Business Decision Making in National Socialist Germany: Machine Tools, Business Machines, and Punch Cards at the Wanderer-Werke AG

This article analyzes the goals and strategies of a medium-sizemachine-building enterprise located in Chemnitz, the "SaxonManchester," during the Nazi period. The Wanderer-Werke AG produceda broad range of goods, from machine tools to business machines,during the years before World War II. It pursued an essentiallyconservative strategy, adhering to its established product lineand not embarking on armament production until required to doso. This policy, however, did not prevent the firm from actingon strategic opportunities offered by Nazi occupation policy,as in 1940 when it sought to establish "cooperation" with theFrench punch-card producer Compagnie des Machines Bull. Thearticle considers the extent to which enterprises like Wanderer—medium-sizedcompanies with products of some value to the war effort—couldpursue autonomous strategies within the framework of the NationalSocialist regime.