Aufsätze (Articels)

Hartmut Berghoff/Berti Kolbow, Konsumgütermarketing im Rüstungsboom. Wachstumsstrategien der IG-Farben-Sparte Agfa, 1933 bis 1945, S. 129-160.

Francesca Fauri, From financial aid to nationalization: the history of the Fondo Industria Meccanica (FIM), S. 180-203.

Ute Engelen, Betriebliche Wohnungspolitik im „fordistischen“ Zeitalter. Das Volkswagenwerk in Wolfsburg und Automobiles Peugeot in Sochaux von 1944 bis 1979, S. 204-229.

Christina Lubinski, Zwischen Familienerbe und globalem Markt. Eigentum und Management von großen westdeutschen Familienunternehmen im Wandel (1960 bis 2008), S. 161-179.

ABSTRACTS

Hartmut Berghoff/ Berti Kolbow,
Marketing consumer goods during the armament boom.Growth strategies of the IG Farben division Agfa, 1933-1945
Taking up the debate on the relations between private companies and the Nazi regime, this case study of Agfa, a division of IG Farben and Germany’s leading producer of photographic equipment and supplies, highlights the ambivalent but successful adaptation of its management to the new political environment. Although Agfa’s attempt to ingratiate itself with the regime by an opportunistic product strategy failed, Agfa’s camera and film sales skyrocketed in the economic climate the Nazis created. These findings shed new light on the often underestimated role of consumption during the „Third Reich“. Economic historians have stressed the central role of Hitler’s armament drive but have overlooked the leeway that was left for non-essential consumer goods so long as they did not put too much of a burden on import and foreign exchange statistics. Amateur photography flourished in Nazi Germany as it was closely intertwined with burgeoning leisure and travel opportunities. Later it proved instrumental in emotionally stabilizing soldiers and their families. Hence the regime supported mass amateur photography. By doing so, it also paved the industry’s way into the postwar „economic miracle“.

Francesca Fauri,
From financial aid to nationalization: the history of the Fondo Industria Meccanica (FIM)
The FIM has represented one of the most important public credit instruments set up for helping the engineering industry in Italy after the Second World War. Engineering was the most advanced sector in the Italian economy and the government saw economic growth strictly depending upon its rapid recovery. Despite the best of intentions, the FIM was difficult to handle: many firms were already on the verge of collapse when the FIM stepped in, while others employed such an enormous number of workersthatthe statefelt compelled to intervene.Between 1947 and 1950 only 23 out of66 bil lire were reimbursed. Defaults concerned mainly three large industrial groupsand resulted in closures or nationalisation. This article holds that nationalisationwas a good choice in the long term: it avoided increasing the mass of jobless workers in a very critical historical moment. Moreover, it was an opportunity to bet on the future competitiveness of sensible productions in the defence, electronic, high technology and aerospace sector, which would be lost today if it weren’t for a big state company – Finmeccanica - that has progressively gained an international reputation in these fields. Finally, not only did publicisation prove a wise entrepreneurial move, but it was also the only way not to lose Italy’s technical capabilities built up in past.

Ute Engelen,
Staff Housing Policy during the „Fordist“ Era. The Volkswagenwerk in Wolfsburg and Automobiles Peugeot in Sochaux from 1944 to 1979
The „Wirtschaftswunder“ or the „Trente Glorieuses“ is often ascribed to the establishment of Fordism, the regime of accumulation which is said to have dominated business and society until the 1970’s. This article examines to what extent the funding of housing by the automobile manufacturers Volkswagen and Peugeot was marked by Fordist elements, such as the subsidisation of privately owned homes. As housing shortages prevailed in Wolfsburg and Sochaux, while the employment increased sharply, the companies engaged in the construction of residential homes and tenements. Therefore they contracted non-profit building companies they controlled; the works councils’ influence remained at a minimum. Since the 60’s, these automobile manufacturers have increasingly subsidised the construction of family homes for their employees, who could afford more and more their own accommodation due to the rise in real wages. As a result, it can be seen that Volkswagen’s and Peugeot’s housing commitment was rather a reaction to corporate need than the systematic implementation of Fordist policy.

