FOCUS: The New Germany A United Germany in the New Europe

Last October the German Ambassador to Britain delivered the annual Gresham Special Lecture in Gresham College in the City of London. The text of His Excellency's lecture is reproduced here with permission.     

The EC and the changes in Central and Eastern Europe

Political developments in Central and Eastern Europe and the process of German unification present the EC with a major challenge. How has the EC reacted to these changes so far? What contribution can the eC make to overcoming the division of Europe?     

German Investment in Ireland and in the Central and East European Countries

The accession of Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) to the EU is expected by many to lead to the diversion of foreign direct investment towards the CEECs and away from other EU countries. The following paper focuses on the investigation of the internationalisation strategies and location choices of German multinational corporations (MNCs) in manufacturing against the background of growing regional economic integration, and particularly the fifth EU enlargement. It draws on the findings of a case study and interview results covering three German MNCs and their location choices for investment in both Ireland and the new EU member countries from Eastern Europe. This research project has been co-funded by the RIA in Dublin and DAAD. A first version of this work was presented at the September 2005 Irish Academy of Management Annual Conference in Galway.     

The emerging approach to employee relations in German overseas affiliates: A role model for international operation?

In light of current changes in the German industrial relations’ landscape and the wider and deeper integration of German multinationals into the world economy, this study investigates the relative importance of the country-of-origin effect in employee relations of German affiliates in an Anglo-American setting. The paper addresses important issues that relate to the wider international business domain. The comparative analysis to US affiliates in the UK and British owned firms points to a distinctively German flavored hybrid approach that integrates the best practice elements of the US model with the collective orientation of the German model. This bears a resemblance to an emerging trend in the parent companies’ home locations. The intra-German analysis revealed that affiliates of multinationals that face pressures for international integration are at the forefront of this development. The findings suggest that this might provide a suitable model of international operation for multinationals from strongly institutionalized countries.     

Has Germany Been Europeanised or Has Europe Become (too) Germanic?

It has often been argued that European monetary unification must basically be seen as a device to Europeanise re-unified Germany. For the Germans it seemed to be the best possible way to prevent a German “Sonderweg” and end any German ambition for hegemony. For the rest of Europe, and particularly France, it seemed to be the best way to curb German monetary dominance and to secure a French imprint on EU policy-making. In this article, however, it is argued that the German impact on the economic governance regime of EMU and its fencing off the French proposal of a “gouvernement economique” is so substantial that the term “Germanic Europe” seems in fact to be appropriate. More importantly, the economic governance system of “Germanic Europe” has locked the European Union into a politics of disinflation which makes it difficult for the EU to prosper and reap the potential fruits of European integration.

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* This paper was written while the author was a guest researcher at the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), Brussels, from March to April 2005. He is most grateful to Andrew Watt for his help and the ETUI for its support.     

Sino-UX Advanced Engineering Cooperation Set Off

Asignificant marketing document produced by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) to promote greater bilateral trade and investment co-operation between the UK and China in the area of advanced engineering was launched on 11 March,Beijing,by HM Ambassador,Sir William Erhman,UK Ambassador to China.     

The Silver Tower industry Medal of Honor of the ROK Awarded

On December 25, Chairman Wan Jifei led the Chinese business delegation attending the Sino-Egyptian Joint Business Council Business Forum co-hosted by the CCPIT and the Sino-Egyptian Business Council in Cairo, Egypt. Chinese vice Premier Li Keqiang who was on a visit to Egypt attended the forum and addressed the opening ceremony. Vice Premier Li Keqiang said the negative impact of the global financial spreads, shifting from the financial field to the real economies. The Chinese government has taken various measures to stimulate economy and enlarge domestic consumption in order to maintain a stable economic growth.     

