Zeitschrift für Unternehmensgeschichte. Journal of Business History,
Vol. 54, No. 2 (2009)

Inhaltsverzeichnis

André Steiner, Ausgangsbedingungen für die Transformation der DDR-Wirtschaft: Kombinate als künftige Marktunternehmen?, S. 139-157

Lynn Rother, Die Kunstförderung der Deutschen Bank. Mittel zum Zweck? Das Konzept Kunst am Arbeitsplatz am Beispiel der Frankfurter Konzernzentrale, S. 158-178

Sylvia Wölfel, Zwischen ökologischer Verantwortung und ökonomischem Zwang. Vom VEB dkk Scharfenstein zur FORON Hausgeräte GmbH S. 179-201

Peter Leßmann-Faust, Erfahrungen mit Konversionen. Die französischen Automobilfirmen Renault und Berliet vom Ersten bis zum Zweiten Weltkrieg S. 202-221

ABSTRACTS

André Steiner: Ausgangsbedingungen für die Transformation der DDR-Wirtschaft: Kombinate als künftige Marktunternehmen?

Starting conditions for the transformation of the GDR-economy: combines as future market enterprises?

The paper explores whether or not the combines – the organizational units which dominated the industrial sector of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) - would have had a chance under the conditions of a market economy. The article begins with a description of GDR's system of control of the country's economy, which the combines formed a part of. It then turns to a discussion of the preconditions for the combines' transformation into market-oriented firms. This is done along three dimensions: top management; plant and equipment; and range and quality of products. The results are - not surprisingly - mostly negative; nevertheless there existed nuclei for a fresh beginning under the new conditions of the market economy.

Lynn Rother: Die Kunstförderung der Deutschen Bank. Mittel zum Zweck? Das Konzept Kunst am Arbeitsplatz am Beispiel der Frankfurter Konzernzentrale

Promoting the arts at the Deutsche Bank: Means to an end? Implementing the Concept of Art in the Workplace at the Bank’s headquarters in Frankfurt

Studies have been published to show that corporate funding of the arts was at least partly motivated by the desire to enhance profits, especially in the 1980’s. This in turn suggests the question: to what extent does corporate funding of the arts also promote artistic development per se? Using the Deutsche Bank headquarters in Frankfurt as an example, this study explores this question, investigating the extent to which the Deutsche Bank’s funding of the arts was profit-oriented on the one hand or promoting artistic development regardless of profit on the other. The study finds that that although art in general was supported, the four aspects studied specifically (support of artist, conservation of art, aesthetic circumstances and educational purposes) were not realized or communicated consistently. Rather it became evident that Deutsche Bank support for the arts was not an end in itself, but instead was used as a tool of corporate communication at the expense of support for artists and educational purposes.

Sylvia Wölfel: Zwischen ökologischer Verantwortung und ökonomischem Zwang. Vom VEB dkk Scharfenstein zur FORON Hausgeräte GmbH

Between environmental responsibility and economic constraints: From VEB dkk Scharfenstein to FORON Hausgeräte GmbH

The first CFC-free refrigerator was invented by a small enterprise in Saxony, the dkk Scharfenstein GmbH, better known as «FORON». Bearing in mind that the former GDR is widely remembered as an environmental disaster area, it is remarkable that one of its former state-owned enterprises was able to reinvent itself after 1990 as an eco-pioneer, challenging the German household appliance industry. The so called «Greenfreeze» set a new technological standard which has come to be adopted worldwide. Amidst extensive restructuring and the constant threat of liquidation, a new corporate philosophy based on the slogan «Ecology, Innovation, Design» was developed during 1991. This paper presents a business history of the dkk, focussing on the transformation period between 1990 and 1993. Besides external factors such as the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, knowledge that the firm had accumulated prior 1990 to enable it to cope with the GDR’s economy of scarcity played a major role in its mastery of the challenge of finding a substitute for CFC to use in production of appliances.

Peter Leßmann-Faust: Erfahrungen mit Konversionen. Die französischen Automobilfirmen Renault und Berliet vom Ersten bis zum Zweiten Weltkrieg

Experiences of conversion: The French automobile firms Renault and Berliet from First to Second World Wars

The First World War accelerated the growth of the French automobile industry in a number of ways, including the physical size of the production plant, machinery and equipment, the labour force, and diversity and depth of production. The first French tank was brought into military service by Louis Renault’s automobile firm in the Paris region. Most important for the supply of the army was the truck. At the end of the war, Marius Berliet’s automobile firm in Lyon accounted for two thirds of French industry’s output of trucks.
The French automobile industry was at a disadvantage in the period after 1918 since the French vehicle market was flooded by ex-military passenger cars and by used American trucks. In addition to that, Renault had not planned for the postwar-period, was very hesitant in modernizing its plants and machinery and also had to face rapid success from a new competitor, Citroën. Berliet suffered from poor planning, introducing a passenger car with a weak chassis due to soft steel onto the market. The “Popular Front” government’s transport policy favoured public and rail transport rather than individual road users.
The attempts of prime ministers Daladier and Reynaud to arm France for the Second World War encountered reluctance from patrons Louis Renault and Marius Berliet, who were still not at ease with the clashes of labour relations and social policy during the “popular front”-years 1936 until 1936. Wishing to participate in the economic upturn in 1938, they did not want to be burdened with armaments production based on government orders. Finally, in autumn 1939, the government sent state commissioners to Berliet and Renault to force them to manufacture for the French army.
During the German occupation of France 1940 to 1944, both firms seem to have willingly followed the orders of the Nazi regime to produce vehicles for the German war machine. The French post-war government presented a bill for this behaviour immediately after the liberation of France: Both Renault and Berliet were nationalized, although Berliet only for a short period of time.

