Differences among European Cultures in the Use of Business Communication Tools

The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the communicational behaviour of European business people. Thereby, the project researches whether there are differences in their preference of communication tools, such as face-to-face discussions, phone or video calls, e-mails or instant messaging, and if these differences are guided by national culture. For this purpose, the countries were categorised into six clusters – Latin, Germanic, Nordic, Eastern, Anglo-Saxon and Balkan Europe. Moreover, the project examines the influence of the company culture on the use of communication tools. The main goals are to find out if preferences in the use of communication tools in business are guided by national culture, and secondly, if the use is even more driven by organisational culture than national culture. To reach these goals, both desk and field research were executed. The analysis led to the result that company culture is generally more influential than national culture. Furthermore, the influence of industry or sector culture on the communicational behaviour of an employee might be of even greater importance.