Wo liegt der Kern des deutschen Mittelstands?

The Mittelstand is deemed to be a particular strength of the German economy. In international comparison, though, the contribution of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to the economy is larger in many southern European countries. In this article, we argue that SMEs do not capture the core of the German Mittelstand, which instead lies in medium-sized companies larger than the current SME defi nition.     

Der Kunde als Innovationsmotor bei Henkel

Zusammenfassung  Viele Unternehmen tun sich nach wie vor schwer, neue Produkte und Leistungen zu entwickeln und sie erfolgreich im Markt einzuführen. Die Folge: hohe Flopraten. Eine konsequente Kundenorientierung kann den Erfolg von Innovationen deutlich steigern. Lesen Sie, wie es dem Markenartikler Henkel gelingt, durch kundenorientiertes Innovationsmanagement nachhaltig Innovationspotenziale zu heben. Prof. Dr. Thomas Müller-Kirschbaum Corporate Senior Vice President Laundry & Home Care, Henkel AG, KGaA & Co. Dr. Juan Carlos Wuhrmann Director Laundry & Home Care, Henkel AG, KGaA & Co. Tina Burkhart PhD candidate Laundry & Home Care, Henkel AG & Co. KGaA     

Überschreitet die EZB mit ihren Staatsanleihekäufen ihr Mandat?

The ECB’s government bond purchases have become an issue for the German constitutional court. The authors see the OMT programme as falling within the bounds of its mandate but call for the ECB’s crisis policies to be strictly temporary. They argue that the OMT programme was necessary to safeguard fi nancial stability and that it does not endanger price stability in the short term. Moreover, they present evidence for the breakdown of the monetary policy transmission mechanism in the crisis countries and argue that the conditions for forbidden monetary government fi nancing are not met — provided the ECB sticks to certain conditions. Particularly, the ECB’s government bond purchases must maintain a clear distinction between the primary market and a functioning secondary market.     

About the authors

The article deals with the problem of diagnosing cultural change necessitated by a shift in market strategy and the measurement of adaptability of an existing corporate culture. Starting from the proposition that there has to be a fit between strategic goals, goal‐relevant norms of behaviour followed by the employees, and their attitudes concerning the contents of the norms in order to be able to successfully implement a new market strategy, the authors develop an approach for measuring discrepancies between these variables. Describing an empirical study run in a middle‐sized Austrian company they show how the approach may work in practice. The degree of cultural change required is delected and located. An evaluation of the existing culture's adaptability clearly indicates that necessary changes may encounter higher risks of failure.     

Entwickeln sich wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Forschung und Politikberatung auseinander?

Most German economists show strong patterns of professional specialisation. In their work, they either focus on basic research or on policy consultancy. The evidence provided by Haucap und Mödl has been used to question work incentives in academia. The suggestion to change work incentives, however, is not supported by Richter, who rather calls into question the German tradition of research funding. He argues that Germany should devote more competitive funding to research projects and less to institutions. Schmidt et al. explore the question the other way around: do policy consultants publish in top journals? They conclude that they do. Güth/Kliemt show how precarious and limited our (technologically useful) knowledge is. The discussion of alternative policies among economic experts should be used to tease out the controversial arguments to allow for better informed political judgements. Wagner/Fratzscher take a historical view, showing that when modern economic research (and economic research institutes) apply a more pluralistic paradigm than that which prevailed in Germany for a long period after the Second World War, economic research will automatically have a more significant impact on politics, since policy advisors will produce more varied advice with the potential for realisation. Koll also claims that policy advice must not be based on a single supply-side oriented mainstream point of view. By drawing lessons from the crisis, economics must identify a new mainstream providing reliable guidance and policy advice.     

The evolution of boards and CEOs following performance declines

This paper examines the evolution of corporate boards following a large performance decline. Over 40% of the original directors depart the board during the three years following underperformance. Measures of initial CEO influence over the board such as CEO ownership are associated with smaller increases in board independence and less board turnover. The underperforming firms undergo a strong recovery subsequently, with the largest performance improvement occurring among firms that experience no turnover on their boards and among firms that do not change their board independence. We conclude that the large board turnover experienced by underperforming firms presents significant challenges for subsequent recovery.