Management Made in Germany: A Strong Inventive Spirit

Germany has a lot to offer as a place to study. It is not only the land of poets and philosophers, it is also the home of a highly efficient and productive economy. Germany is one of the most highly developed and efficient industrial nations and has the world's fourth largest national economy, after the USA, Japan, and China. With a population of 82 million Germany is furthermore the largest and most important market in the European Union (EU). Given its high focus on exports, there is scarcely any other country than Germany so intertwined with the world economy and interested in open markets. The most important trading partners are France, the Netherlands, the USA and Great Britain. Germany's share of total world trade is around nine percent.

More than a thousand companies in Germany hold at least a top three position in the world, which is more than any other comparable economy has to offer. It is not only the 30 major corporations such as Siemens, Volkswagen, Allianz, SAP and BASF listed on the German share index (DAX) that make the country competitive internationally, but ten thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises.

There is a variety of reasons why Germany is so successful. One of the most important ones is the close cooperation between universities, international research institutes and industries in institutionalized competence networks or clusters. According to the European Scoreboard, Germany is one of the global innovation leaders and European Champion with by far the most patent applications of all European countries. Many German inventions, such as printed books, cars, computers, chip cards, and the mp3-format, have changed the world and Germany's inventive spirit is as strong as ever: The innovative capability of German business proved to be the driving force in economic recovery.

Due to this inventive spirit, Germany continues to be one of the leading nations in several promising technologies. These include biotechnology, nanotechnology, and computer science, as well as high-tech fields. The German environmental technology sector (wind energy, photovoltaics, biomass) is extremely well positioned in international markets, with manufacturers of wind energy plants enjoying a world market share of almost 28 percent. Furthermore, the leading banking sector in continental Europe is concentrated in Frankfurt/ Main where the European Central Bank (ECB), the German central bank, (the Bundesbank), and Deutsche Börse are all headquartered.