Bosch
History of a Global Enterprise
Zusammenfassung
Bosch ist ein Unternehmen mit einer großen Geschichte. Es steht exemplarisch für wichtige Trends der Moderne, wie die Motorisierung des Verkehrs oder die Elektrifizierung des Haushalts und zählt zu den Pionieren der Globalisierung. Erstmals liegt nun eine von unabhängigen Historikern geschriebene Gesamtdarstellung vor, die auf uneingeschränktem Zugang zu den Archiven des Unternehmens beruht.
Die Autoren erzählen die Geschichte der Robert Bosch GmbH von der Gründung im Jahr 1886 bis in die jüngste Zeit und betten sie in die allgemeinen historischen Entwicklungen ein. Ausgehend von der Persönlichkeit des Unternehmensgründers Robert Bosch, seinen Geschäftsprinzipien und den Anfängen der Firma als Werkstatt in einem Stuttgarter Hinterhaus werden der Aufstieg zum führenden Automobilausrüster der Welt und die Entstehung einer spezifischen Unternehmenskultur mit sozialer Ausrichtung dargestellt. Die wichtigsten Tochtergesellschaften werden dabei miteinbezogen. Zu den Schwerpunkten gehören das Verhalten während des Dritten Reichs und der Wandel der Unternehmensverfassung. Über eine Zeitspanne von mehr als hundert Jahren wird die Geschichte eines der ersten Weltunternehmen geschildert – mit seinen großen Innovationsleistungen und Erfolgen, aber auch den Krisen, in deren Bewältigung sich die Prinzipien des Unternehmensgründers bewähren mussten.
- 1–10 Titelei/Inhaltsverzeichnis 1–10
- 11–16 Introduction 11–16
- 17–152 I Early years and rise of the company (1886–1932) 17–152
- 17–32 1 Robert Bosch – portrait of a founder 17–32
- 33–41 2 The difficult early years 33–41
- 42–78 3 The period of rapid growth 42–78
- The irresistible rise of the Bosch magneto
- The first regional subsidiaries and the conquest of the U.S. market
- The transition to a large-scale enterprise and the introduction of the eight-hour working day
- The strike of 1913
- The company on the eve of the First World War
- 79–113 4 The First World War and its aftermath 79–113
- The war – a turning point
- Conversion to a stock corporation and establishment of VVB
- Changing times: Robert Bosch AG and the aftermath of war
- Organizational development and the evolution of a sense of identity
- 114–152 5 The 1926 crisis, and diversification in the Great Depression 114–152
- Causes, course, and repercussions of the great crisis of 1926
- The restructuring of 1926–27 and the resolution of the crisis
- Trial and tribulation on the way to the diesel injection pump
- Building up a presence outside Germany and battling for the U.S. market
- Between sackings and shorter working weeks: Bosch in the Great Depression
- Power tools, refrigerators, radios, and gas-fired water heaters: the first phase of diversification and the rise of a conglomerate
- 153–252 II Bosch in the Third Reich (1933–1945) 153–252
- 153–168 1 The Bosch Group in the economic upswing of National Socialism (1933–1939) 153–168
- The development of the enterprise and its subsidiaries
- The transformation of Robert Bosch AG into a GmbH
- 169–182 2 “Corporate community” versus “people's community”: Bosch, the NSDAP, and the National Socialist regime 169–182
- Robert Bosch AG after the National Socialist assumption of power
- Clashes and compromises with the NSDAP
- Between “model company” and “state within the state”: Bosch under wartime totalitarianism
- 183–192 3 Bosch and the Jews 183–192
- Jews and people of Jewish descent at Robert Bosch AG and GmbH
- For the sake of justice and humanity: how the Bosch circle helped Jews
- Aryanizations: acquiring equity interests and real estate from Jewish ownership
- 193–217 4 Involvement in rearmament and arms production in the Second World War 193–217
- Bosch and rearmament
- Emergence and early years of Dreilinden Maschinenbau GmbH
- From Elektro- und Feinmechanische Industrie GmbH to Trillke-Werke GmbH
- Concealing operations outside Germany
- Integration into Germany's wartime economy
- The last year of the war
- 218–235 5 Beyond the bounds of the "Bosch community": forced labor 218–235
- 236–244 6 The Bosch circle and resistance to Hitler 236–244
- 245–252 7 Death and legacy of Robert Bosch 245–252
- The legacy: a family company – with reservations
- 253–396 III Adaptation and change between economic boom and economic crises (1945–1983) 253–396
