it is essential to

know particular aspects of the German society. Not only cultural habits are of great importance,

but also age distribution, the level of education and communication styles.

In the last few years, the consciousness for a healthy life has increased immensely in Germany.14

So, the interest in healthy products in sense of food, outdoor activities or team sports is

constantly growing. Furthermore, the German educational infrastructure has been modified in

the past.15 Thus, not only grown-ups are informed well about health, but also children learn

early at school, how important a healthy and diverse nutrition is.

For Saiphs the growing popularity of doing sports and keep being healthy is recognizable

positive, due to changes in the German mindset. Living a healthier life includes working on one’s

personal fitness. In fact, people do more sports, so there is a higher demand for sports clothes

with a larger market, especially for compression gear and uniforms.

Considering age distribution and population growth rate, one can say that the German

population is declining. The current growth rate is -0,2%, which is also notable in the

distribution of age.16 The main population (66,1%) belongs to the age group of 15-64 year old

people. The potential target group of Saiphs will be between 10 and 60, because people from this

age might be more attractive to focus on.17 Younger people are mainly involved in team sports,

such as soccer or basketball and customers of an advanced age are more likely interested in

fitness or jogging activities.

14http://www.treugast.com/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF/Newsletter/09_10/20100920_Newsletter_Branchenticker_Gesundheit.pdf 15 http://www.bmbf.de/press/3301.php 16 https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2002.html 17 https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gm.html

http://www.treugast.com/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF/Newsletter/09_10/20100920_Newsletter_Branchenticker_Gesundheit.pdf

http://www.bmbf.de/press/3301.php

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2002.html

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gm.html


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Another aspect of the social environment is communication. According to Hofstede, German

culture is known for avoiding risks and demanding high quality.18 Therefore, Saiphs has good

opportunities, because their products state “Made in the USA”. Germans like to know, where

products have been manufactured, and due to the location of production, German customer will

have more trust in the quality of the products than in other products made in China.

When getting in contact with potential German retailers or sport clubs, it is necessary to know,

that the way business is done differs in the United States and Germany. This will be explained in

more detail in chapter 8.

All in all, Saiphs needs to take social factors as well as economic ones into account while

exporting to the German market.

Technological

Another important factor in order to analyze a market is the technological environment, and

especially the use of internet, as this becomes more and more important in marketing.

In general, it can be said that Germany is one of the leading countries concerning technology and

has great potential to maintain this position up to 2020. Especially with regard to automation,

Germany has a high position on international level19. On the other hand and looking at the digital

Germany, it has to be mentioned that the German government has set up a strategy for 2015,

called “Digital Germany 2015”. The objective of this strategy is to even improve digital

availability and strengthen competiveness, especially in rural areas of Germany and the

companies operating in those areas.20.

With regard to Saiphs, it is necessary to look at the availability and usage of internet in Germany,

as this might be a good and cheap promotion media in order to create brand awareness. Overall,

it can be said that every person in Germany can get access to a fast internet connection. In fact,

the usage of the internet has increased by more than 50% throughout the past 10 years and is

now at 75,60% (2012)21 . Moreover, about 50% of mobile phones in Germany are smartphones

and about 22% of the population possesses a smartphone22. Most of those users are men and in

the age between 20-29 years. However, one has to notice that still most people use the internet 18 http://www.culturecrossing.net/basics_business_student_details.php?Id=22&CID=79 19 http://www.vde.com/de/verband/pressecenter/pressemeldungen/fach-und-wirtschaftspresse/seiten/2012-33.aspx 20 http://www.bmwi.de/Dateien/BBA/PDF/ikt-strategie-der-bundesregierung,property=pdf,bereich=bmwi2012,sprache=de,rwb=true.pdf 21 http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/13070/umfrage/entwicklung-der-internetnutzung-in-deutschland-seit-2001/ 22 http://www.digitalnext.de/immer-mehr-smartphones-in-gebrauch/

http://www.culturecrossing.net/basics_business_student_details.php?Id=22&CID=79

http://www.vde.com/de/verband/pressecenter/pressemeldungen/fach-und-wirtschaftspresse/seiten/2012-33.aspx

http://www.bmwi.de/Dateien/BBA/PDF/ikt-strategie-der-bundesregierung,property=pdf,bereich=bmwi2012,sprache=de,rwb=true.pdf

http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/13070/umfrage/entwicklung-der-internetnutzung-in-deutschland-seit-2001/

http://www.digitalnext.de/immer-mehr-smartphones-in-gebrauch/


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via a computer.23 Another emerging technology and communication media used by more and

more companies are QR-Codes in order to provide more information about a product.

For Saiphs, the growing importance of internet, Facebook (25 million users in Germany24), and

QR-Codes should be very interesting and important, because those are mostly used by young

people who are the final clients of Saiphs and can be reached in a cost saving and fast way.

Environmental

Environmental factors also play an important role for Saiphs, as the compression gear protects

the muscles in summer and winter.

Talking about the climate in Germany, one can say that it is moderate and due to cold winters

and warm summers, compression gear fits perfectly to the need of warming sports clothes for

the German target group.25 For example, soccer players in Germany have to practice and play

outside during the whole season, whether it is cold or not. Therefore, Saiphs could use this

opportunity to offer the German target market an inexpensive alternative to A-Brands such as

Adidas or Nike.

The last point is the central location of Germany in Europe, which offers a great opportunity for

Saiphs in order to make use of this optimal accessibility to other European countries and their

markets.

Legal

There are many legal aspects a company has to keep in mind when exporting to a foreign

country.

Taking Germany as a target market into consideration, Saiphs has to deal with the consumer law,

which is about the protection of consumers.26 Concerning structure, consumers are in

disadvantage of merchants, because of a lack of knowledge about the product, the production,

components etc. Therefore, companies need to inform the consumers and clients about

everything that deals with the product, for example through the product information on the

product. This law is applicable for Saiphs regarding a product description.

23 http://de.slideshare.net/dasMobileNetz/smartphone-nutzung-in-deutschland 24 http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/70189/umfrage/nutzer-von-facebook-in-deutschland-seit-2009/ 25 http://www.germanculture.com.ua/library/facts/bl_climate.htm 26 http://www.hg.org/consume.html

http://de.slideshare.net/dasMobileNetz/smartphone-nutzung-in-deutschland

http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/70189/umfrage/nutzer-von-facebook-in-deutschland-seit-2009/

http://www.germanculture.com.ua/library/facts/bl_climate.htm

http://www.hg.org/consume.html


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Furthermore, Germany is well known for its fair employment laws. 27 In this case, Saiphs would

not be affected by this regulation yet, because until now, the company is run by only one or two

people without any employees in Germany. But, in the future, it can become more important

when Saiphs opens an office or stock in Europe.

As a conclusion, one can say that it is essential for Saiphs to consider all the relevant factors in

order to become successful. However, none of them will lead to severe problems.

3.3 Market analysis

Now, a market analysis of the German market will be given. Here, the project group

differentiated between the general sports market and a specified retailer analysis.

3.3.1 General analysis of the German sports market

The outcome of the general analysis of the German sport market is that, despite of the economic

crisis, the sport market is performing very well. The figures show that in 2011, the annual

revenue has been higher than 6 billion Euros. This was for the first time since 2007 and market

analysts predict an even higher number for 2012 and 2013.28

Therefore, it is advisable for Saiphs to enter the German market now, because of the beneficial

market situation.

To give a general overview, you find the top three retailers of Sportswear in Germany in the

chart below.

Retailer Stores Revenue

Karstadt-Sport 2729 600 Million €

Intersport 150030 2,7 Mrd €

Runners Point 11331 159,3 Million €

27 http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/hr-employment-law 28 http://www.derhandel.de/news/unternehmen/pages/Sportartikelhandel-Sportmarkt-6-Milliarden-Euro-Umsatz-sind-moeglich-7107.html 29 http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/72664/umfrage/karstadt---zahl-der-filialen-nach-typ-seit-2007/ 30 www.intersport.de/unternehmen/profil 31 www.runnerspoint.com/unternehmen

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/hr-employment-law

http://www.derhandel.de/news/unternehmen/pages/Sportartikelhandel-Sportmarkt-6-Milliarden-Euro-Umsatz-sind-moeglich-7107.html


http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/72664/umfrage/karstadt---zahl-der-filialen-nach-typ-seit-2007/

http://www.intersport.de/unternehmen/profil

http://www.runnerspoint.com/unternehmen


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3.3.2 Market analysis of local retailers

Because of the market entry strategy of Saiphs, to enter the market via co operations with sport

clubs and (their) local retailers, the market analysis is about the situation and amount of local

retailers in Hamburg, Osnabrück, and Cologne.

In Cologne there are 66 retailers for sportswear. In Hamburg there are 73 and in Osnabrück

3532. In Germany, it is very common that local sport clubs work very close together with local

retailers. This means that sport clubs buy their equipment always at the same store. So this is

the starting point and the market for Saiphs to get a foot into the German sport market.

3.4 Competition analysis (Porter’s 5 forces model)

Also Porter’s 5 forces model is important to consider when entering a new market. The results of

this will be given in this part.

3.4.1 Threat of substitute products

Talking about threats Saiphs has to fear from substitute products, one has to think about special

thermo wear, which might lead to confusion of customers. In addition to that, regular clothes can

also be substitute product. In order to keep the body warm, an athlete might just use regular

tights and shirts. Those substitutes might limit the profit of this particular branch.

3.4.2 Threat of new entrants

Saiphs itself is still a new entrant. However, there is always the possibility that other low price

brands try to conquer the German market by offering comparable high quality like Saiphs. This

can lead to loss of sales and customers for Saiphs and has to be kept in mind.

32 http://www.sportgeschaefte-in-deutschland.de/region/Hamburg.html

http://www.sportgeschaefte-in-deutschland.de/region/Hamburg.html


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3.4.3 Intense rivalry among existing players

There are already many competitors on the German market, like Nike, Adidas, and Under

Armour. However, their products are more expensive for the same quality. So, surely there is

intense rivalry between the existing brand, however Saiphs has a good chance to benefit from

the low prices they offer.

3.4.4 Bargaining power of suppliers

There is not any information available concerning suppliers of Saiphs.

3.4.5 Bargaining power of Buyers

Talking about potential customers on the German market, it can be said that Germans, when

buying sport clothes mainly focus on price and quality. Also, they are able to influence the

competition on the market by demanding lower prices and higher quality.

As a result, one can say that this analysis is not really applicable for Saiphs as the company is still

very small and unknown.

3.5 Competitors analysis

When entering a totally new market, especially when being an unknown brand, a company

definitely has to take a close look at competing brands and the products they offer. In this part,

the project group analyzes the compression gear of the most important competitors for Saiphs in

Germany, namely Adidas33, Nike34, and Under Armour35.

With regard to all the three brands it has to be said that they are all very well known on the

German market, especially for their high quality.

