Module 1 : Successful personnal integration in Romania

1. Cross-cultural awareness : the key to a successful expatriation

• Taking stock of one's own cultural baggage
• Culture shock and the integration process
• Identifying and going beyond cultural stereotypes

2. Key aspects of Romanian culture

• A major central European country
• The ambiguity of a multiethnic society
• A deep divide between the cities and countryside
• A prestigious historical heritage.  The challenge of European integration
• The reality and complexity of corruption

3. Romanian values and behaviour patterns

• A patriarchal society with a Latin culture
• An orthodox but not particularly religious population
• A people proud of their identity.  A sense of community-mindedness
• Appearance and the overt signs of wealth.  Cooking and the art of living.
• The absence of barriers between public and private life
• Emotions and tantrums as part of daily life
• Only a limited grasp of time and deadlines.
• Reasoning based on subtlety and irony.

4. Practical day-to-day information in Romania

• Focus on the host town or city
• Transport, administration, housing, security, hygiene and healthcare
• Social life, leisure activities
• Schools, extracurricular activities, sport

Module 2 : Successful professionnal integration in Romania

1. The Romanian corporate world

• The role of the state and the authorities
• Centralisation and the concentration of decision-making powers
• An important and formal hierarchical structure
• Scant regard for performance.  Favouritism and nepotism

2. Effective communication with the Romanians

• Interpersonal networks: a vital aspect of Romanian Life
• The Romanian language: some useful pointers
• The Romanian French-speaking community: the myth and the reality
• Implicit communication. Romanian humour

3. Working with Romanian teams

• Effective management: listening, supporting and asserting
• Asserting your authority: knowing how and when to say no.
• Promoting responsibility and valuing people as individuals
• Conflict resolution: tempers, manipulation and storms in teacups

4. Successful meetings and negotiations with the Romanians

• Meeting decision makers
• Maintaining close personal relationships
• The written contract: set in stone
• Time management and reliance

5. Final handy tips

• Caution, patience and humility
• Social standards, gifts, business cards, dress code
• Sensitive subjects: the Roma population, the communist era and Dracula
• Humour: a double-edged sword