Brain Output III

To sum it up: what do I want my web application to be like?

The target group are people being sent to work abroad. To be specific my web application is aiming at people who need to prepare themselves for this mission. They might eventually attend a language course but they do not benefit from a cross-cultural training prior to their departure. Based on recent studies it is 40% of companies who do not prepare their employees. I still need to find numbers for this but it's presumably small and middle-class companies who do not afford preparational training courses for their employees.

The web app wants to alleviate the effects of a missing preparation. I use the word alleviate because I am aware of the fact that even the nicest web app will never be able to substitute a proper training. Thus the purpose of a web app has to be to raise awareness, to allow future expatriates a glimpse into the foreign world, to support understanding of the cultural differences.

So, into what will I have to further investigate?

• I will need to know more about the Polish history. Since my web app is specifically about working in Poland, I am not sure in how far I will integrate the Polish history in general but nevertheless it is essential background knowledge. Especially after the turbulent and adverserial past Germany and Poland share.
• The educational system. Which subjects are stressed in general? How is education valued? How to people get into their jobs?
• Which significance does work have? In which relation do leisure time and working time stand? Is there a strict separation of the two fields?
• How is work organized? When are meetings held? Who carries which responsibilities?
• Style of communication. Within the company as well as towards the head office? How does communication with partners work? How with clients?

I'll hope to find an answer to these questions in the interviews as well as in books and articles. Some questions sound to be rather specific and I expect specific answers, too, but actually I see each answer, story and piece of information to lead to a more general picture. Osland and Bird had described the learning process to be analagous to putting a jigsaw puzzle together. It's about learning an internal logic rather than learning the exact rules.

PS: This is not meant to be a full list of best intentions. It's a start. Suggestions are always welcomed :-) and I needed to free some memory space in my head so I can continue to think...