Taking a closer look at Adidas one can see that they have a great variety of products in the

compression gear sector with different components and color availability. In addition to that,

there is a great variety of prices. The product that is most comparable with the products of 33 http://www.adidas.de/M%C3%A4nner-techfit-Preparation-Kurz%C3%A4rmliges-T-Shirt/UW758,de_DE,pd.html?dwvar_UW758_color=Black&cm_vc=pdpz1 34 http://store.nike.com/nl/en_gb/?l=shop,pdp,ctr-inline/cid-300/pid-552984 35 http://www.underarmour.com/shop/us/en/mens/shop-by-fit/compression

http://www.adidas.de/M%C3%A4nner-techfit-Preparation-Kurz%C3%A4rmliges-T-Shirt/UW758,de_DE,pd.html?dwvar_UW758_color=Black&cm_vc=pdpz1


http://store.nike.com/nl/en_gb/?l=shop,pdp,ctr-inline/cid-300/pid-552984

http://www.underarmour.com/shop/us/en/mens/shop-by-fit/compression


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Saiphs, when considering components is available for 39,95€ in the web shop. This is almost

15€ more than the products Saiphs offers for the same quality (85% polyester/ 15% elastane).

Looking at Nike, one will find the same results. Also Nike offers shirts with approx. 80%

polyester and 20% elastane, which is certainly a little better than the products of Saiphs,

however for a price of 95€, which is almost four times the price of the Saiphs products.

As a last brand Under Armour has been analyzed. Again, the quality of Saiphs products is

comparable and prices are higher than those of Saiphs. For example, a long sleeve compression

shirt for men is available for 55,95€ in the web shop.

All in all, one can say, that Saiphs has a great chance to gain customers due to their comparable

high quality to Adidas, Nike and Under Armour, for a lower prices than their competitors.

3.6 Suppliers/distributors analysis

In the following the current situation of Saiphs with regard to suppliers and the distribution of

the products will be given.

Actually, the project group could not receive any information from Saiphs about their suppliers

as this has to be kept inside the company. However, the production site of Saiphs is in the south-

east of the United States and from here the distribution is handled.

With regard to distribution it has to be said that, due to the fact that Saiphs is still a growing

company, the shipping is handled quite simple. Once the products are produced they are shipped

via mail to the owner of the company in Florida. There, he has a small stock and keeps them until

he receives an order. Once he has an order, the products are simply shipped via regular mail to

the customers. This takes about three to five days and is the cheapest as well as the simplest

way.

The other possibility is that the products are ordered and still have to be produced, due to lack

of stock. In this case, the owner makes an order at the production site. However, still before

going to the client, Saiphs always checks the product and then ships them to the customers.


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4 Field Research

In order to get a good insight on the German market, not only desk research is important, but

also field research. By this, the project group has gained a very good knowledge about potential

private clients, sport clubs, and retailers.

4.1 Survey

To be able to analyze the target market, respectively the German sport market, and the potential

customers of Saiphs, the project group developed an online survey with the goal to be able to get

a good and realistic picture of the behavior, habits and preferences. The complete survey and the

results can be found in the appendix (appendix 13.2 survey and in 13.3 results of survey).

This online survey consisted of 10 questions in total and has been a big success, because of the

big amount of responses the project group received in a very short period of time. There were

more than 400 responds within a week, which exceeded the actual amount of responses needed

and gave an even more detailed picture of the target group. The questions of this survey were

about general information as sex and age class. In addition to that, it was important to know how

much money the target group spends on sportswear annually and what their focus is when

buying sportswear, like brand, price, quality etc.

After knowing this, the project group wanted to get more knowledge about the buying behavior

and the attitude of the target group concerning compression wear. Therefore, the following

questions of the survey included the place where sportswear is purchased (Internet/ Retailer)

and if the participants of the survey ever bought compression gear. Regardless whether this

answer has been positive or negative, the next questions were about their general opinion of

compression gear and how much money they would spend on it.

The closure of the survey has been filled with the questions, whether the participants are doing

sport in a club, which kind of sport, and if they think that compression gear is useful in the sport

they are doing. This was a great help for the project group to determine a strategy and on which

areas and sports the project group can focus on.

The general outcome of this online survey has been a big success for the project group, because

of the fact that it fulfilled the expectations, the general picture of the German sports market and

its suitability of the strategy that the project group developed, respectively had in mind.


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Thanks to this survey, the project group was able to analyze the private customer behavior.

4.2 Personal interviews

Another option for the project group to get in contact with possible customers or retailers was to

call to sport clubs and retailers directly. So, the project group could do personal interviews with

the managers and chief purchaser (a list of contacted clubs and retailers can be found in

appendix 13.4), in which they were asked about their interest on Saiphs and whether they are

open to try, sell them in their shop, or buy them for their different sport teams.

During those interviews, there were two main problems, why retailers and sport clubs cannot

cooperate with Saiphs: First, most of the sport clubs are under a contractual obligation. Most

times those were the most important competitors Adidas or Nike. Secondly, many small

retailers cannot take any decision about new contracts or purchases themselves, as they depend

on their headquarters. However, those were not really open to try a new, unknown brand while

already offering famous brands as Adidas and Nike.

In addition, even if sport club manager or chief purchaser were interested in Saiphs and its

products, they could not agree to buy them. However, the project group still arranged two co

operations with a soccer club in Lotte and an American football club and a hockey club in

Hamburg.

In addition to those professional contact persons, the project group also talked to private

sportsmen in order to get a general overview to the openness and interest on a new brand. Here,

the result was more positive, as sportsmen in general are open to try a new brand, especially if it

is cheaper than the famous brands Adidas, Nike, and Under Amour. This corresponds actually to

the results of the earlier mentioned survey.

Thus, as a conclusion one can say that it will be the best idea to sell the Saiphs products to

private sportsmen or to go to as many sport clubs as possible to present and convince the teams

and their managers. So, Saiphs reaches brand awareness and in the end, also retailers are open

to cooperate with them.


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4.3 Field trials

As mentioned above, during the personal interviews, the project group was able to convince two

sport clubs to try the products of Saiphs: One is the soccer club SF Lotte, whose first soccer team

will be sponsored by Saiphs during the next season. This means that the team will try the

compression shirts and due to this field trial, Saiphs gets the opportunity to sell their products to

the other teams as well, if they are satisfied with the quality.

The project group could also convince two other clubs, who are a hockey club and an American

football club in Hamburg. Those are willing to buy the uniforms of Saiphs and therefore will try

them during the next season as well.

Thanks to those three clubs, which will use the products of Saiphs, Saiphs has its first clients in

the area of soccer, American football, and hockey. This will make it easier for them to gain other

clubs as well, because they can argue with the satisfaction of the clubs and the good cost

effectiveness.


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5 Strategic marketing plan

Having done all the necessary desk and field research, the project group can now come up with a

strategic marketing plan, which consists of the four P’s product, promotion, place, and price.

5.1 Product strategy

As said earlier, Saiphs is specialized in compression gear and complete uniforms. In the

following, the project group will describe those products in more detail. Therefore, this part has

been divided into current products and ideas for future adaptations.

5.1.1 Current products

Taking the cross cultural aspect into account, one can say that the products of Saiphs are

concerned to be cultural neutral. The reason for this is that Saiphs only has to change the size

definitions, as Europe and the USA have different measurements for this. This makes it easier for

Saiphs to get a foothold on the European market, because the company does not have to invest

much money to adapt its products. In fact, it is even possible and used by many competing

companies, like Adidas36 or Nike, to implement size tags that show different size measurements.

The most important products for the German market are compression gear. The German market

is already quite mature with complete uniforms for sport teams, so the project group has

decided to mainly focus on compression gear, as they become more and more popular for

athletes to use.

Basically, there are two different kind of compression gear, which is light weight and pro weight.

The light weight compression shirts and shorts are made of 85% Nylon and 15% elastane. Those

products are very light and almost feel as if the athlete were not wearing anything at all. Next,

the pro weight compression gear is made of 88% Nylon and 12% elastane. These products are

firmer and stronger to protect the muscles no matter if it is cold or warm outside.

For men, Saiphs will offer long sleeves compression shirts in pro weight and light weight. Also

short sleeves shirts are available, which are the light weight kind. In the pants section, one can

36 http://static.lowyat.net/uploads/attach-12/post-287212-1314155331_thumb.jpg

http://static.lowyat.net/uploads/attach-12/post-287212-1314155331_thumb.jpg


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receive compression shorts and compression tights. Those are both available in light weight and

pro weight.

With regard to women, the project group has decided to offer compression shirts with long and

short sleeves in light weight and pro weight. In addition to that, compression tights in pro

weight will be offered. The shorts will be offered in two lengths, both in pro weight. One normal

kind of shorts and one kind a little bit shorter, which is most used for volleyball. Finally, Saiphs

will offer a special short sleeve shirt for women, the sueded cap shirt, which is made of 92%

Nylon and 8% Lycra. This shirt is not only very comfortable for doing sports but also suitable to

wear during leisure time.

Coming to uniforms, those are offered for men. All of these products are made of 100%

polyester. The shirts are very comfortable for the athletes and are constructed with the most

cutting edge moisture management technology available. This will help the athlete to focus on

the game and not be bothered by sweating and getting wet. The shorts are available in two

kinds, one with pockets and one without. The ones without pockets are ultra-light shorts

without any extra weight, which keep the perspiration away from the athletes’ body. Also the

shorts with pockets are constructed to keep the athlete dry and comfortable during the entire

workout.

As a last product, Saiphs will offer skull caps. Those are made to keep the sweat off the athletes’

face so he or she can totally focus on the game.

For any further information about the products refer to the look book the project group created

(appendix 13.5).

5.1.2 Ideas for future adaptations

With regard to innovation, the compression gear of Saiphs gives the most possibilities. One idea

could be to find ways to make the compression gear even lighter, in order to be even more

comfortable and efficient for the athlete when exercising. Another innovation could be to

investigate a method to make the compression gear better, especially for warm weather.

Improving the “breathing” of the fabric could lead to an improvement of the body temperature of

the athlete and by that an improvement for the comfort of wearing such a shirt.


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Another idea could be to improve the surface of the clothes according to the lotus effect. This

means that the clothes will have a super hydrophobic micro-nanostructured surface, which will

have a self-cleaning effect, as water droplets will pick up dirt particles. By this, not only the

clothes itself would stay dryer but also cleaner, which might improve exercise results of the

athletes.

Finally and with regard to cultural differences, it would be a great idea for Saiphs to adapt their

women’s wear to the Islamic cultures. In Germany, there live many people from the Islamic

countries. Saiphs could sell the shorts and shirts, which are very likely to be too short for those

women, in combination with an extra cape or pants. By this, women from the Islamic countries

would be able to be more dressed than only with the shirts and shorts.

5.2 Promotion strategy

Coming to the promotion part of the 4 P’s, the project group developed several social marketing

tools to make Saiphs more popular in Germany.

