German Corporate Expansion and the Path to European Integration after the Second World War

抄録

How are capitalism and business management in Germany to be understood from the perspective of Japan? As defeated nations in World War II, both Germany and Japan received significant American leadership and support following the war. Both countries developed their enterprises, industries, and economies by deploying and adapting technology and management methods from the U.S.A. while establishing their own systems of industrial concentration. By these means, both nations became major trading countries. However, current economic and business conditions differ greatly between Germany and Japan. In trade, American influence on Japanese business is still strong. Japan could not and cannot establish a complementary relationship with American industrial sectors and their products in the American market. Furthermore, a common market structure like the European Union does not exist in Asia. In contrast, Germany has developed independently of American influence and become part of a well-integrated regional economy. What were the driving forces that created those differences? That question is approached based on the assumption that the origins of the distinct characteristics of German business management after the war were developed in the 1950s and 1960s. We analyze the transformation of business management in Germany. The basic foundation of European integration is demonstrated by analyzing the internal structural transformation of management in Germany as well as market factors in Europe.