The increasing international interconnection of the world's economics
has the consequence that more and more German employees have to stay
abroad for a longer time.The south-east Asian and especially the Chinese
economic environment are gaining a bigger and bigger role - also for the
German textile market due to a strong economic growth, the low wage
level. Especially in the manufacturing branch this is an important
decision factor - at approximately 0, 32 per hour and the size of a
potential market. The low wage level will not rise in the near future
but the fact that China's economic importance is growing requires a new
kind of approach to enter the market in any kind of way. Since Germany
is a country with only few raw materials the requirements of manpower
have changed. During the last years the persons in the responsible
departments became aware that China does require special skills
regarding management, communication and intercultural interactions. A
relatively new area of research has become more and more important for
the human resource departments in German companies: the intercultural
preparation of employees and expatriates who are the ones that fill the
key positions for the exchange of information between the parent company
and the office abroad. For a successful expatriation a profound
preparation regarding intercultural communication and behaviour is
needed. The better the preparation the better will be the expatriation
for the company and the expatriate. A failed dispatch abroad can cost
the company approximately 125.000, - per employment. Furthermore the
consequences for the expatriate can also be disastrous: social and
professional decline and e.g. depression.This work has the aim to answer
the following questions: How does well designed training programs look
like? What kind of possibilities do exist? Who does offer intercultural
training in Germany? How are employees in German textile and clothing
companies prepared in practice compared to