Therefore, a Facebook profile ‘Saiphs Deutschland’ (see appendix 13.6), a Twitter profile

‘SaiphsDE’ (see appendix 13.7) and a Hootsuite (see appendix 13.8) account have been created

(the access dates can be found in appendix 13.9). Social network marketing plays an important

role nowadays and it is a good opportunity for Saiphs to reach fans and customers all over

Germany as it is cheap and not specified on one location. Furthermore, fans or followers of

Saiphs will always be informed about new articles, new offers or Saiphs in general. Also, there

are programmed some announcements for Twitter and Facebook for the coming months, so that

the followers stay informed about Saiphs.

In connection with the social media marketing, the project group created a draft version of a

new homepage for Saiphs Germany, as the actual homepage is not very attractive and the

descriptions are not in German neither. For this, a computer specialist has been contacted, who

made a draft version of the website, which can be found under www.saiphs.pascallammers.de

(see appendix 13.10 for screenshots). This person would also be available to create a totally new

homepage for Saiphs Germany. This is very important because the current homepage represents

Saiphs rather badly instead of communicating the high quality of the products. In order to

develop a new homepage, the project group already searched for Google AdWords (See appendix

http://www.saiphs.pascallammers.de/


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13.11) to put on the homepage. This is important to get a good position in searching machines as

Google and Yahoo, because internet users are searching for those AdWords.

To not only reach the Generation Y, but to also reach people of the older generations, the project

group thought about setting banners in different stadiums of Germany. But this only makes

sense once a company is known. Therefore, to start, the project group arranged a sponsorship

with the soccer club SF Lotte. The arrangement is that Saiphs will get an advertisement on the

website of SF Lotte (see appendix 13.12 for website banner) and there will be made

announcements during half-time in order to get first brand awareness. Besides, Saiphs gets the

opportunity to sell their products via the fan shop of SF Lotte and there will be made

announcements of Saiphs on the Facebook page of the club. In return, the first team of the club

will receive compression shirts. See the agreement in appendix 13.13. Concerning the future

plan of a banner, SF Lotte would be a nice option to start with as they have already offered this

and Saiphs can profit from the contact the project group has already established.

Looking at SF Lotte, the average amount of visitors is 1150 per home match. This kind of

promotion would not only attract people from Lotte, but also from other cities in Germany due

to the fact that SF Lotte plays in the fourth league of Germany. Currently, it is the leader of the

league, so there is a good chance to play in the third league next season, which is the first

professional league in Germany. The banner could include a QR code with which visitors can

directly go to the website of Saiphs (see QR code with link to Saiphs website in appendix 13.14)

in order to get to know the different products and to order them. Finally, on this banner, there

could be written that the visitors can also purchase Saiphs products in the fan shop of SF Lotte.

Another effective promotion tool the project group recommends to Saiphs is to make

advertisement in the city busses of Cologne. Cologne is the most important city regarding sports

in Germany as it locates the Sporthochschule Köln (University of sports) and thus, there are

many sportsmen in this city using busses and public transportation. Those advertisements in

city busses should be held quite easy: just a logo of Saiphs with a QR code that leads to the

homepage again.

Finally, it is important to promote the products of Saiphs personally. This can be done by visits

at different sport teams. As the project group already talked to some clubs that are interested, it

is a good to start with those clubs to present their products. So, the sportsmen can see and touch

the shirts and shorts of Saiphs. This gives Saiphs the opportunity to present and sell their

products directly.


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5.3 Distribution

Coming to the distribution of the products of Saiphs includes the production, shipping and

delivery to the end consumer. In order to be successful on the German market the supply chain

has to be reconsidered, because here, different aspects concerning transportation and stock

should be taken into account. As mentioned before, due to the fact that Saiphs is still unknown, it

is difficult to cooperate with retailers as they are mostly contracted to the big brand as Adidas

and Nike. Therefore, up to now, the distribution is done via sport clubs in different areas (soccer,

hockey, American football). Thanks to this, promotion and distribution can be integrated, which

can be seen by the agreement with SF Lotte, where Saiphs product can be purchased now.

Nevertheless, as a result of the survey, Germans prefer to purchase their sportswear at retailers.

So, in the future, it is inevitable to cooperate with retailers. However, to convince the retailers,

brand awareness has to be established before. Then, a warehouse will also become necessary

due to the increasing cooperation with retailers and sport clubs. This warehouse would save

transportation costs, because larger amounts of clothes can be shipped from the United States to

Europe by one single order. So, e.g. shipping costs do not have to be paid that often.

Finally, it is also important to establish a web shop as it becomes more and more popular

nowadays, especially within the Generation Y.

The following chart gives an overview of the planned distribution channel:

Supplier of raw material

Sportswear or compression gear

Sport clubs End consumer

Sportswear retailer End consumer

Internet shop End consumer


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5.4 Price strategy

Now, the project group will talk about the advised price strategy for Saiphs when entering the

German market. Regarding Saiphs’ mission of being a high quality brand for an affordable price,

the prices have been calculated to be lower than the average prices of the competitors as Adidas,

Nike, and Under Armour. As mentioned before in Chapter 3.5, the prices of these competitors

reach from approx. 40€ - 95€ per piece.

In dual pricing, domestic and export prices are differentiated. It is essential for Saiphs to make

use of the cost-driven method, more exactly the cost-plus method, as there will be export-related

costs in form of personnel, market research, additional shipping, and insurance costs,

communication costs with foreign customers, and overseas promotional costs37. Using the cost-

plus method, Saiphs will have an average costs of 13,26€ per piece, as calculated in Chapter 7.1,

which leads to a minimum selling price of ~15€ - 20€.

Also, market-oriented pricing has been chosen. Here, the company prices are compared with

those of the competitors, which leads to an advised selling price of 20€ - 30€ per piece as the

mission of Saiphs is to offer good quality product for an affordable price (please see price list in

appendix 13.15)

Furthermore, Saiphs has to take the exchange risk into account as the USA and Germany have

different currencies. As the value of the Euro increases steadily in comparison with the value of

the USD, it is advisable to enter the German market38. Additionally, in case a retailer wants to sell

the products of Saiphs, it is common to sell the products at 70% of the retail price.

To sum up, the project group used a combination of a cost-based and market-driven approach to

calculate the selling price for Saiphs products on the German market.

37 Page 358, Czinkota, Michael R.; Ronkainen, Ilkka a:, International Marketing, 8th Edition, Mason (USA), Thomson South-Western, 2007 38http://de.finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=EURUSD%3DX#symbol=;range=19990101,20130107;compare=;indicator=volume;charttype=area;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=off ;

http://de.finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=EURUSD%3DX#symbol=;range=19990101,20130107;compare=;indicator=volume;charttype=area;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=off



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6 Strategic communication plan

The next chapter is about the strategic communication plan respectively how the project group

recommends Saiphs how to communicate with the (potential) customers. Here, it is important to

know in which step of the Dagmar model Saiphs is right and how they can reach the last step,

which is brand loyalty.

6.1 Dagmar model – current situation

Up to know, one can say that Saiphs is not known at all on

the German market. The objective of the project group is to

first build brand awareness in order to make Saiphs a

successful brand in Germany.

The approach how to first get brand awareness and finally

brand loyalty will be explained in the following part.

6.2 How do we approach our (potential) customers

The project group will seek contacts with sport clubs and later on also local retailers. In

Germany, it is often the case that sport clubs are working very close together with local retailers

concerning clothing, equipment etc. In order to present the concept and the products to sport

clubs and retailers, a Power Point Presentation in the design of Saiphs has been developed. (see

appendix 13.16). Moreover, business cards containing important contact information of Saiphs

will be delivered to the management of the sport club or retailer to exchange information and

keep in contact (see appendix 13.17).

Therefore, the strategy of Saiphs is to make promotion at the sports clubs, which wear the

Saiphs clothes, in order to create brand awareness is. This promotion will be in form of


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advertisements on the website, announcements during half-time, or a banner at the side of the

pitch. At big sport fields, every week, different people interested in sports like guest teams and

guest supporters visit the stadium. So, the effect of these promotion tools is to communicate

Saiphs’ website and Saiphs and its products in general to get brand knowledge/comprehension.

The website provides two options for the potential customers. The first option is to purchase the

goods of Saiphs directly via the website. And the other one is that Saiphs provides the

information about the retailers where the goods of Saiphs are available.

Saiphs is a small company, but promotion and the creation of brand awareness are essential.

Therefore, the strategy is as well to promote with posters in public transport systems. In cities,

thousands and thousands of people use public transport every day. So, if these people see from

one day to another the new interesting Saiphs poster, they will be aware of it and could check

the website easily via the QR code.

Brand awareness

Website

Retailers

Purchasing options

Promotion in public transport

Point of sale promotion

Promotion at sport clubs

Brand knowledge


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Another promotion objective for Saiphs will be the Point of Sale promotion. As mentioned

before, the plan is to get in touch with retailers later on as well; therefore, we want them to sell

the products of Saiphs in their stores. To make customers of the retailers aware of a new

product, the plan is to be present in stores with posters, stand-ups etc. With this strategy,

customers will see the products easily and will get motivated to take a look at them.

6.2.1 Marketing idea, with the use of Facebook as communication channel

To promote the products of Saiphs and create more and more brand awareness, the project

group thought of a promotion campaign on Facebook. The idea is to promote the campaign on

the Facebook page with the support of the already existing customers to create a win-win

situation. Therefore, it is a competition where every client can win a complete dress of Saiphs

wear.

The competition is about to take the best (sport) picture while wearing clothes of Saiphs and

adding these photos to the Saiphs page on Facebook and as well sharing it on his/her own page.

The benefit of this campaign is that Saiphs can reach a big group of potential customers without

doing anything and to create brand awareness. In addition to that, this campaign is a challenging

event, which totally fits to the target group (Generation Y).

As mentioned in the part of promotion, the project group created a profile on Hootsuite through

which this campaign can be programmed. So, one can save time and publish the campaign on

Twitter and Facebook at the same moment. By this, the project group makes sure to manage all

social network communities in an integrated way.

As a conclusion, one can say that by implementing this communication strategy, Saiphs will have

a great chance to fast get brand awareness and finally brand loyalty. Social network marketing is

the new way to attract the Generation Y, which fits perfectly to Saiphs limited amount of money

for investments.


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7 Logistics

In this part of the report, the project group is about to describe two scenarios concerning the

cost analysis. The first one is the future vision according to the plan, after Saiphs is established in

the European market and the second one is the actual one.

7.1 Desired situation

In business, it is of great significance to be aware of all factors, which play a role in the

production, transport and promotion of goods. It becomes even more complicated and more

detailed when it is about international business respectively the import and/or export of goods

between continents.

Until now, Saiphs is only operating in the United States and did not have any experience in doing

business internationally. Therefore, it is of great importance to set up a logistic and financial

plan including all the cost factors, which will arise.

After doing research at several companies in Germany and after personal interviews with

employees of logistic departments, the project group was able to set up a complete list of factors,

which produce costs and are inevitable when exporting goods. This list includes the following

factors:

I. Production costs: Everything needed to produce the product (raw material, workers, fix costs of the production place) Packaging costs (material for packaging, palettes etc.)

