What’s in a name

In a previous post, Jean used the phrase “If you work for [a company] involved in any kind of international business,” which reminds me of a client visit I made last week. As I got out of my car I saw a van for Thyssen-Krupp pulling aware, who had obviously been there to repair the elevators. On the way in the door I passed a van for DHL, and waved at the man making his deliveries (hey, I was in a good mood).

In any case, both of these companies are German-owned, one rather obviously and the other not so much. Now, my client is German, and I’m particularly aware of German-owned companies, but this scenario is borne out every day with companies of every possible nationality. Companies with German or other international names may well be US-owned, and companies with very “domestic” names may well be foreign-owned. Here in the US, the patriotically named American Water, a US company since the 1800s, was owned by a UK company before being purchased by its current owners, RWE of Germany, who are currently trying to get rid of it again.

In short, even if your company isn’t doing international business, they are probably doing international business, so a little geocultural literacy will serve you well.