WCA January 2016

To protect people’s health in case of fire it is widely required to use halogen free, low smoke materials for buildings including indoor cabling. This is mandatory in public premises but also recommended in residential areas. 5 Conclusions Due to cultural differences the focus of fire protection in America is to reduce the probability of fire, but in Europe mainly the dimensions of possible health injuries and material damages are to be controlled. Due to these differences in fire protection strategies there are wide differences in technical standards, requirements, and specifications for cables as well as for other construction components regarding fire performance. The European approach follows the theory of diverse redundancy. Even if the requirements to each single parameter for cable fire performance are lower, there is a much better protection with less effort in total. Different fire protection strategies are related to intercultural differences. To sell a product in a region it is not only necessary to meet all specifications but to understand the needs and fears of humans living there. Just by addressing these aspects it is possible to convince potential customers of the advantages a product offers. Thus cultural relativity has to be taken into account in worldwide business. Cross-cultural awareness is an important skill in global product management. 6 Acknowledgments Special thanks to Prof Dr Armin Wittmann from Trier University of Applied Sciences for providing information regarding risk management. Nicolai Bör from GIZ (German Association for International Cooperation) for giving an increased understanding of intercultural differences and their effects on the B2B business. ICYE (International Christian Youth Exchange) and its national sub-organisations whose activities intensified the experience of cross-cultural awareness. 7 References [1] G Hofstede, “Management Scientists Are Human” University of Limburg, The Netherlands Management Science, Vol 40, No 1, (Jan 1994) [2] C Chapman, S Ward, “Project Risk Management: Processes, Techniques, and Insights”, 2 nd Ed, John Wiley & Sons Ltd (2003) [3] Robin E McDermott, Raymond J Mikulak, Michael R Beauregard, “The Basics of FMEA”, 2 nd Ed, Taylor & Francis Group LLC (2009) [4] Society for Risk Analysis (SRA); www.sra.org [5] Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; http://en.wikipedia.org [6] European Commission: “Regulation (EU) No. 305/2011of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 th March 2011 laying down harmonised conditions for the marketing of construction products and repealing Council Directive 89/106/EEC”; OJ L 88 of 4 th April 2011 Paper courtesy of the 63 rd IWCS Technical Symposium, Providence, Rhode Island, USA, November 2014.

Jörg Bör CABX Cable Expert Dipl-Ing Aachen Germany Tel : +49 163 439 1964 Email : info@cabx.de

64

www.read-wca.com

Wire & Cable ASIA – January/February 2016