II. Transport costs to the harbor: Costs which need to be paid to the express company

III. Handling costs at the harbor: Including all the work that need to be done to get the delivery from the truck on the ship (incl. all paper work)

IV. Export customs entry: Amount of money, need to be paid to export goods

V. Sea fright: Transportation costs of the shipping company


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VI. Insurance: The Insurance, to cover all possible risk factors

VII. Customs: One has to pay an amount of money on every good to be allowed to import it (12 % in our case, but the percentage depends on the country of production)

VIII. Importation VAT: An item needs to be taken into account, but it is just a transitory item and therefore not a real cost

IX. Transport costs to the warehouse: Amount of money, need to be paid to the express company

X. Transport to the retailers: Amount of money, need to be spent on delivery costs to the retailers/customers

If Saiphs grows to a size where it is not possible to manage everything as it is done now, there

are a few factors, which need to be added to the list. These factors are:

I. Warehouse costs: Rent for the warehouse, fix costs like electricity, heater etc

II. Office costs:

Administrative office costs (taxes, office fix costs)

III. Employee at the warehouse and office: Packaging, administrative tasks, customer service, warehousing

The project group left this part out for the first calculations respectively estimation of costs

because of the fact that there is already a small stock located in the Netherlands, which could be

used as well for Saiphs Germany.

When following these necessary steps, it is possible to make an estimation of the costs per year,

when exporting/shipping a certain amount of products to make it profitable. This estimation

would be as follows:


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Estimated costs 1st year in Euro Variable/Fixed costs

Production costs p. delivery € 52.500 F

Transport costs (USA) € 300 V

Handling costs (USA) € 300 V

Export customs entry € 5.000 F

Sea fright € 2.000 V

Customs (on the value of goods) € 6.300 F

Insurance € 1.575 V

Handling charges (Hamburg) € 225 V

Transport costs -> warehouse € 300 V

Transport to retailers/customers € 500 V

Marketing costs € 10.000 V

Total € 79.000 39 40

The warehousing and administrative part is still done separately, at a point, when Saiphs reach

this amount of sale, a bigger warehouse and more employees are inevitable.

Even with these extra costs, Saiphs would be able to generate satisfying revenue. The costs per

product would increase by 5,26 €, which leads to a total price of 13,26€ per product, as the

production costs regarding Saiphs information is around 8€ per piece (10 USD). However,

Saiphs will still make profit if they act according to this plan.

For more information, refer to appendix 13.18.

7.2 Current situation

At the moment there is no regular transport of goods from the United States to Europe.

Therefore, if there are orders or if there is a need of certain goods, they will be shipped normally

with costs of around 1 Euro per item. In addition to that Saiphs is already registered in the

Netherlands and has a certain location to storage the goods. But furthermore there are no

business relationships with any clubs, retailers, clubs, or logistic companies.

39 Personal interview with an employee Geodis Wilson Hamburg 40 Personal interview with an employee of logistics Edeka AG Hamburg


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8 Cross cultural comparison between America and Germany

When entering a foreign market, it is essential to consider the differences between cultures. In

the following chapter, the differences between the American and the German business culture

will be explained. In additions to that, a closer look has been taken at differences between

sportsmen.

8.1 General business matters

In the following, the project group will describe and analyze the differences between the German

and American business culture.

In order to get a good start, it is wise to take a look at the two countries on base of their cultural

dimensions according to Geert Hofstede and Edward T. Hall. Based on this, the behavior and

etiquette of business in Germany and the United Stated can be further explained.

The cultural dimensions of Geert Hofstede are power distance, the degree of individualism,

masculinity vs. feminism, the degree of uncertainty avoidance and the degree of long-term

orientation of a country. In the following charts those dimensions are visualized for Germany

and the United States of America41.

United States Germany

Power distance 40 35

Individualism 91 67

Masculinity 62 66

Uncertainty avoidance 46 65

Long-term orientation 29 31

41 http://geert-hofstede.com/united-states.html

0

20

40

60

80

100

PowerDistance Index

Individualism Masculinity UncertaintyAvoidance

Long TermOrientation

Germany

United States of America

http://geert-hofstede.com/united-states.html


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Further, the cultural concept of Edward T. Hall is important to consider, in order to understand a

culture. The aspects of this theory are the communication style, proxemics, meaning the needed

space when interacting with someone, and the perception of time in a culture. The general

distinction here is made between high and low context cultures

As shown in the image below42, one can see that actually Germany and the United States both

concerned to be low-context cultures, which means they are quite similar. Though, Germany is

considered to be more towards a low context culture. This means that concerning time, the

needed space between two persons

and the overall context of a message,

Saiphs will most likely not encounter

problems, when doing business in

Germany. However, it should be

considered that German business

partners might even be more direct

and focused on work rather than on

relationships than Saiph´s managers

are used to in America.43

As it becomes obvious by looking at the different dimensions, the American and German

Business etiquette are quie similar. However, still there are some things, Saiphs should consider,

when doing business in Germany. In the following the project group will therefore point out

those differences and explain them with regard to Saiphs. A more detailed chart with

comparisons between Germany and the United States can be found in appendix 13.19.

First, the overall appearance of a business person is important. However, in general, one can say

that the business dress code between Germany and America does not differ very much. In both

countries, it is essential to dress in a formal way, including a suit with a matching tie and leather

shoes. Accessories should be chosen carefully and match the overall classic style. For women, it

is important to not show too much skin in order to appear professional44. This can be explained

by the high degree of masculinity and individualism in both cultures. Especially in the United

States, individual acknowledgment is very important, which includes a professional

42 http://www.genderwork.com/images/flags.gif 43 http://changingminds.org/explanations/culture/hall_culture.htm 44 http://www.wiwo.de/erfolg/knigge-stilblueten-und-fettnaepfchen-in-deutschland-seite-3/5493022-3.html

http://www.genderwork.com/images/flags.gif

http://changingminds.org/explanations/culture/hall_culture.htm

http://www.wiwo.de/erfolg/knigge-stilblueten-und-fettnaepfchen-in-deutschland-seite-3/5493022-3.html


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appearance45. With regard to Saiphs, it should be concerned that the degree of individualism in

Germany (67) is significantly lower than in the United States (91), though people still appear

very professional and rather cold.

Concerning greeting each other, in both countries, a strong handshake is common, maintaining

enough space of about an arm´s length46, which supports Hall´s theory of low context cultures,

where generally people prefer to maintain enough space between each other. In addition, eye

contact and a friendly smile are crucial to make a good first impression. There are no greeting

differences between men and women. However, Saiphs needs to consider that especially in

Germany, hierarchy determines the order of greeting each other, no matter whether in private

or business, the person that is lower in the hierarchy presents himself letting the higher

positioned person decide how to great him. Age does also influence the order of greeting;

younger people present themselves first47. By this, the similar degrees for the power distance

index (United States 40, Germany 35) are explained.

With regard to business gifts, there is quite a difference. In Germany they are obligatory whereas

in America not expected, but still appreciated48. However, in America, they should not exceed an

amount of 25$ and homemade gifts are prestigious49. This is different in Germany, where a

bottle of wine or flowers are fine. Also, in Germany, one should keep in mind the increasing fear

of appearing corrupt. Especially the concern of Germans of being seen as corrupt can be

explained by the high degree of uncertainty avoidance (65), which is related to their behavior of

worrying. Saiphs business managers should consider that Germans do not like the unknown and

worry about everything, especially money, the future and appearing corrupt.

Coming to business cards, in general using them is common in both countries, however sizes

differ. German business cards are a little shorter, but higher. Business cards should contain the

most important information about the company and the contact information about the business

partner itself. The way of using business cards differs, because in Germany it is quiet usual to

exchange them already when greeting each other. In America it is more usual to add them to an

appreciation letter after a meeting50. When handing over a business card, it should be directly

readable and the receiving person should study the card in both countries. It is necessary to

45 http://www.path2usa.com/dress-code-in-us 46 http://www.elementalenglish.com/2012/02/greetings-in-america/ 47 http://www.wiwo.de/erfolg/knigge-stilblueten-und-fettnaepfchen-in-deutschland/5493022.html 48 http://www.wiwo.de/erfolg/knigge-stilblueten-und-fettnaepfchen-in-deutschland-seite-4/5493022-4.html 49 http://www.cyborlink.com/besite/international_gift_giving.htm 50 http://www.visitenkarten-inspiration.de/usa-und-gb-3-%C2%BD-x-2/

http://www.path2usa.com/dress-code-in-us

http://www.elementalenglish.com/2012/02/greetings-in-america/

http://www.wiwo.de/erfolg/knigge-stilblueten-und-fettnaepfchen-in-deutschland/5493022.html


http://www.cyborlink.com/besite/international_gift_giving.htm

http://www.visitenkarten-inspiration.de/usa-und-gb-3-%C2%BD-x-2/


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handle a business card with respect; and especially women should not just drop it into their

hand bag. 51

Another topic to consider is the importance of hierarchy in business life. In America as well as in

Germany hierarchy is essential, which backs up the theory of Hofstede that power distance is

quite high in both countries. The head of a group always leads a discussion and decides for the

final result. Moreover, one has to differ between work life and social life; a work colleague does

not necessary have to be a friend. Hierarchy is also related to how to address each other. Titles

and educational achievements are supposed to be known and used52. When doing business in

Germany, Saiphs will especially have to consider that there is a formal and informal way to use

the way “you” (Sie, du). In general, “Sie” is used to address strangers, business associates,

acquaintances, and for most situations outside the family. It is advisable to rather be too formal

than too familiar and wait for the counterperson to offer the informal addressing53. This can

certainly be explained by the earlier mentioned monochromic cultural behavior according to

Hall. As Germany is considered to be more monochromic they also expect more space between

one another, which is especially when it comes to business life.

The most significant difference between the two countries is the attitude towards risk. This

degree of uncertainty avoidance is 65 for Germany and 46 for the United States54. This means

that Germans in general are more concerned and prefer security instead of taking risks which is

very likely to become obvious when making contracts with retailers for example55. Saiphs

should be aware of the fact that German retailers and sport clubs will ask for samples and might

even want to try them some time before buying them. In addition, making contracts will be

influenced by this. As Saiphs is a totally unknown company and brand and moreover outside of

the European Union, German business partners will be very careful, especially about payment

conditions, so Saiphs should be aware of this.

Besides making contracts, the risk attitude is also recognizable in the way of advertising. In both

countries, the main focus lays on informing consumer about the products and its benefits.

However, in Germany, it is even more important for an advertisement to communicate security

while in America the focus lays more on hard sell, with direct information about the product

without special attention to safety but more on being better and bigger.