Current and future changes in corporate attitudes to national identity

This commentary is a revised version of a speech that was delivered by the Honorable Thomas Harris to the Thunderbird community at the Glendale campus on February 6, 2001. Although the speech was delivered in 2001, its attendant concerns and arguments endure and are germane in today's global business considerations. Ambassador Harris is presently Her Majesty's Consul General and Director General of British Trade and Investment in the United States. Following his graduation from Cambridge University, Ambassador Harris joined the Board of Trade in 1966, and subsequently the British Diplomatic Service. His diplomatic career included stints in Tokyo, Washington, and Lagos. He has also held various appointments in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. His most recent overseas posting was as British Ambassador to Korea between 1993 and 1997. He was later appointed Director General for Export Promotion in the Department of Trade and Investments (now known as British Trade International), before taking on his present assignments in New York. As Director General of British Trade and Investment, he has overall responsibility for the promotion of British trade throughout the U.S. and for securing investment by U.S. firms in the United Kingdom. In 1995, Ambassador Harris was appointed by Her Majesty, the Queen of England, to be a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (CMG). © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

不同市场经济类型国家的公司治理结构模式比较及启示

着重分析和比较美、日、德等发达市场经济国家,东南亚和韩国等新兴市场经济国家、东欧和俄罗斯等转轨经济国家的股权结构和公司治理结构模式,并指出其各自特点及形成原因。在此基础上提出了我国选择有效的公司治理结构模式应该遵循的一些原则及其目标模式。     

International effects of German unification

The merger of the two German states brings together countries with divergent economic systems, different trade orientations and a rift in terms of wealth. Transforming the East German system into a social market economy raises enormous internal and external adjustment problems in a period in which West Germany already faces the challenges of the EC 1992 project and European Monetary Union. German unification reinforces concentration tendencies and protectionist tendencies that will contribute to imperfect competition processes in Europe and the global economy.     

FRO and GDR The state of the nation’s external economy

With its “Report on the State of the Nation 1971” the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) simultaneously presented an extensive volume of collected studies. Drawn up by 50 experts, the report on the development in the two German states should contribute to facilitating political judgement and to sobering political discussion, according to Willy Brandt The author participated in the composition of the chapter dealing with the economic integration of the two German states with their specific allies. This paper is a summary of his report.     

The creative person

The deepest moral justification for a capitalist system is not solely that, poor system that it is, it serves liberty better than any other known system; not even that is raises up the living standards of the poor higher than any other system has; nor that it better improves the state of human health and the balance between humans and the environment that either real existing socialism or the traditional Third World society has. All these things, however difficult for one to admit, are empirically true. The true moral strength of capitalism, however, lies in its promotion of human creativity.New wealth can be created. Human beings themselves are the primary cause of the wealth of nations. Human creativity is nature's primary resource. Removing the institutional repression that now stifles that creativity is the large task ahead of us.Mr. Michael Novak holds the George Frederick Jewett chair in Religion and Public Policy at the American Enterprise Institute, Washington D.C. His studies in religion engage the questions of public life, political economy, education and self-knowledge. A prolific writer and commentator, he has authored scores of books and articles. He is a regular contributor to major national and international publications such as Forbes and the National Review. As Ambassador, Mr. Novak headed the U.S. Delegation to the United Nations Human Rights Commission (1981, 1982), and, Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (1986).     

Deutschlands Position in der Weltwirtschaft

In recent years, German exports have increased at a slower pace than before the global financial crisis. Moreover, the growth contribution of foreign trade was significantly smaller. This article examines how German exports have developed since the turn of the millennium, both globally and in specific regions, and relative to world trade. The results are threefold. A look at the most important trade partners reveals that, firstly, the European economies continue to absorb the largest part of German exports. Asia and the US follow as the largest sales markets outside Europe. Secondly, the German world market share is mainly driven by the development of Germany’s market position in the EU and the US; China and the remaining Asian countries play a subordinated role in this respect. Thirdly, a comparison between the growth rates of German exports and world trade is not always useful for statements about the change in the German global market share.     

Sales promotion for Latin American products

After the United States Western Europe is Latin America’s biggest export market — a market full of opportunities and yet fraught with many difficulties. Sales chances here for Latin America are determined partly by the kind of products It can offer and partly by its marketing operations. It is proposed in the following to begin with an outline of the present sales situation and future prospects on the German market — by far the most important for Latin American products in Europe.     

