Straight Outta Oberberg: Transforming Mid-Sized Family Firms into Global Champions 1970-2010.
- Resource Type
- Article
- Authors
- Fear, Jeffrey
- Source
- Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte; 2012, Issue 1, p125-169, 45p
- Subject
- FAMILY-owned business enterprises
SMALL business
MIDDLE class
GLOBALIZATION
INTERNATIONAL business enterprises
ECONOMICS
- Language
- ISSN
- 00752800
The article examines the transformation of small to mid-sized family-owned firms into micromultinationals with production and sales subsidiaries around the world. Topics discussed include case studies of seven companies and an assessment of factors such as regeneration, internationalization, and challenges facing the German Mittelstand (middle class) since the 1970s. It is suggested that the pull-factor of global market opportunities transformed the businesses rather than local problems. The 1993/94 unification crisis is presented as a turning point in this internationalization process.