51 http://www.visitenkarten-24.org/visitenkarten-knigge.htm 52 http://www.communicaid.com/access/pdf/library/culture/doing-business-in/Doing%20Business%20in%20the%20USA.pdf 53http://www.german-way.com/friends.html 54 http://geert-hofstede.com/united-states.html 55 http://www.german-way.com/angst.html

http://www.visitenkarten-24.org/visitenkarten-knigge.htm

http://www.communicaid.com/access/pdf/library/culture/doing-business-in/Doing%20Business%20in%20the%20USA.pdf

http://www.german-way.com/friends.html


http://www.german-way.com/angst.html


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The next point is the time concept56. Although, there is not really a difference, this is an

important topic to consider for Saiphs, when doing business in Germany57. As both countries are

monochromic cultures, according to Hall, punctuality and not spending too much time on small

talk is essential and highly valued. However, as German have a high degree of uncertainty

avoidance (65), a very good planning is expected and moreover, last minute changes and

surprises are not appreciated at all. In fact, Germans want to meet their goals and stick to a

precise plan, which might appear to Saiphs, which is a rather informal company, as very strict

and rigid.

The concept of time is certainly in connection with small talk. As said, because of being

monochromic cultures, Americans as well as Germans do not spend too much time on small talk

and are not really interested in getting to know the business partners private life but rather use

small talk for a warm-up. Therefore, in general, positive or neutral topics like the weather, city

visits or recent events are good topics58. When meeting a German business partner, Saiphs

managers should definitely avoid talking about the Second World War. Even though, people in

Germany are not as sensitive to this topic anymore it should still be avoided, as it is still not a

very common topic, neither amongst Germans59.

Related to the topics that are good to use for small talk are the general social values of a country.

As mentioned before those are in general the same, however it has to be pointed out that

America still is considered to be a culture where people prefer warm and good relations60. This

signifies for Saiphs that they might see German business partners as very cold and reserved. On

the other, Saiphs can rely on the German importance of duty61. This means that when a business

partner assures something that he or she will definitely stick to this and fulfill his or her duties.

Summing it up, as said, there are not many differences between the German and American

business culture. In fact, doing business in Germany should be quite easy for Americans, when

considering the named topics and differences, especially the avoidance of risk in Germany,

which is the most significant difference between the two cultures.

56 http://www.communicaid.com/access/pdf/library/culture/doing-business-in/Doing%20Business%20in%20the%20USA.pdf 57 http://www.todaytranslations.com/doing-business-in/germany 58 http://www.task.fm/small-talk-topics 59 http://www.todaytranslations.com/doing-business-in/germany 60 http://www.psmag.com/culture/self-respect-tops-list-of-american-social-values-16121/ 61 http://www.cactuslanguage.com/en/culturesmart/culture_germany.php


http://www.todaytranslations.com/doing-business-in/germany

http://www.task.fm/small-talk-topics


http://www.psmag.com/culture/self-respect-tops-list-of-american-social-values-16121/

http://www.cactuslanguage.com/en/culturesmart/culture_germany.php


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8.2 Differences in sport habits

As Saiphs will deal with sport clubs and sportsmen the project group has also analyzed the

differences in this area between America and Germany. The focus here lays on preferred sports

and how sports are organized in the two countries.

Favorite sports Germany and America

America62 Germany63 1. Football Soccer 2. Baseball Gymnastic 3. Basketball Tennis 4. Hockey Shooting 5. Soccer Athletics 6. Golf Handball 7. Tennis Horse riding 8. Motorsports Climbing 9. Pro Wrestling Fishing 10 Martial Arts Table tennis

Comparing the favorite sports between Germany and America is very important for Saiphs in

order to get a good overview about the clothes needed, when entering the German market. The

table above shows that there is a high difference between the ranking of sports and the

discipline itself.

Actually, the two countries only have two similar disciplines under their top ten ranking of

sports, which are soccer and tennis. However, talking about those two disciplines, one can say

that soccer is the most important and popular sport in Germany, which means that most of the

boys and men play or have played soccer in a team for a period, while soccer is only ranked on

fifth place in America. Nevertheless, this is very good to know for Saiphs, concerning their plan

to export to Germany, because their products are great for soccer players: they can be used all

year long to keep muscles warm during winter time and cold during summer time.

Going on, tennis is also a very popular sport in Germany being ranked on third place, while it is

only on sixth place in America. Though, tennis is of no interest for Saiphs as their products are

not applicable for this kind of sport, neither the uniforms, as special tennis uniforms are worn,

nor the compression gear, as tennis is played indoors during the winter periods.

62 http://www.therichest.org/sports/most-popular-sports-in-america/ 63 http://vereinsknowhow.meinverein.de/beliebteste-sportarten-in-deutschland.cfm

http://www.therichest.org/sports/most-popular-sports-in-america/

http://vereinsknowhow.meinverein.de/beliebteste-sportarten-in-deutschland.cfm


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Having a look at the rest of sports in America and Germany, the project group analyzed that

football, baseball, basketball and hockey, which are the four favorite kinds of sport in the US

represent the target group of Saiphs. Though, the fact that those sports are not amongst the first

top 10 disciplines in Germany, does not mean that they are not a target group in Germany.

Further, as said before and proved by the ranking, soccer represents the biggest sport market in

Germany. The German soccer union currently counts about 6.8 million64 active members, which

results in a high interest on products of Saiphs.

Going on, Saiphs´ products like uniforms and compression gear are also necessary for sports as

gymnastic, athletics, handball and climbing, because sportsmen playing handball need a uniform

and individual sportsmen in gymnastic, athletics, and climbing can make use of compression

gear.

Coming to a conclusion, the project group can say that there are differences between the

preferences of sports in the USA and Germany, so Saiphs needs to take into consideration that

they have to focus on a different target market and sports.

A second topic Saiphs has to consider when exploring the German sports market is that sports

are organized differently in Germany. In America, as Saiphs knows, sports are primarily part of

High School or college life65. When doing sports, students are part of a team in High School or

college that’s why the best is to contact schools directly instead of going for retailers.

On the other hand in Germany sport teams are completely separated from school life. Here, each

village or town has its own sport club which organizes the different sports and teams66.

Therefore, concerning Saiphs it will be the best to directly get in contact with those sport

organizations. They can then decide for which kind of sport the products of Saiphs are

interesting and actually decide everything concerning purchases. In addition to that the sport

clubs usually work together with sponsors and most times have their retailers they always work

with. This means for Saiphs that by contacting sport clubs they can also get in touch with

retailers and by this maybe become in contact with other sport clubs.

64 http://www.dfb.de/index.php?id=11015 65 http://usa.usembassy.de/sport-jugend.htm 66 http://www.dosb.de/fileadmin/fm-dsb/arbeitsfelder/wiss-ges/Dateien/Sport_in_Deutschland.pdf

http://www.dfb.de/index.php?id=11015

http://usa.usembassy.de/sport-jugend.htm

http://www.dosb.de/fileadmin/fm-dsb/arbeitsfelder/wiss-ges/Dateien/Sport_in_Deutschland.pdf


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9 Implementation trajectory

In the implementation trajectory, the project group explains which tasks were carried out at

what time, in order to make the Saiphs project a success.

Refer to external appendix B for the Gantt chart overview with the time scale from the beginning

of the minor until the next steps, which should be carried out after the project group has finished

the minor. Basically, there are seven major steps, which designed the implementation of the

minor.

First of all, once the project group had been formed, they applied for the Saiphs assignment and

wrote a substantial plan of action to determine the work process. The next step was the market

research, which made up most of the work spent for this project. This consisted of a complete

analysis, including a company analysis, the micro macro analysis, specific research like a survey

and field trials, logistics analysis, cultural analysis, and in the end the creation of a strategic

marketing plan and a strategic communication plan and their financial consequences. For the

third and fourth step the project group designed various marketing tools for the German market

and was busy with its maintenance. After these preparatory tasks, the project group started the

implementation of the plan in December, what means that they contacted possible clients,

negotiated contracts and agreed on various agreements mentioned already before in the report.

The sixth step will be the handover of all results the project group came up with, to the owners

of Saiphs, so that then Saiphs. Then, Saiphs can continue its actions on the German market in

step seven.


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10 Financial consequences of the marketing plan

As the project group has developed several marketing tools, the following marketing costs have

to be taken into consideration.

Sponsorship of the first team of Sportfreunde Lotte

Production of the banner (4m) 600€ per year

Print for the banner (4m) 220€

Announcement on the website (388 x 166 px.) 400€ per year

Announcements during halftime at home

games 100€ half a year

Announcements on the Facebook page of SF

Lotte 100€ per year

The costs for the different announcements are not directly costs, as Saiphs will sponsor SF Lotte

and provide them with 24 long sleeve shirts, which is a total of about 600€.

In addition to that, as said, the project group advises Saiphs to make use of posters in public

transport in cologne, once the company is more settled and has more financial means. In the

following one can find the costs for this.

Posters in public transport (150 pieces): 30.240€ per year

Website: 3000€ - 5000€ for the development


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11 Conclusion

The American company Saiphs Inc. produces athletic sportswear speaking of uniforms and

compression gear. Now, Saiphs wants to conquer the European market, to be more concrete the

German market. This market penetration offers the organization many opportunities concerning

new international relationships and also larger target groups.

After carrying out this analysis, respectively doing the whole project it is possible to conclude

the following statement:

Germany offers good opportunities concerning the potential target group and important

environmental factors. The German sports market is booming despite the economic crisis. There

is a high chance to be successful when entering the German market due to the company’s

strengths and the strategy developed by the project group.

Of course there are several risks, which occur when entering a new market. Even more, when it

is about a small company as Saiphs is at the moment. These risks are concerning distribution,

production, competition and the reaching of customers. This could lead to complications because

of the size of the German market with all the factors, which play a role in order to enter a new

market successfully. But the exhaustive analysis of the internal and external factors confirmed

that this market is favorable for new entrants and offers a lot of options to grow. Even more for

Saiphs, as this company is a modern and cool brand, which offers high quality sport products for

an affordable price. This is an image, which fulfill on the wishes and needs of the target group.

So, if all parties involved are totally into it and follow the strategy developed by the project

group, it is an absolute go. Definitely, it is always impossible to know in advance if there will be

success but in today’s international business it is necessary to just do it, stick to your strengths

and work according to the plan. Be open for changes and follow the pursuit of success.


