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Business English
Positionsbezeichnungen im Unternehmen
Who is who?
Cross-cultural Organization
In Germany, company organization is
usually similar to most European and
American companies with one important
exception as regards the personnel:
it is possible to have several „Geschaeft sfuehrer“
or Managing Directors (UK)/
CEOs (US), while in other countries
companies tend to have just the one. Let’s
look fi rst at the most common business
models of company hierarchy: the vertical
model. Th is is really a relic of the industrial
age, when a clear structure and
chain of responsibility was necessary;
workers learnt their jobs, did their jobs,
reported to their immediate superiors,
and later – with luck and interest in a
Business English
Ein effi zientes Unternehmen ist ein gut organisiertes Unternehmen; aber für die „richtige“ Führungsstruktur gibt
es kein Rezept. Im englischsprachigen Ausland gibt es nationale Besonderheiten für die Bezeichnung der obersten
Leitungsebene. Die gebräuchlichen Titel zu kennen und die Positionen einzuordnen, ist bei der Geschäftsanbahnung
und in Verhandlungen sehr wichtig. Hierbei helfen Ihnen die Hinweise in diesem Beitrag.
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career path – slowly climbed up the corporate
ladder, getting promoted to more
senior positions. Most companies have
tended to keep this organization today,
with a clear pyramid structure.
Corporate Titles
Th e structure seems clear enough, the
problem is only in knowing what to call
executives in diff erent languages – translating
titles is notoriously tricky and often
causes diffi culty, as most business
people wish to ensure that the true im-
Lektion 10
portance of their position is clear when
their title /job is translated into another
language.
Even within English there are many
diff erences between British (UK) and
American (US) job titles. For example,
in the US the head of a company is
usually known as the President, while in
the UK this job is usually referred to as
the Chairperson. And as we have already
seen, the person responsible for the
day-to-day running of the company is
the Managing Director in London but
the CEO or Senior Vice President in
New York. American companies have
Vice Presidents (oft en masses of them),
while British counterparts are known as
Directors.
With the globalization of business today,
however, more and more companies
are trying to adopt an international
approach, so you may well fi nd Vice
Presidents in Liverpool and Directors in
Atlanta: the important thing is to know
who is ultimately responsible for any
business that needs to be done!
Th e best way to ensure that you know
who is responsible for what and to
whom is to make sure you have their
titles correctly in mind and, if necessary,
to ask directly: “Which areas are you
responsible for?” and “By the way, who
do you report to?” are simple ways of
getting the information you need. If you
don’t know who to get in touch with for
76 ProFirma 11 2010
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