Eastern-Western supplier-customer relationships in agricultural machinery industry: results of an empirical investigation in the Czech Republic,Hungary, Romania,Ukraine, and Germany

International trade between Germany and the young reform states in Central and Eastern Europe is growing rapidly. Germany is the most important trading partner for nearly all of the Central and Eastern European countries. Nevertheless, there are relatively few empirical studies concerning purchasing activities of western manufacturers in Central and Eastern Europe. Especially the characteristics of successful relationships between Central and Eastern suppliers and their western customers have not been addressed. This paper presents results of a survey carried out in the Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary, Ukraine and Germany. The research reported, contributes towards answering the following research questions. (1) What are the reasons for establishing Eastern-Western supplier-customer relationships? (2) What are the characteristics of German customers buying in Central and Eastern Europe? (3) Which attributes are prominent by Eastern suppliers? (4) What are the ingredients of a successful supplier-customer relationship?The survey showed that many successful relationships between German manufacturers and Central European suppliers have been established. The importance of these relationships for both suppliers and customers is shown by the average share of materials by value bought in Central and Eastern Europe, the high specificity of the purchased materials, the types of contracts employed, and the extent of support activities. Furthermore, the study has identified the requirements and numerous attributes of successful Eastern-Western supplier-customer relationships.     

Inter-temporal savings,current account trends and asymmetric shocks in a heterogeneous European Monetary Union

This paper contributes to the discussion on the European current account imbalances by analysing the intra-European trends since 1990 based on the theory of optimum currency areas. The authors show that German unification was the origin of not only the 1992–93 EMS crisis but also rising intra-European current account imbalances since 1999 that led to the European debt crisis. They argue that a reduced German current account surplus is in the interest of German taxpayers to contain financial risk, but that it would also impose austerity on the rest of Europe unless money supply expands even further.     

Verlierer(-regionen) der Globalisierung in Deutschland: Wer? Warum? Was tun?

We describe the impact of globalisation across West German regional labour markets. The main losers are the Ruhr area, the Palatinate and Upper Franconia. The main winning regions are located mainly in Bavaria and Swabonia. The German manufacturing sector at large has gained from rising trade exposure to China and Eastern Europe. This is in sharp contrast to the experience of the United States and some European countries. The German experience could be one reason why the political discussion in this country is less prone towards trade protectionism than elsewhere. But policymakers should take the compensation of losers from globalisation more seriously than in the past.     

To Value the Past Three Decades,To Confidently Look Into the Future!

Iam very grateful for being invited to contribute with some thoughts at this time when Chinese friends prepare to celebrate three significant decades of reform and opening towards the outside world.From the very beginning I confess that I am writing these lines with a great deal of emotion and affection. That is because as a diplomat serving already twice in Beijing, after the reforms and the opening up policies started in China, I had the privilege of experiencing in person some years of the miraculous changes in China＇s social and economic life.     

The path to European Monetary Union

The planned broadening of the common internal market into an economic and monetary union as proposed in the Delors Plan means a significant qualitative leap in the process of European integration, which should ultimately lead to political union in Europe. Is this objective realistic? In what ways could it be achieved?     

Der Vorsorge-Albtraum

Economic forecasts for the German economy expect German GDP to grow by less than 1% in 2013. The expectations of the industry are better still — only the representatives of the automotive industry think their future growth will not be higher than the German economy on average. The construction industry expects growth of 1.5% for 2013, due to a boom in new residential construction. The chemical industry had to hold its own in a difficult economic environment marked by weak global growth, the public debt and currency crisis in the euro zone, and — connected with this — the recession in Southern Europe. According to the recent outlook of the ZVEI, production (adjusted for price) of the German electrical and electronic industry will grow by 1.5% in 2013. Despite a difficult economic environment, the VDMA economists expect further growth in production for machinery and plant manufacturers of 2% in real terms for 2013. The main impulses will likely be set by foreign demand, especially from non-EMU member states.