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http://www.saiphs.com/site/index.php?main_page=page&id=28

http://www.saiphs.com/site/index.php?main_page=page&id=28&zenid=m83ocdusv37dhs16p9eo0ckhl1

http://saiphs.com/cms.php?id_cms=11

http://www.dosb.de/fileadmin/fmdsb/arbeitsfelder/wissges/Dateien/Sport_in_Deutschland.pdf

http://viewswire.eiu.com/site_info.asp?info_name=social_unrest_table&page=noads

http://www.worldwide-tax.com/germany/ger_invest.asp

http://www.agbc.de/index.php?home

http://www.taxrates.cc/html/germany-tax-rates.html

http://www.taxrates.cc/html/us-tax-rates.html

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http://www.frm-united.com/Political_stability.35.0.html?&L=1

http://www.frm-united.com/Strengths.34.0.html?&L=1





http://www.bmbf.de/press/3301.php

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2002.html

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gm.html

http://www.culturecrossing.net/basics_business_student_details.php?Id=22&CID=79







http://www.digitalnext.de/immer-mehr-smartphones-in-gebrauch/

http://de.slideshare.net/dasMobileNetz/smartphone-nutzung-in-deutschland



http://www.germanculture.com.ua/library/facts/bl_climate.htm

http://www.hg.org/consume.html

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/hr-employment-law





http://www.intersport.de/unternehmen/profil

http://www.runnerspoint.com/unternehmen

http://www.sportgeschaefte-in-deutschland.de/region/Hamburg.html



http://store.nike.com/nl/en_gb/?l=shop,pdp,ctr-inline/cid-300/pid-552984

http://www.underarmour.com/shop/us/en/mens/shop-by-fit/compression

http://static.lowyat.net/uploads/attach-12/post-287212-1314155331_thumb.jpg




http://www.genderwork.com/images/flags.gif





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http://www.therichest.org/sports/most-popular-sports-in-america/



http://www.dfb.de/index.php?id=11015

http://usa.usembassy.de/sport-jugend.htm

http://www.dosb.de/fileadmin/fmdsb/arbeitsfelder/wissges/Dateien/Sport_in_Deutschland.pdf




http://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/business-cards.html

http://www.visitenkarten-24.org/visitenkarten-format.htm




http://ezinearticles.com/?Differences-in-Indian-Ads-in-the-USA-and-American-Ads&id=6920394

http://scratchpad.wikia.com/wiki/Differences_Between_American_and_British_Advertising

http://www.lebensmittelklarheit.de/cps/rde/xchg/lebensmittelklarheit/hs.xsl/1487.htm




http://www.uspci.co.uk/food%20habits.html

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/11/23/20111123weird-eating-habits-us-challenge-food-industry.html?nclick_check=1


http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Market/Age-determines-US-eating-habits-more-than-any-other-factor-claims-market-researcher


http://www.german-way.com/dine.html

http://www.stern.de/wirtschaft/arbeit-karriere/karriere/geschaeftsessen-die-etikette-sicher-im-griff-501200.html


http://www.gallup.com/poll/156770/majority-drink-alcohol-averaging-four-drinks-week.aspx

http://www.biztrails.com/travel-tips/businessetiquette/germany/t-drinking-alcohol-on-a-business-dinner


http://www.mfi.uni-miskolc.hu/.../402-Gestures.doc





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http://www.the-language-web.de/zeit.htm




http://www.business-on.de/koeln-bonn/so-finden-sie-ein-passendes-small-talk-gespraechsthema_id11722.html


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13 Appendix

13.1 SWOT SWOT analysis of SAIPHS

Strengths Weaknesses • good quality products • affordable price • tested material • liquid (Saiphs has savings) • broad color assortment • universal product (wide target group) • good return policy • web shop (possible to order in all

areas)

• unknown brand • slow production (in comparison with

big brands as Nike…) • no marketing campaigns • website is not structured userfriendly

(especially bad translations) • small company • distribution network is limited

Opportunities Threats • Large market in Germany (many sport

clubs and retailers) • Perfect weather conditions (need of

compression wear from October to April)

• high need of uniforms (every year, sport clubs are sponsored with new uniforms)

• boom of German sports market • strong economy in Germany • political stability • legal security • central location in Europe

(opportunity to export in other countries as well)

• importance of quality (Germans care about quality)

• possibility of health certificate (compression gear is good for the muscles)

• German American Business clubs (already existing cooperation between the two countries)

• Tax incentives

• Production in America (less capacity, risk of problems)

• Different sizes between Germany and the US

• Long lead times • Different currency and risk of

exchange rate • Importation laws • Competitors (many sport wear

companies with good imagine) • European economical crisis • Cultural differences • Mature market • High tax rates


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13.2 Survey

http://www.q-set.de/q-set.php?sCode=KHCBZWVFGGKE

1. Male/Female

2. Age

Possible answers: under 20, 21-35, 36-50, 50+

3. How often (per year) do you buy sportswear?

Possible answers: less than 1, 1-3, 4-6, 6 or more

4. How much money do you spend on sportswear (per year)?

Possible answers: less than 30€, 30€-60€ 60€-100€, 100€ +

5. What are you focussing on when you buy sportswear?

Selection

Price

Brand

Colours

6. Where do you usually buy sportswear?

Internet

Retailler

etc.

7. Did you already buy compression wear?

Possible answer: yes/no

8. What do you think in general of compression wear?

Possible answers: useful, not useful, too expensive etc.)

9. How much money would you spend on compression wear?

Possible answers: 20€-30€, 30€-40€, 40€-50€, 50€ +

10. Do you do sport? If so, which one

Football

Hockey

etc.

11. Do you think compression wear is useful in your sport?

Possible answer: yes/no

http://www.q-set.de/q-set.php?sCode=KHCBZWVFGGKE


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13.3 Results of Survey

Male/female

Age

Money spent on sportswear per year

051% 049% Male

015%

058%

015%

012% Under 20

Between 21-35

Between 36-50

50 or older

013%

024%

023%

036%

Less than 30EuroBetween 30 and60 EuroBetween 61 und100 EuroMore than 100Euro


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Focus while buying sportswear

Place of buying sportswear

First buy of compression gear

43

164

246 116

286 SelectionBrand

Price

022%

074%

004%

Internet

042%

044%

014% Yes

No


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Opinion of compression gear

Money spent on compression gear

Active Sports

020%

043%

024%

003% 010%

very useful

useful

not reallynecessarytotallyunnecessary

058% 029%

010%

003%

20-30 Euro

31-40 Euro

118

17

15 21

17 54

13

143

177

Soccer

Hockey

Handball

Basketball

LeichtathletikTennis


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Is compression gear useful?

059%

042% Yes

No


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13.4 List of contacts

Club/Firm Phone number Mobile number Contact person Adress postal code Place Interested? SF Lotte 05404 / 4855 Florian Siebelmann Jahnstr. 8 49504 Lotte Yes Svgh Hasbergen 0172 5665425 Molly 49205 Hasbergen Yes L+T 0541 33 11 30 Herrenteichsstrasse 15 49074 Osnabrück no

Sportarena 0541 120990-0 Neumarkt 3 49074 Osnabrück Cannot decide it in Osnabrück

Intersport Gleixner 0541 962360 Pagenstecherstr. 38 49090 Osnabrück No Sport Contact 0541 9337484 Mindener Straße 293 49086 Osnabrück No Sport Hereld 05451 - 17978 Groner Allee 40 a 49477 Ibbenbüren Not reached Sport Ceisig 05401 6290 Klöcknerstrasse 1 49124 GMHütte Not reached Active Sportshop 0541-2051955 Lortzingstraße 4 49074 Osnabrück No SV Hellern 0541-4406211 Marc Sandmann Große Schulstraße 83a 49078 Osnabrück Not reached Victoria GMHütte 05401 2862 Auf dem Rehlberg 1 49124 GMHütte Not reached ISV 05451 73066 Am Sportzentrum 36 49477 Ibbenbüren Not reached Arminia Ibbenbüren 05451/444-01 49477 Ibbenbüren Not reached Amisia Rheine 05971/12910 Hörstkamp 19 48431 Rheine Not reached SV Mesum 0 59 75 85 96 Schulstr. 10 48432 Rheine Not reached SC Falke Saerbeck 02574 / 8410 Lindenstraße 40 48369 Saerbeck Not reached VFL Ladbergen 05485-3290 Andreas Will Telgenkamp 24 49549 Ladbergen Not reached VFL Bad Iburg 05403-5107 Jens Trentmann Sophienstr. 2b 49186 Bad Iburg Not reached SV Bad Laer 05424-225954 Stefan Niehaus Winkelsettener Ring 14 49196 Bad Laer Not reached SV Adler Dellbrück 1922 e.V. 0151/12507024 Ferdinand Rath Köln No Sport Club Köln-Brück 07 e.V. 0221/844949 0179/4978291 Frank Jenniges, [email protected] Köln yes FC Buchforst 1971 e.V. 0221/6201617 Patrick Jakoby, Köln Not reached Sportvereinigung Deutz 05 e.V. 0221/6906423 0170/9186698 Eugen Müller, Köln Not reached

mailto:[email protected]


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Dünnwalder Sportclub 1929 e.V. 0221/605764 Werner Dahl, Köln Not reached

TuS Köln-Ehrenfeld 1865 e.V. 0221/557575 Werner Becker, Köln Not reached FC Energie Köln 2008 e.V. 0177/8093258 Kaci Mokrani, Köln Not reached SV Gremberg-Humboldt 60/62 e.V. 0171/5564002 Thomas Schütze, Köln Not reached

ESV Grün-Weiß Gremberghoven 1928 e.V. 02203/39016 0170/5508053 Karl Heinz Grimm, Köln yes

TuS Höhenhaus 1919 e.V. 0221/643427 Paaul Siegfried Köln Not reached SC Holweide 1968 e.V. 01212/510441343 Christian Maschner, Köln Not reached SC Borussia Köln-Kalk 05 e.V. 02236/9699983 0172/2095298 Salvatore Saporito, [email protected] Köln Yes TuS Porz-Langel 1927 e.V. 02203/87252 0178/6945598 Armin Klein Köln Not reached Cosmos Merheim 1981 e.V. 02234/3898555 0173/9033364 Detlef Göbel, Köln no TSV 07 Köln-Merheim e.V. 0221/6910492 0163/7050444 Paul Sutor, Köln no Jugend-Fußball-Schule Köln e.V. 0221/4844450 Jürgen Glowacz, Köln Not reached

SuS Nippes 1912 e.V. 0221/769206 01577/6674658 Toni Bloch, [email protected]

Köln Yes

VfL Rheingold Köln-Poll 1912 e.V. 0221/834590 Frank Large, Köln no

SpVg. Porz 1919 e.V. 02203/17912 0171/6808053 Peter Dicke [email protected] Köln Yes

RSV Rath-Heumar 1920 e.V. 0221/862885 0160/90248901 Bernd Hölzemann, Hans-Georg Offermann,

02205/905700 Köln no

TuS Köln Stammheim 1889 e.V. 0221/663585 Herbert Schiefer, Köln Not reached

RSV Urbach 1912 e.V. 02203/23457 0170/5892314 Lutz Kornwebel, Köln no SpVg. Wahn-Grengel e.V. 02203/63945 Reinhard Groffmann, Köln Not reached FC Germania Zündorf 1913 e.V. 02203/84410 01578/7015100 Manfred Kühnel, Köln Not reached

SV Westhoven-Ensen 1931 e.V. 02203/5698812 Heinz-Peter Voss, Köln Not reached

SSV Vingst 05 Köln e.V. 0221/8700445 Marija Hohmann, Köln Not reached FC Viktoria Köln 1904 e.V. 0221/8904479 Helmut Waldhaus, Köln Not reached






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VfB 05 Köln rrh. e.V. 0221/8303071 0176/96626372 Bruno Förstel, Köln Not reached 1. Fußballclub Union Köln e.V. 0163/8400584 Abdellah Lahmine [email protected] Köln yes 1. Kölner Fußball-Club Sülz-Klettenberg 07 e.V. 0221/438100 0176/61074338 Arthur Rätsch, Köln Not reached

