Module 1 : Successful personnal integration in Serbia

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 Serbian culture

• From Greater Serbia to Yugoslavia to “Little Serbia”
• A multiethnic society
• The painful road leading to the creation of the modern state of Serbia
• Serbia’s late and fragile transition to democracy
• A delicate but promising economic situation
• The challenges of European integration

3. Serbian values and behaviour patterns

• The importance of nationalism, the orthodox religion
• Slava and family values, serbian women: taking control of their own destiny
• "Balkan time": a flexible view of time
• Pride, sensitivity, humour
• Direct and expressive communication
• Great care and attention paid to appearances
• A respect for qualifications and status, performance is highly valued

4. Practical day-to-day information

• 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 Serbia

1. The Serbian corporate world in

• A late transition to a market economy: the Soviet hangover
• The importance of the public sector, the privatisation process
• Foreign investments, a sense of effort and performance
• The market, employment, salaries, corruption
• A clear hierarchy but collective decision-making

2. Effective communication with the  Serbs

• First impressions: the first meeting is a decisive moment
• An expressive use of body language
• Information flows.  Networking
• The working language: the role of the interpreter

3. Working with Serbian teams

• Effective management: leadership and availability
• Acting coherently: being firm, clear and frank
• Creating a friendly working environment, dealing with touchy and sensitive people
• Making the most personal ambitions: recognition and promotion

4. Successful meetings and negotiations with the Serbs

• Building trust and confidence: discipline and formality
• Identifying decision-makers, successful networking
• Time and deadline management
• Written contracts, their interpretation and implications

5. Final handy tips

• Caution, patience and humility
• Social standards, gifts, business cards, dress code
• Sensitive subjects: politics, history, religion