Buchbesprechungen (Reviews):

Geoffrey Jones/Jonathan Zeitlin, The Oxford Handbook of Business History (Kim Priemel)

Kim Christian Priemel, Flick Eine Konzerngeschichte vom Kaiserreich bis zur Bundesrepublik (Harald Wixforth)

Gregor Schöllgen, Der Eiskönig. Theo Schöller. Ein deutscher Unternehmer 1917-2004 (Petra Boden)

Reinhard Spree (unter Mitarbeit von Irmgard Robertson), Eine bürgerliche Karriere im deutschen Kaiserreich. Der Aufstieg des Advokaten Dr. jur. Hermann Ritter von Pemsel in Wirtschaftselite und Adel Bayerns (Gerd Hardach)

Daniel Hütter, Nachfolge im Familienunternehmen. Eszet Staengel & Ziller und Freudenberg & Co. KG im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert (Christina Lubinski)

Christoph Links, Das Schicksal der DDR-Verlage. Die Privatisierung und ihre Konsequenzen (Armin Müller)

Jens Scholten, Zwischen Markt und Parteiräson. Die Unternehmensgeschichte des «Vorwärts» 1948 bis 1989 (Karsten Jedlitschka)

Gerd Höschle, Die deutsche Textilindustrie zwischen 1933 und 1939. Staatsinterventionismus und ökonomische Realität (Dieter Ziegler)

Micheal Ebi, Export um jeden Preis, Die deutsche Exportförderung von 1932-1938 (Dieter Ziegler)

Jonas Scherner, Die Logik der Industriepolitik im Dritten Reich. Die Investitionen in die Autarkie- und Rüstungsindustrie und ihre staatliche Förderung (Dieter Ziegler)

Ulrich Hensler, Die Stahlkontingentierung im Dritten Reich (Dieter Ziegler)

Caroline Schulenburg, Renault und Daimler-Benz in der Zwischenkriegszeit (1919-1983). Eine vergleichende Unternehmensgeschichte zweier europäischer Automobilhersteller (Elfriede Grunow-Osswald)

Andrea Franc, Wie die Schweiz zur Schokolade kam. Der Kakaohandel der Basler Handelsgesellschaft mit der Kolonie Goldküste (1893-1960) (Roman Rossfeld)

Werner Plumpe/Dieter Rebentisch (Hrsg.), «Dem Flor der hiesigen Handlung». 200 Jahre Industrie- und Handelskammer Frankfurt am Main (Boris Gehlen)

Morten Reitmayer/Ruth Rosenberger (Hrsg.), Unternehmen am Ende des «goldenen Zeitalters». Die 1970er Jahre in unternehmens- und wirtschaftshistorischer Perspektive (Gisela Hürlimann)

Christian Hillen (Hrsg.), «Mit Gott», Zum Verhältnis von Vertrauen und Wirtschaftsgeschichte (Eckhard Freyer)

Lothar Hack (unter Mitarbeit von Irmgard Hack), Wie Globalisierung gemacht wird. Ein Vergleich der Organisationsformen und Konzernstrategien von General Electric und Thomson/Thales (Armin Müller)

Willam J. Hausmann/Peter Hertner/ Mira Wilkins, Global Electrification. Enterprise and International Finance in the History of Light and Power, 1878-2007 (Boris Gehlen)

Ruth Rosenberger, Experten für Humankapital. Die Entdeckung des Personalmanagements in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Ralf Ahrens)

Rainer Gries, Produktkommunikation. Geschichte und Theorie, (Gerulf Hirt)

Gertraude Krell/Richard Weiskopf, Die Anordnung der Leidenschaft (Dorothea Schmidt)

Thomas Zeller, Driving Germany. The Landscape of the German Autobahn, 1930-1970 (Matthias Pühl)

Christof Mauch/Thomas Zeller (Hrsg.), The World behind the windshield. Roads an Landscapes in the United States and Europe (Matthias Pühl)

Andreas Hedwig (Hrsg.), Auf eisernen Schienen, so schnell wie der Blitz. Regionale und überregionale Aspekte der Eisenbahngeschichte (Alfred Gottwaldt)

Hans-Peter Schwarz, Axel Springer. Die Biographie (Jan Ottmar Hesse)