TG Heimfeld Mike Sohlmann [email protected] Hamburg yes

USC Paloma Hamburg contract with adidas

FC Süderelbe [email protected] Hamburg contract with nike

Hamburg Bucs Mr. Meyer-Griem [email protected] Hamburg yes

Tus Fleestedt [email protected] Hamburg no

HTB [email protected] Hamburg contract with adidas

SV Gruen-Weiss Harburg [email protected] Hamburg Not reached

TSV Stellingen [email protected]

Hamburg Not reached

Sportsworld 0591/54333 Herr Majunke Lingen no SV Meppen 05931/93010 Herr Helming Meppen no Injoy Lingen 0591/800380 Frau Bene Lingen no





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13.5 Saiphs - Look Book

You can view the look book also online via an interesting brochure viewer. Therefore, just visit Saiphs Look Book German

Furthermore, you can find the full 20 pages look book in the external appendix A.

http://issuu.com/saiphs/docs/produktflyer?mode=window&viewMode=doublePage


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13.6 Facebook


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13.7 Twitter


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13.8 Hootsuite


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13.9 List of Social Media Data

Facebook profile

Login name: [email protected]

Password: Stenden2012

Twitter



Email



Homepage: www.saiphs.pascallammers.de

Creator: Pascal Lammers




http://www.saiphs.pascallammers.de/


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13.10 Website


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13.11 AdWords for German Website B2B B2C

• Saiphs • Sportbekleidung Hersteller • Hersteller von Sportbekleidung • Großhändler Sportkleidung • Kompressionsbekleidung Sport • Trikot Hersteller • Fussballshirts günstig • Trikothersteller • Sportbekleidung günstig • Marken Sporthosen • Marken Grosshandel • Marken Großhändler • Großhandel Sportbekleidung

Furthermore, all of the B2C Adwords can be used as well fort he B2B.

• Kompressionskleidung • Kompressionsbekleidung • Kompressionskleidung Sport • Kompressionskleidung Laufen • Sportkleidung Joggen • Sportklamotten günstig kaufen • Sportkleidung • Herren Sportkleidung • Herren Sportkleidung online • Sportbekleidung online • Sportbekleidung online shop • Sportbekleidung • Billige Sportkleidung • Sportbekleidung Damen • Sport Kleidung • Sporthosen • Sporthose kurz • Sporthosen Damen • Sporthosen Männer • Sporthosen Damen günstig • Trainingshose Damen • Trainingshosen • Skibekleidung • Sportswear • Sportkleidung kaufen • Fitnessbekleidung Damen • Fitness Bekleidung • Kompressionshemd • Kompressionshose • Kompressionshose Sport • Kompressionshosen Damen • Kompressionshose Fußball • Sportuniform • Trikot • Trikots • Günstige Trikots • Billige Trikots • Basketball Trikot • Volleyballbekleidung • Volleyballkleidung • Volleyball Bekleidung • Volleyball Trikots • Volleyballtrikots • Volleyballshorts • Trikots Volleyball • Volleyball Hosen • Volleyballshirts • Sportbekleidung Fitness • Coolmax • Coolmax Material • Sportklamotten Online Shop • Unterziehhemd • Antibakterielle Stoffe • Antimikrobiel • Moderne Sportbekleidung • Sportartikel online kaufen


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13.12 Website Banner


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13.13 Sponsorship agreement

Saiphs will sponsor 24 Royal blue longsleeve compression shirts to the first team of SF Lotte.

In return, they will get:

I. An advertisement on the website of SF Lotte II. Announcements on the Facebook page of SF Lotte regarding the sponsorship

III. Announcement during every halftime at home games IV. Product presence in the fan shop of SF Lotte


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13.14 QR Code

QR code BLACK with Logo QR code WHITE with Logo

QR Code BLACK QR Code WHITE


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13.15 Price list


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13.16 Power Point Layout


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13.17 Business Card


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13.18 Power point of cost analysis


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13.19 Table of Cross Cultural differences

67 http://www.path2usa.com/dress-code-in-us 68 http://www.wiwo.de/erfolg/knigge-stilblueten-und-fettnaepfchen-in-deutschland-seite-3/5493022-3.html 69 http://www.elementalenglish.com/2012/02/greetings-in-america/

Business and Economics cultural factors

AMERICA GERMANY

at operational level

Business dress code

• Clothes must be clean and ironed

• Formal dress code, especially during meetings

• When starting working in a new company, a clear dress code will be described67

• In general, clothes should fit to the business a company operates in. However, management should always dress nice and a little too nice is better than too casual. In general nothing may appear dirty or old.68

Male • Formal dress code: dark suit with light shirt and matching necktie, leather shoes

• Suit, tie, classic style, arm length • Shirt, tie and buttons simple and

discreet, no short shirts under a jacket • Very nice shoes, always very clean, • Glasses always clean without finger

dots • Belt has to match the shoes • Socks always darker than the suit • Accessories: Not too sporty;

maximum two rings • Watches always original no copies

Female • Mostly, women can wear casual clothes. They should avoid typical cultural clothes as saris.

• Sometimes they have to wear suits, skirts should be worn with stockings underneath and high heels

• Accessories have to be matching to the dress

• No Go: Sex sells • Costume or pantsuit are good • Dresses in neutral colors and patterns

- for example Dress with blazer • Pants or skirt with a blazer or jacket • Combined with simple shirts, blouses

or twinsets • Skirts always have to be “one hand”

below the knee • Shoes: should fit to shirt, not too

colorful, closed Greetings • No differences between

men and women69 • Shake the hand • Eye contact • Smile

• Shake hands with enough space in between

• The higher one in hierarchy always decided whether hands are shaken or not

• Private: The last person coming in greets everybody, no matter which order

• Business: Hierarchy decides • At meetings: first those who know

each other greet themselves then those who are lower in the hierarchy present their accompaniment, then





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70 http://www.wiwo.de/erfolg/knigge-stilblueten-und-fettnaepfchen-in-deutschland/5493022.html 71 http://www.cyborlink.com/besite/international_gift_giving.htm 72 http://www.wiwo.de/erfolg/knigge-stilblueten-und-fettnaepfchen-in-deutschland-seite-4/5493022-4.html 73 http://www.druck-suche.de/was-gehoert-auf-eine-visitenkarte

the one higher in the hierarchy. Now everybody knows each other and greet by shaking hands. Eye contact is very important 70

Male • When meeting a woman, the men

greet first however, this is changing

Female • New: women have more self-confidence

• They stand up and greet the other person

Entertainment Business gifts • Gifts are not expected but

still nice after a job is done;

• Only gifts up to $25 are allowed by the law

• Homemade gifts are prestigious71

• Business gifts are obligatory when being invited privately

• Bottle of wine and/or flowers are fine • May not be too big, as Germans have

great fear of appearing corrupt72

Business cards design

• Different format (88,9 x 50,8mm), smaller and longer than in other countries

• Most important details (name, address, mobile number, position of the person, email address, website) and logo of the company

• Design is very serious without colorful images etc.

• General information on a business card: Name of the company and the

legal form Direction and contact information

of the company Contact information of business

person Optional: Managing Director, bank

account, or even the tax number73 Business cards to give and accept

• Not usual to change business cards

• If business cards are changed, then the person in the higher positions gives his card first

• Business cards should be unused

• Eye contacts when giving the business card to the partner

• Do not write on the business card

• Study the business card, when reached from the

• Hierarchy is important • Good time to give a business card:

When greeting each other, though when entering a group it is wiser to wait until people leave

• Eye contact is important • Give business card with one hand, in a

way that the business partner can directly read it

• Accept business cards politely: Read it and lay it down in front of you (also helps remembering business partners’ name).

• When putting it away treat it with respect have a case for your own




http://www.druck-suche.de/was-gehoert-auf-eine-visitenkarte


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74 http://www.visitenkarten-inspiration.de/usa-und-gb-3-%C2%BD-x-2/ http://www.visitenkarten-24.org/visitenkarten-knigge.htm 75 http://www.visitenkarten-24.org/visitenkarten-knigge.htm 76 http://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/business-cards.html 77 http://www.visitenkarten-24.org/visitenkarten-format.htm 78 http://www.communicaid.com/access/pdf/library/culture/doing-business-in/Doing%20Business%20in%20the%20USA.pdf 79 http://www.german-way.com/friends.html 81 http://www.lebensmittelklarheit.de/cps/rde/xchg/lebensmittelklarheit/hs.xsl/1487.htm

partner • Do not put the business

card in your purse!!! • Business card could also

be added in a letter after the meeting74

cards and put the accepted ones in there as well75

Colours for cards, dress

• Formal colors as black, white, grey, dark blue, dark red

• The details are more important than the design, but still have to fit to the personality of someone

• Colors should be in the same color as the company logo, image76

• Size: 85 x 55 mm • Another possibility are cards that

can be folded • Colors should match the company

but always give a serious impression77

Hierarchy- Visible

• Hierarchy is shown in the office, learn titles of different persons

• The head always leads a discussions and decides for the final result

• Hierarchy supersedes relationship distinctions between work colleagues and friends in social life78

• Hierarchy is very important. For example, concerning greeting and giving business cards, as described earlier.

Way to address each other

• Use of titles (Mr, Mrs, Dr, Ms)

• Use of first names due to casual business style and emphasis on equality

• Formal and reserved • Differentiation between “Sie” and

“du”. In English both “you”, “Sie” is the polite form

• Sie is used to address strangers, business associates, and acquaintances, and for most situations outside the family

• There are trends to change especially amongst younger people, however, it is always wise to be too formal than too familiar

• In general: When using Mr. or Mrs. “Sie” should be used79

Advertisement codes

• Focus on image and tagline • Direct and to the point • Business – like • target their humor

towards younger, better-educated, professional audiences because they feel it is better suited for

• Advertisements are very informative • TV commercials explain benefits for

the customer • Include practical information and

figures • Germans rely on friends and personal

experiences81




http://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/business-cards.html

http://www.visitenkarten-24.org/visitenkarten-format.htm





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80 http://ezinearticles.com/?Differences-in-Indian-Ads-in-the-USA-and-American-Ads&id=6920394 http://scratchpad.wikia.com/wiki/Differences_Between_American_and_British_Advertising 82 http://www.uspci.co.uk/food%20habits.html http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/11/23/20111123weird-eating-habits-us-challenge-food-industry.html?nclick_check=1 http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Market/Age-determines-US-eating-habits-more-than-any-other-factor-claims-market-researcher 83 http://www.german-way.com/dine.html 84 http://www.stern.de/wirtschaft/arbeit-karriere/karriere/geschaeftsessen-die-etikette-sicher-im-griff-501200.html

them • hard sell that is all about

information and pressuring the consumer to buy

• products are primary element

• Advertisements in order to make profit (high competitive market!)

