The german business model: the role of the Mittelstand

Mittelstand firms are small and medium-sized enterprises that form the backbone of the German economy. Mostly export-orientated and with high levels of productivity and quality standards, these group of firms have contributed significantly to Germany's post-war economical success. They combine...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Franch Parella, Jorge|||0000-0002-9738-8384, Carmona Hernández, Gemma
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2018
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repositorio:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/120826
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/120826
https://dx.doi.org/10.15640/jmpp.v6n1a3
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Business enterprises--Germany
Industrial management
Small business--Germany
Mittelstand
Small and medium-sized enterprises
Innovation
Product quality
Empreses--Alemanya
Empreses--Direcció i administració
Empreses petites i mitjanes--Alemanya
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Economia i organització d'empreses
Descripción
Sumario:Mittelstand firms are small and medium-sized enterprises that form the backbone of the German economy. Mostly export-orientated and with high levels of productivity and quality standards, these group of firms have contributed significantly to Germany's post-war economical success. They combine strategic focus with geographic diversity, emphasize factors like customer value and closeness to customers, rely on their own technical competence and create mutual interdependence between the company and its employees. In this paper, we research the clues of this very successful model and the main causes of its competitive advantage.