«Quo vadis, Homo harzburgensis?» Aufstieg und Niedergang des «Harzburger Modells»
«Quo vadis, Homo harzburgensis?». The rise and fall of the «Harzburg Model»
The article examines the different development lines of the German leadership approach called the ≪Harzburg Model≫ which dominated the 1960s. The prevailing German special path consisted in a combination of in-house education and off-the-job training instead of establishing own ≪business schools≫ as in the U.S. The 1956 founding of the ≪Akademie fur Fuhrungskrafte der Wirtschaft e. V.≫ under the direction of former Nazi state lawyer Reinhard Hoehn stands, so to speak, at the beginning of an exponential growth of German training providers, whereas the German market was significantly ruled by the Harzburg Academy until the early 1970s. The gradual implementation of ≪management by≫ techniques and the introduction of a systematic assessment practice in international companies led to a striking increase of American leadership role models in German boardrooms. At the same time, the Harzburg model was competing the American influenced DIB/SIB Model and in particular the systemically oriented St. Gallen Management Model. The increasing pressure for adaptation and success changed the management culture of large companies finally from a personality to an organizational setting, whereas in Germany hybrid management models were preferred until the 1990s.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Pages 73-98
- Authors
- Daniel C. Schmid, SIB Schweizerisches Institut für Betriebsökonomie, Zürich
- Journal Zeitschrift für Unternehmensgeschichte / Journal of Business History
- Print ISSN 0342-2852
- Journal Volume Volume 59
- Journal Issue Volume 59, Number 1 / April 2014