- 253–275 1 Reconstruction in the shadow of Allied decartelization policy and disagreements within the company 253–275
- Continuities and breaks with the past: the struggle for positions of power within the company
- Conflicts with the works council
- The constraints of Allied antitrust legislation: Bosch and its “deconcentration case” (1947–1952)
- On the brink of a growth crisis: sales figures and corporate financing in a period of tumultuous expansion
- 276–310 2 From family-run business to foundation- owned company: the long march to a new Bosch constitution 276–310
- Who decides what the will means? Execution of the will, and the appointment of Robert Bosch Jr. to the board of management (1953–1964)
- Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG and shareholder structure: further development of corporate governance at Bosch (1965–1982)
- 311–350 3 Corporate organization and corporate strategy between economic miracle and oil-price shock 311–350
- Divisionalization, crisis strategies, and corporate management in the Merkle era
- Monopoly of supply versus collective buying power: Bosch and terms of supply in the pre-López era
- The challenge of re-entering the U.S. market: stages and problems of the second phase of internationalization
- The "greener automobile": aspects of an environmental history of Bosch
- 351–374 4 Between Americanization and Japanization: manufacturing organization and work environment 351–374
- Manufacturing organization in times of postwar reconstruction, capacity bottlenecks, and labor shortages
- Structural adjustment policies, rationalization strategies, and labor conflicts in the 1970s
- 375–392 5 The phase of “indiscriminate diversification”: strategic alliances and the move into new areas of business 375–392
- The Bosch-Siemens alliance in the household-appliances business
- The Blaupunkt crisis and attempts to reorganize the German consumer-electronics industry
- Strategic investments and political machinations: Bosch, MBB, and restructuring in the arms and aviation industries
- Moving into telecommunications technology: Bosch and the AEG crisis
- 393–396 6 Initial conclusions 393–396
- 397–560 IV Bosch and the challenges of globalization (1984–2012) 397–560
- 397–451 1 Radical change and continuity in the shadow of economic turbulence (1984–1993) 397–451
- Bosch is unstoppable: the dynamics of growth and a new leadership culture
- From ray of hope to quagmire: development of the communications technology business
- Bosch in the three major economic regions of the 1980s: Europe – USA – Japan
- Kaizen auf schwäbisch: CIP and lean production in Bosch manufacturing
- The great clash of 1993
- Upheaval at old-established locations: labor relations and labor conflicts
- 452–468 2 Into the digital age 452–468
- Technical strengths: research, development, and innovation
- Development and acceptance of electronically controlled gasoline injection
- Vehicle dynamics systems and navigation devices
- 469–510 3 From restructuring to change: the process of renewal in the 1990s (1993–2003) 469–510
- Corporate governance and corporate organization
- Crisis and reorganization: the automotive technology business sector and the perennial problem with loss-making products
- Diesel injection systems and the diesel boom
- A fresh phase of diversification: acquisition of Rexroth and Buderus
- The rediscovery of values: value-driven and values-based management
- Changes in the parallelogram of forces in corporate governance
- 511–560 4 Globalization, diversification, and focus on values (2003–2012) 511–560
- Driving change forward: new strategies and trends
- Getting the workforce through the crisis intact: Bosch in the financial and economic crisis of 2008–2009
- Green Bosch: growth in renewables, losses in the solar business
- The China boom and growing markets in the other BRIC countries
- Looking beyond 125 years
- Final conclusions
- 561–703 Appendix 561–703
- 561–661 Notes 561–661
- 662–665 Bosch Group headcount and sales revenue (1886–2012) 662–665
- 666–672 List of abbreviations 666–672
- 673–673 Photo credits 673–673
- 674–692 Sources and bibliography 674–692
- 693–698 Index of persons 693–698
- 699–703 Index of companies 699–703
- 704–704 About the Book 704–704
- 704–704 About the Authors 704–704