• personalized advertisements in internet80

Food habits • age influences food habits regarding the place, time and kind of food

• mix of variety of food from around the world

• no deep rooted cuisine • lots of junk and fast food • no traditional eating hours

anymore • Leave a small amount of

food on your plate when you have finished eating

• Do not begin eating until the hostess starts or says to begin

• Use the napkin82

• German food varies throughout the different regions of the country

• Every region has its typical food • Bread is very important and a basic

food eaten for breakfast and lunch or dinner.

• There are about 300 different kinds which can be bought in special bakery shops.

• Most families eat one warm meal a day, either for lunch or dinner.

• Traditionally, lunch is the biggest meal and warm.

Eating out83:

• Most times people have to find their own seats

• It is not common to drink tab water. Germans almost always drink sparkling water and asking for tab water in a restaurant is very uncommon

• You have to pay for all your dishes in general there is not an entire meal but several dishes on the menu and usually you even have to pay for bread before

• Paying is done at the table. Normal tipping is about 5-10 percent, which is directly given to the waiter and not left at the table.

Business dinners84:

• The host should know the restaurant • Easiest to meet inside. When meeting

outside, make sure to open the door



http://www.uspci.co.uk/food%20habits.html



http://www.german-way.com/dine.html



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85 http://www.gallup.com/poll/156770/majority-drink-alcohol-averaging-four-drinks-week.aspx 86 http://www.biztrails.com/travel-tips/businessetiquette/germany/t-drinking-alcohol-on-a-business-dinner 87 www.mfi.uni-miskolc.hu/.../402-Gestures.doc

for your invite, however inside the host goes first

• When going to eat with someone unknown, make sure to present yourself. If he/she is higher in hierarchy wait to shake hands depends on him/her

• The invite should always get the best seat (where he can look and overview the room). Bosses inviting their employees usually wait until everybody is seated.

• Men may hold the seat for women (though very traditional

• Everybody should order the same amount of dishes to avoid waiting for others

• Silverware is used from outside to inside, glasses form right to left

• A serious impression with come humor is always the best way

Drinking habits • up to 5 alcoholic drinks per week

• beer is favorite drink • vary considering age,

gender and race • the host has to drink first85

• For business dinners drink wine or beer

• Not more than two glasses • One should follow the German saying

“no drinking before 4 p.m.” make sure how business partners feel about drinking, might be safer to not order alcohol.

• Of course it is not obligatory to drink, even if one is invited.86

Gestures • need distance to other people

• do not like to be touched during a conversation

• handshaking • eyes contact • raise their arm and waggle

it back and forth (hello, good bye)

• V shape with their index and middle fingers: show victory or peace

• a circle with their thumb and index finger; rise up their thumb: OK, yes

• whistling: encourage, flirt • Making a circular motion

near the temple or ear is the next gesture: crazy87

Risk attitude • Uncertainty avoidance of • Uncertainty avoidance of 65

http://www.gallup.com/poll/156770/majority-drink-alcohol-averaging-four-drinks-week.aspx


http://www.mfi.uni-miskolc.hu/.../402-Gestures.doc


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88 http://geert-hofstede.com/united-states.html 89 http://www.german-way.com/angst.html 90 http://www.communicaid.com/access/pdf/library/culture/doing-business-in/Doing%20Business%20in%20the%20USA.pdf 91 http://www.analytictech.com/mb021/cultural.htm 92 http://blog.communicaid.com/cross-cultural-training/chronemics-concept-of-time/ 93 http://www.todaytranslations.com/doing-business-in/germany 94 http://www.the-language-web.de/zeit.htm 95 http://changingminds.org/explanations/culture/hall_culture.htm 96 http://www.task.fm/small-talk-topics 97 http://www.todaytranslations.com/doing-business-in/germany 98 http://www.business-on.de/koeln-bonn/so-finden-sie-ein-passendes-small-talk-gespraechsthema_id11722.html

46 (Hofstede) there is quiet a high attitude towards risk88

• Germans “enjoy” worrying, • Very likely to see them worrying

about everything climate, environment, future, work, money

• Tend to be pessimistic • Risk is seen as threat • Titles are very important and show

safety89 Time concept • Punctuality is very

important, otherwise you have to announce the delay

• Waste of time!!! • Time is money • Deadlines should be

adhered90

• Future-oriented culture • People think they can shape and

change the future by their actions • Therefore really hard-working91 • Monochromic culture (Edward T.

Hall)92 • Prefer careful planning • Rigid commitment to plans • Efficient working • Do one thing at a time • Focus on the task • To complete a task is the most

important • Punctuality is essential.

Even if one is only a couple of minutes late, one has to inform business partners

• Being late without informing can be seen as high offence. 93

• Loosing time is very bad94 Agenda-Monochrom

• Monochromic culture • Agendas are followed • TIME IS MONEY!

• Agendas are highly valued • Want to meet their goals and stick to a

precise plan95 Topics to talk • Small talk at the beginning

of a meeting96 • Not too much to not lose

time o Sports o Weather o Clients journey o Previous visits in

the city o Actual events

• Good topics to talk about are • Football (soccer) • Recent holidays • Work and • Beer97 • In general an easy topic should be

chosen to find similarities between you and your business partner.98




http://www.analytictech.com/mb021/cultural.htm

http://blog.communicaid.com/cross-cultural-training/chronemics-concept-of-time/


http://www.the-language-web.de/zeit.htm






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99 http://uk.askmen.com/money/career_60/93_career.html 100 http://www.business-on.de/koeln-bonn/so-finden-sie-ein-passendes-small-talk-gespraechsthema_id11722.html 101 http://www.todaytranslations.com/doing-business-in/germany 102 http://www.psmag.com/culture/self-respect-tops-list-of-american-social-values-16121/ 103 http://www.cactuslanguage.com/en/culturesmart/culture_germany.php 104 http://www.bpb.de/izpb/25168/kirche-in-deutschland

Topics to avoid • Politics • Religion • Money • Illness and death99

• To get a smooth start avoid topics like diseases or how bad everything is.

• Give your partner a good impression of yourself.100

Things definitely to avoid

• Sex • Relationships

• Holocaust and World War 2 should really be avoided, especially when being foreign in Germany101

Social values • Self respect • Security • Warm relationship with

others • A sense of accomplishment • Self-fullfillment • Being well respected • Sense of belonging • Fun-enjoyment-

excitment102

Values Germans are known for:103 • Efficiency • Organization and system for

everything • Tidiness • Good planning • Ecologically • Duty if one says something one

does it! • Friendship is a strong term most

people are only acquaintances; circle of friends is rather small

Religion • Christians 78,4% • Jewish 1,7% • Muslim 0,6%

• 74% say they belong to Christianity Protestants (25,1 Million=

30,5 %) Catholics (25,7 Million =

31,2%) Other (12,3%)

• Only 20% are really religious active • Muslims 3,9% • Religion is individualistic 54%

really believe that there is something like a god

• Also people do not necessarily see the need to go to church in order to be religious104

Work Ethics • Punctuality - arriving promptly and otherwise being there when needed.

• Reliability - performing one's job, rain or shine, even when tempted to be elsewhere.

• Diligence - tenaciously sticking to it and avoiding the lures of wasteful socializing or daydreaming.

• Agreeableness - getting along with fellow employees or customers regardless of personal

http://onken.com/classroom/interculturalmanagement/germany/germany_businessethics.html

• High loyalty of managers and employees

http://uk.askmen.com/money/career_60/93_career.html





http://www.bpb.de/izpb/25168/kirche-in-deutschland





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105 http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/02/the_work_ethic_and_us_unemployment.html#ixzz29051aV8L 106 http://www.uni-protokolle.de/Lexikon/Politisches_System_der_USA.html 107 http://www.tatsachen-ueber-deutschland.de/en/political-system/main-content-04/the-basic-law.html 108 http://www.backview.eu/politik/politik-ausland/1837-rassismus-in-amerika.html 109 http://www.innovations-report.de/html/berichte/studien/Uebergewichtige_deutschland_stigmatisiert_203388.html

feelings. • Abiding by the rules -

whether about personal appearances or performing tasks properly, all rules are to be obeyed.

• Ambition - a willingness to improve performance, acquires new skills, and try to be a better employee as a matter of principle even if not immediately rewarded.

those ethics get more and more informal and employees develop their own rules105

Political systems

Presidental democracy106 Democracy on base of Basic Law (Grundgesetz) Basic law states that Germany is a constitutional state and a welfare stare The basic laws have primacy and all authorities are always judicially controlled Especially important is the basic law: “Human dignity shall be inviolable. To respect and protect it shall be the duty of all state authority” and that all human beings are the same and of same value. Three important pillars are: executive, legislative and judiciary.107

Stigmatised population

South Americans Afro – Americans Native Americans108

Overweight people are stigmatized 23% of the Germans do not find it acceptable and lazy.109

Priviledged population

Whites Rich people

Holidays; national , religious

• New Year´s Day (1st of January)

• Martin Luther King Day (3rd Monday in January)

• Washington’s Birthday (3rd Monday of February)

• Memorial Day (last Monday of May)

• Independence Day (4th of July)

• Labor Day (1st of September)

• Columbus Day (2nd

• Festival days are not the same in all states of Germany

• If such a day is on the weekend it is not moved to the week (Monday or Friday like in other countries)

• Days that are free in entire Germany • New Year´s Day (1st of January) • Twelfth Day (06.01) • Good Friday (Friday before Easter) • Easter (Sunday and Monday9 • Labour day (1st of May) • White Sunday and Monday


http://www.uni-protokolle.de/Lexikon/Politisches_System_der_USA.html

http://www.tatsachen-ueber-deutschland.de/en/political-system/main-content-04/the-basic-law.html

http://www.backview.eu/politik/politik-ausland/1837-rassismus-in-amerika.html



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110 http://www.usa.gov/citizens/holidays.shtml#federal 111 http://www.schnelle-online.info/Feiertage/gesetzliche-Feiertage-2013.html 112 http://www.charmingquark.de/?p=1170 113 http://www.stilgerecht.ch/default.asp?nv=4 114 http://referenten.sales-motion.de/business-knigge/details.php?category_id=11&article_id=50&article_name=wie-viel-ungezwungenheit-ist-auf-betriebsfeiern-erlaubt

Monday in October) • Veterans Day (11th of

November) • Thanksgiving Day (4th

Thursday in November) • Christmas Day (25th of

December)110

• Tag der deutschen Einheit (Day, when East and West Germany were reuned again, 03.10)

• Christmas (24th and 25th of December)111

Honorifics • In general it has to be said that Germans in everyday life business act very individualistic and are not very helpful or honorific112.

• However, there exists the Knigge, which is a book which only talks about how to be polite and which is actually used by business people113

• Examples are114: letting somebody finish

talking To cough or yawn at

somebody To not pick in ears or nose To bring a small present

when being invited To be able to control oneself

at business parties even when drinking alcohol

http://www.usa.gov/citizens/holidays.shtml#federal

http://www.schnelle-online.info/Feiertage/gesetzliche-Feiertage-2013.html

http://www.charmingquark.de/?p=1170

http://www.stilgerecht.ch/default.asp?nv=4



Documents

Final IMCCM report Saiphs