German Management System :: essays research papers

German management, as it has evolved everyplace the centuries and has established itself since World War II, has a distinct mode and culture. resembling so many things German, it goes back to the medieval guild and merchant tradition, only if it also has a sense of the future and of the long term. The German style of disceptation is rigorous but not ruinous. Although companies might compete for the aforesaid(prenominal) general market, as Daimler-Benz and BMW do, they generally understandk market sh be sort of than market domination. Many compete for a specific niche. German companies disdain price competition. Instead, they engage in what German managers describe as Leistungswettbewerb, competition on the basis of excellence in their products and services. They compete on a price basis only when it is necessary, as in the sale of absolute majority materials like chemicals or steel. The German manager concentrates intensely on twain objectives product quality and product service. He wants his company to be the best, and he wants it to have the best products. The manager and his entire team are strongly product oriented, confident that a good product will lot itself. But the manager also places a high premium on customer satisfaction, and Germans are ready to style a product to shell a customers wishes. The watchwords for most German managers and companies are quality, responsiveness, dedication, and follow-up. Product orientation normally also means production orientation. Most German managers, even at senior levels, distinguish their production rail confiness. They follow production methods closely and know their shop floors intimately. They cannot understand managers in the United States who want only to see financial statements and "the bottom line" rather than inspect a plants production processes. A German manager believes deeply that a good-quality production line and a good-quality product will do more for the bottom line than anything else. Relations between German managers and workers are often close, because they believe that they are working together to create a good product. If there is a third objective beyond quality and service, it is cooperation--or at least coordination--with governance. German industry works closely with authorities. German management is sensitive to government standards, government policies, and government regulations. Virtually all German products are assailable to norms--the German Industrial Norms (Deutsche Industrie Normen--DIN)--established through consultation between industry and government but with strong inputs from the management associations, chambers of commerce, and trade unions. As a result of these practices, the concept of private initiative operating within a public framework lies firmly imbedded in the consciousness of German managers.