While visiting Germany several times over the past few years, I could not help but notice some stark differences between culture and leadership in Germany compared to the United States. Germany, a country located in Western Europe is also known to have a very stable, strong economy. It was clear during my visits the differences in culture compared to the United States in company technology and leadership.
I spent some time visiting different companies while in Germany and noticed the impact of company technology implemented compared to companies near my home. Often these larger manufacturers in Germany have departments for executing technology and automation improvements to increase their capabilities and processes. While it appears to me that some market segments in the United States do not use this position, those that use this as part of their workplace culture and leadership show clear paybacks with these productivity improvements. While touring the BMW site, the automation with robots was amazing to see firsthand. “While in the past, man and machine worked in separated areas cordoned off by protective fences, the last few years have changed this setup: modern lightweight robots, smart devices and exoskeletons support workers as a direct part of people’s work environment in production, making the production system leaner and more adaptable” (Allinson, 2017). This technology also provides an improved workplace environment for their employees. It was great too see employees appreciated and empowered in these different businesses I had a chance to visit. The European commitment to employees, clean working conditions, and technology was impressive allowing me to bring ideas to implement.
Germany also has many public institutions that assist companies in automation and models thinking outside of the box for improvements. “Germany has a network of public institutions that help companies recombine and improve ideas. In other words, innovation doesn’t end with invention. The Fraunhofer Institutes, partially supported by the government, move radical ideas into the marketplace in novel ways. They close the gap between research and the daily grind of small and medium-size enterprises. Bell Labs used to do this in the United States for telecommunications, but Fraunhofer now does this on a much larger scale across Germany’s entire industrial sector” (Breznitz, 2014). Companies having these resources available to assist in technology can remain competitive in the market, improve productivity, and provide a positive working culture to their employees.
References
Allinson, M. (2017, December 01). BMW shows off its smart factory technologies at its plants worldwide. Retrieved November 29, 2020, from https://roboticsandautomationnews.com/2017/03/04/bmw-shows-off-its-smart-factory-technologies-at-its-plants-worldwide/11696/
Breznitz, D. (2014, November 18). Why Germany Dominates the U.S. in Innovation. Retrieved November 29, 2020, from https://hbr.org/2014/05/why-germany-dominates-the-u-s-in-innovation