Publications

April 1997
Case

ABB Germany

By: Hugo Uyterhoeven

Describes Europe's most famous postwar multinational merger between Asea of Sweden and Brown Boveri of Switzerland. Gives background on both companies and focuses particularly on BBC's geographic organization, its corporate culture, and the relationship between its... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Multinational Firms and Management; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Goals and Objectives; Organizational Culture; Performance Improvement; Geographic Location; Rank and Position; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Sweden; Switzerland; Germany

July 2008 (Revised June 2012)
Case

Corruption in Germany

By: Rawi E. Abdelal, Rafael Di Tella and Jonathan Schlefer

Why do managers become corrupt? Does corruption ever pay? When do friendly relations cross into bribery? How can CEOs manage and prevent outbreaks of corruption? These and other questions are raised by three short case studies of corruption in Germany: at the global... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Law; Managerial Roles; Practice; Conflict of Interests; Germany

January 1995
Supplement

Germany 1995: The Consensus Holds

By: George C. Lodge

Designed to follow Germany in the 1990s: Managing Reunification. View Details

Keywords: Germany; Italy; United Kingdom; Europe

March 2011 (Revised March 2012)
Case

Fraunhofer: Innovation in Germany

By: Diego A. Comin, J. Gunnar Trumbull and Kerry Yang

Fraunhofer is one of the largest applied research organizations in the world. With 17,000 employees and a 1.6 billion euros budget, Fraunhofer has 60 institutes in Germany that cover most fields of science. The case examines the consequences that Fraunhofer has for the... View Details

Keywords: Economy; Entrepreneurship; Financial Markets; Government and Politics; Labor; Markets; Outcome or Result; Research and Development; Competitive Strategy; Germany

September 1984 (Revised August 1985)
Supplement

Germany (B), Supplement

December 1982 (Revised September 1985)
Case

Germany (B) (Abridged)

June 2007 (Revised September 2021)
Case

Thomas J. Watson, IBM and Nazi Germany

By: Geoffrey Jones, Grace Ballor and Adrian Brown

Considers the strategy of U.S.-owned IBM, then a manufacturer of punch cards, in Nazi Germany before 1937. Opens with IBM CEO Thomas J. Watson meeting Adolf Hitler in his capacity as President of the International Chamber of Commerce. IBM had acquired a German company... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Values and Beliefs; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Investment; Business and Government Relations; Germany; United States

21 Aug 2017
Blog Post

From Germany to HBS

corporate governance or redistribution of wealth in society, a European and German perspective was incredibly valuable in the classroom. I would like to share three pieces of advice specifically for prospective German students. 1) Don’t be discouraged by the lack of... View Details

August 2008
Supplement

Philipp Justus at eBay Germany (C)

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Stecker

This case traces the development of eBay Germany, eBay Inc., and the career of eBay Germany's first country manager, Philipp Justus. The case covers from 2000 through the fall of 2007. This case details how eBay Germany, once a small start-up, became one of eBay's most... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Leadership; Auctions; Organizational Structure; Personal Development and Career; Internet; Germany

19 Nov 2019
News

Lessons from IBM in Nazi Germany

November 2015 (Revised November 2015)
Teaching Note

Immigration Policy in Germany

By: Matthew C. Weinzierl

September 1992 (Revised July 1998)
Case

Germany in the 1990s: Managing Reunification

By: George C. Lodge and James W. Ragsdale

In October 1990, eastern Germany was incorporated into the Federal Republic of Germany. The German people rewarded the architect of these changes, Helmut Kohl, with an enhanced majority in national elections. But only two years later it was hard to remember these heady... View Details

Keywords: Economy; Inflation and Deflation; Central Banking; Interest Rates; Political Elections; Situation or Environment; Integration; Europe; Germany; Italy; United Kingdom

1984
Book

Germany and Republican China

By: William C. Kirby

Keywords: China; Germany

August 2019
Case

Immigration Policy in Germany (B)

By: Matthew C. Weinzierl and Robert Scherf

September 1992 (Revised November 1993)
Supplement

Germany in the 1990s: Managing Reunification, Supplement Two

By: George C. Lodge

Designed to be handed out after discussion of Germany in the 1990s: Managing Reunification and its Supplement. View Details

Keywords: Political Elections; Economy; Situation or Environment; Inflation and Deflation; Interest Rates; Central Banking; Integration; Germany; Italy; United Kingdom; Europe

March 2011 (Revised March 2012)
Teaching Note

Fraunhofer: Innovation in Germany (TN)

By: Diego A. Comin and J. Gunnar Trumbull

Teaching Note for 711022. View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Germany

27 Apr 2021

HBS Alumni Club Series: Germany

Join for a unique opportunity to hear straight from HBS alumni regarding their MBA experience. The HBS Club of Germany will host this virtual event and feature alumni who will share their background and talk about how they cultivated... View Details

19 Nov 2019
Cold Call Podcast

Lessons from IBM in Nazi Germany

Keywords: Re: Geoffrey G. Jones; Information Technology

December 2024
Article

Coordinating the Energy Transition: Electrifying Transportation in California and Germany

By: Nicholas Goedeking and Jonas Meckling

California and Germany share ambitious emission reduction targets. Yet California is ahead of Germany in electrifying transportation by several metrics, including the number of public charging stations. We show that variation in the politics of coordination in... View Details

Keywords: Electric Vehicles; Coordination; Technology Adoption; Infrastructure; Transportation; Government and Politics; Energy; Utilities Industry; Germany; California