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10 Travel management
Out and about in the FUCHS world
FUCHS is a globally operating company
with customers and employees
all around the world. However,
expert know-how alone is
not all it takes to be successful
in the business. Just as important
are interest in and understanding
of foreign cultures. Dirk Drechsler,
Head of Internal Audit, is a citizen
of the global FUCHS world and in
close contact with FUCHS subsidia
ries all over the world.
“I always find it exciting to get to
know new countries and new cultures”,
says Dirk Drechsler, who enjoys
the traveling that goes along with his
job. He looks forward to visiting the
FUCHS subsidiaries in Malaysia, India
and China this year and has bought
the appropriate travel literature
ahead. “I don’t know these countries
yet. That is why I try to be prepared to
avoid major faux-pas”, he says. After
all, he is not really anxious that he
could commit a faux-pas. “At all the
subsidiaries I have audited during the
two years of my assignment, I have
always encountered a very homogenous
corporate culture”, he describes
his experience. “First and foremost,
our employees are dedicated to FUCHS,
and then they are representatives of
their country.”
Culinary pleasures
“The staff is always very concerned
that their guests from Germany learn
to appreciate the country’s delights”,
says Drechsler. “Since I am always on a
tight schedule, this is usually restricted
Foreign cuisine
is a challenge
to the culinary pleasures of the country.”
For some western Europeans that
may already be quite a challenge.
“Kimchi, for example, marinated
Chinese cabbage with plenty of garlic,
a major ingredient of Korean cuisine,
is quite sour to our palate but makes a
wonderful meal when served with
beef.” To decline one of those dinner
invitations in order to give the stomach
a break was never really an option
in Korea. “That was one thing the
Finance Manager made perfectly
clear”, Drechsler remembers. “I much
rather canceled breakfast.” Compared
Great concern for the
well-being of the guest
to the exotic Korean cuisine, eating
springbok meat in South Africa was
almost “normal”. “And the wine from
the region is really first-class.”
Sometimes the concern for the wellbeing
of the guest goes as far as canceling
the journey into local culinary
art. “In Indonesia they were really
afraid, I could not tolerate local food,
and, to be on the safe side, they rather
took me to a Japanese seafood restaurant
in Jakarta.”
It is not only with food that the economist
and Japanologist Drechsler completely
relies on the local subsidiaries.
They book the hotels and take care of
Good organization
is important
transportation. “The local staff knows
best where you can find good and
inexpensive accommodation”, says
Drechsler. “One time, I wanted to
book a lower-cost hotel which was
also located closer to the company.
But then I saw the giant satellite dish
behind the building, making the heat
in the hotel rooms unbearable. I would
have never been able to survive the
place.”
The five days a month the audit specialist
travels around the world he can
rely on the planning of the FUCHS
travel agency experts. “When you
travel a lot, you learn to appreciate
good organization”, he reckons, both
on the go and during the actual audit.
“Each day’s procedure is planned accurately,
meetings are scheduled. That
helps me and my work but also the
audited subsidiary because day-to-day
business must continue.”
Homogenous
corporate culture
Each year ten audits are on the agenda.
The remotest trips last year took
Drechsler to South Africa, Japan, Korea
and Indonesia. Drechsler does not
favor any countries – being impartial
is important when dealing with individual
FUCHS subsidiaries. He does
Each year ten audits
are scheduled
have a special relationship to Japan,
where he spent quite some time during
his studies. “People in Japan are
extremely polite and prefer to take
you out to a restaurant because they
consider their own apartment not
adequate”, he says. But also in restaurants,
it is quite common to take off
your shoes. “It is very important to
pay attention to what the hosts do”, is
his advice. “That way, major faux-pas
can be avoided.”
To be away one week per month is an
ideal amount of time for Drechsler
and for him, intercultural communication
is not an obstacle. “FUCHS has
developed a universal corporate culture
over the years. Processes and
Impartiality has
top priority
approaches to problems are similar.”
And Dirk Drechsler knows that he can
always rely on optimum support wherever
he audits.