National Cultures and International Competition: The Experience of Schering AG, 1851–1950

by Christopher Kobrak

• ISBN13: 9780521814812
• ISBN10: 0521814812
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-10-07
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

This book is first and foremost a history of Schering AG, one of Germany's best known pharmaceutical companies, from its birth as a pharmacy in the middle of the nineteenth century to the first steps of its rebirth as a multinational in 1950. The book traces the various stages of Schering's development, its relationships to other chemical companies, its government, its bankers and other shareholders. As the title implies, the book also tries to put this history in the context of Schering's changing - and for the most part increasingly hostile - political, social and economic environment, which formed the context for the company's efforts to organise its personnel, develop its research and production capacity and to internationalise its business. The author argues that the evolution of Germany's system of corporate governance did not keep up with that country's ability to make technical innovations and actually hindered Germany's ability to respond to the business challenges following World War I.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Abbreviations and Selected German Terms Used in Text	xvi
Opportunities and Obstacles: Schering AG as Historical Subject	1	(11)
Triumph and Tragedy: Schering and the ``Great Illusion,'' 1851--1913	12	(39)
Schering and the ``Organized Insanity''	51	(30)
Beer, Banks, and Coal: Schering Is ``Rationalized,'' 1922--1923	81	(27)
Babylon on the Spree: Stabilization and Reorganization	108	(35)
The Reestablishment of Schering's International Businesses	143	(40)
Missed Opportunities: Schering and the Depression	183	(34)
``Leap into the Unknown'': Schering 1933--1936	217	(38)
The Crest of the Wave: 1937--1939	255	(41)
World War II and Schering, 1940--1945	296	(46)
Epilogue: Schering's Second Ascent from the Ashes	342	(18)
Appendix	360	(17)
Index	377