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Many American executives forget Austria.
Not often in U.S. headlines, we tend to think of Austria in terms of skiing, the Von Trapp family and Mozart. Austria is a delightful place to be sure, but it can be just as delightful for hard-headed, serious business. Some companies see that Austria is German-speaking and has a largely Germanic culture, and they hastily reach the conclusion that a representative in Germany can cover the Austrian market. Sometimes they are right, more often wrong. The ways of business in Vienna or Graz can be strikingly different from those of Berlin or Hamburg.