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unions, may even lead to violence. In Germany and Austria, although the levelof trade union organisation is different, negotiations have a less conflictualcourse and the search for consensus is a priority. Whatever the method ofnegotiations, Europe remains a place of dialogue, both between managementand employees and between the headquarters of large companies and theirsubsidiaries. At both levels, dialogue is a natural part of the decision-makingprocess, which is usually more difficult and longer, for example, than in NorthAmerican companies, where it rests substantially on top management. In thisrespect, Japan is closer to Europe, and especially to the Germanic countries,where decision-making is strongly consensual, while consultations andnegotiations are less frequent. In general, however, they are typical for Europeancompanies and especially for large multinational companies with a strong tradeunion tradition. The requirement of negotiations is, among other things,connected to the principle of their orientation to persons as such as the strongdiversity of cultures that these companies have to deal with.The third characteristic of European management is its know-how indiversity management. Due to the fact that Europe, or the EU, is a mosaic of27 states, it is constantly confronted with the diversity of countries and theircultures in its development and harmonisation efforts, and the same ishappening in European companies. The task of managers is to try to transformthe issue of diversity into a positive element, or valorise it in the form of an assetfor these companies. The integration of diversity into HR management as asource of creativity and new energy represents added value and Europeancompanies are ahead of other regions of the world in the creation of it. This factis important not only from the point of view of individuals in the workingenvironment, but also for the convergence of national cultures. It manifests itselfin situations, for example, such as when a European multinational companycreates its branch in a Member State or non-European country, it usuallyentrusts its management to domestic or local managers, or gradually handsover this management to them. The aim of these practices is to ensure a certainconsistency between the corporate culture and the specifics of the relevantlocal culture. On the contrary, Asian companies prefer strong integration andsend their managers to branches in other countries to build the corporateculture of the parent company there. Compared to European companies,American companies can be considered pioneers in matters of diversity. Thisis probably a consequence of the fact that this issue is approached differentlyon either side of the Atlantic. North America has historically associated theconcept of diversity with positive discrimination. In this respect, Europeancompanies differ from their American counterparts, for example, in theirunwillingness to apply quotas in the hiring process. The European businessmodel values diversity management more as a vector of performance on the952.3 Managing People in Europe