Christina Lubinski,
Between family heritage and global market. Changes in ownership and management of large West-German family firms (1960-2008)
Large family firms fall between two theoretical accounts. Neither do they follow the development path described by Alfred D. Chandler nor do they resemble small- and medium sized Mittelstand firms, which Gary Herrigel highlighted as a successful alternative. That is why so far there has been little research about them beyond individual case studies. This article focuses on large family firms in Germany during the second half of the twentieth century. Based on a regionally focused sample of 310 businesses the author offers insights into their ownership and management in 1960 and asks how the firms developed until 2008. The majority of large family firms had surprisingly homogenous characteristics, such as concentrated long-term family ownership, few shareholders, and family management. This structure was successful within the historical context of the 1960s but came under attack during the crisis-ridden decades that followed. By tracing these changes, the paper simultaneously shows that the theoretical dichotomy of family and managerial firm is misleading. Instead of interpreting the family firm as a static organization, the focus should shift to the family influence, which evolves with time and with the evolution of business’s macroeconomic and political environments.

Buchbesprechungen (Reviews)

Johannes Bähr/Axel Drecoll/Bernhard Gotto/Kim C. Primel/Harald Wixforth, Der Flick-Konzern im Dritten Reich (Jonas Scherner)

Manuel Schramm, Wirtschaft und Wissenschaft in DDR und BRD. Die Kategorie Vertrauen in Innovationsprozessen (Petra Boden)

Werner Abelshauser, Nach dem Wirtschaftswunder. Der Gewerkschafter, Politiker und Unternehmer Hans Matthöfer (Swen Steinberg)

Melanie Leonhard, Die Unternehmerfamilie Rickmers 1834-1918. Schiffbau, Schifffahrt und Handel (Harald Wixforth)

Jörn Lindner, Schifffahrt und Schiffbau in einer Hand. Die Firmen der Familie Rickmers 1918-2000

Thomas Fischer/Anneliese Sitarz (Hrsg.), Die Grenzen des „American Dream“. Hans Sitarz als „Gelddoktor“ in Nicaragua 1930-1934 (Torsten Eßer)

Ludger Heidbrink/Peter Seele (Hrsg.), Unternehmertum. Vom Nutzen und Nachteil einer risikoarmen Lebensform (Werner Bührer)

Barbara Nolte/Jan Heidtmann, Die da oben. Innenansichten aus deutschen Chefetagen (Werner Bührer)

Markus Raasch, „Wir sind Bayer“. Eine Mentalitätsgeschichte der deutschen Industriegesellschaft am Beispiel der rheinischen Dormagen (1917-1997) (Benjamin Obermüller)

Saskia Freye, Führungswechsel. Die Wirtschaftelite und das Ende der Deutschland AG (Ralf Ahrens)Michael Wortmann, Komplex und Global. Strategien und Strukturen multinationaler Unternehmen (Olaf Bach)

Jill Jepson, Women’s Concerns. Twelve Women Entrepeneurs of the Eigtheenth and Ninetheenth Centuries (Christiane Eifert)

Anne Laurence/Josephine Maltby/Janette Rutterford (Hrsg.), Women and their Money 1700-1950. Essays on women and finance (Christiane Eifert)

Christiane Fritsche, Schaufenster des “Wirtschaftswunders” und Brückenschlag nach Osten. Westdeutsche Industriemessen und Messebeteiligungen im Kalten Krieg (1946-1973) (Werner Bührer)

Wolfgang E. Höper, Asbest in der Moderne, Industrielle Produktion, Verarbeitung, Verbot, Substitution und Entsorgung (Mathias Mutz)

Ruth Oldenziel/Karin Zachmann (Hrsg.), Cold War Kitchen. Americanization, Technology and European Users (Olaf Bach)

Gertrude Enderle-Burcel/Piotr Franaszek/Dieter Stiefel/Alice Teichova (Hrsg.), Gaps in the Iron Curtain, Economic relations between neutral and socialist countries in the Cold War (Harm G. Schröter)

Neil Pollock/Robin Williams, Software and Organisations: The biography of the enterprise-wide system or how SAP conquered the world (Timo Leimbach)