It´s Pardon me, this article have to translated with DeepL_com
A recent study (c.f. Study, October 2024, Young people want to understand the economy better) has shown that many people do not really know and understand how economic, or rather macroeconomic, relationships are to be understood. I am not an enlightener, but among other things I am taking this as an opportunity to refresh the topic, especially as there are more recent readings. Furthermore, the following presentation is also intended to support further explanations, as I could provide these only for my own cases, but perhaps as a reference for others. For me, this is where the transition to the fashion market takes place later, as well as to the location presentation and a market and competition analysis.
Much more important, however, is the necessity of this presentation as background information and a point of reference for further explanations of my texts on these pages.
Humans doing economics because goods are scarce
The question of why people do business is an economic question. When confronted with economics, you often inevitably come across it and when I think about it, I am always inspired anew. This is probably due to the idea or the thought of differentiation. The markets are expanding along the continuum, technology is becoming more minimalist and penetrating into areas where other materials were previously used. Specialisation arises with and as a result of social change and productivity. This is where the general topic ends for me and I will deal with my part of specialisation in other texts, in the context of fashion, technology, fashion sociology and artificial intelligence.
So people economise because goods are scarce, or to satisfy human needs with scarce goods.
In the current global upheaval, the question could hardly be presented in a more contemporary and accurate way. To the interested reader, I hope that I am describing in detail and comprehensibly, but I am less interested in completing the range of topics.
Nikolaus Wolf has compiled a good outline of the ‘Brief History of the World Economy’ from 2013, which I have enriched with my studies and knowledge.
In the current book ‘Grundzüge der Volkswirtschaftslehre’ it says that economics examines the interactions between households and companies through exchange (cf. et al. Mankiv Taylor, 2024, p. 23). Questions that we have had less of so far have been situations in which outputs are produced without any real income being generated. This could change somewhat in the future.
One economic problem is the question of which goods and services should be produced. Ultimately, all conceivable human needs should be satisfied.
Well, I would like to understand economics and know how I can orientate myself in order to at least superficially understand connections, also of a political nature.
Economists have no less of a problem. For this reason, they use simple models. These models are then used to develop their own current complexity for market events.
Economic models
Economics distinguishes between various models, three of which I would like to introduce in relation to the following world economic history. Models of this type are used by economists to analyse the world economy. I am using them for a different purpose because they can provide a more vivid understanding of the history of the global economy. The models can now be mentally applied to this history like a template or a layer over incisive historical events. It will become clear that the development of the model is constantly repeated. Initially in large steps, later in smaller ones.
In economic terms, a distinction is made between important economic sectors, which are private households, private companies, foreign countries and the state. On this basis, income and expenditure are modelled using asset change accounts. However, only the interrelationships are illustrated here.
Among other things, economics distinguishes between
– Models of the stationary and the evolutionary economy
– Models without and with state activity
– Closed and open economy models
Stationary and evolutionary economy models
An economy is said to be stationary if the economic variables Y (yield) do not change over time. Goods and money flow between private households and private companies. Companies buy production factors from households in order to produce consumer goods, which are then purchased by households with the income earned. Consumption = Consumption = C is offset by income Y.
This three-class model by Francois Quesnay corresponds to a stationary economy because income does not increase. Income = consumption. No savings.
An economy with an evolutionary character is characterised by an upward and downward trend in the economic variable Y. Consumers do not spend all their money, but save (savings) and invest (investment). This results in a change in wealth. Wealth creation through saving, wealth utilisation through investment.
Models without and with government activity
In models without government activity, only private households and private companies are considered.
In models with government activity, the income and expenditure of the public sector, in particular one-sided transactions such as direct and indirect taxes, subsidies and transfer payments as well as the budget balance (net new debt) are included in the modelling context.
Closed and open economy models
Closed economy models are not necessarily self-sufficient economies, but merely economies that do not import, import or even export goods or production factors (e.g. capital).
In addition to exports and imports of goods and services, open economy models also take into account exports and imports of production factors as well as credit and foreign exchange flows that connect one country with another country (two-country models) or other countries (n-country models) or the rest of the world.
If companies export more than they import, assets are created in the amount of the balance (Ex – Im). In macroeconomic terms, this results in an increase in receivables from abroad.
If companies import more than they export, assets are released in the amount of the balance (Ex – Im). In macroeconomic terms, this results in an increase in liabilities to foreign countries.
In addition to these models, there are understandably other models that are somewhat more in-depth. In my explanation, I have chosen the three models that relate to the historically recurring case and can therefore be observed again and again as the economy grows.
Gross national income is the result of income generation, income distribution and income utilisation. The determination of how the income is used is decided at the time of the federal budget and is always an extensive and intense debate in the parliaments.
History of the global economy
‘Historically, the foundations of economics were laid in antiquity. […] Around 2000 BC, the first commercial schools were established in Egypt; in Babylon, compulsory accounting for merchants was introduced in 1728 BC.’ (Altmann, Jörn, 1997, p. 5).
Around 1000 AD, Europe was regarded as a backward part of Asia (cf. On the collection of historical data…bpb_en). With the empires of the Merovingians and Carolingians, greater power could be achieved and managed in Europe. A minimalist infrastructure emerged and a certain degree of security was developed.
Catholic Church History Series – Topic 54 – Carolingians and Merovingians
Around the 11th century, new institutions and forms of organisation emerged that favoured long-distance trade and increasingly allowed Europe to grow into an economic centre of the world. Even if there had already been forms of expansion at earlier points in time, here it has a tangible global economic significance and roughly corresponds to the model of an open economy.
Uncertainties in the form of weather conditions, reaching suitable trading partners and a lack of jurisdiction made it difficult to transport goods and means of payment. This type of expansion could only establish itself gradually, eruptively.
The emergence of trade fairs, cities and city alliances created continuous access to long-distance trade relations. Local markets increasingly emerged. Hotspots such as Champagne, where regularly scheduled major trade fairs were held, also developed increasingly.
In the meantime, two trade routes had emerged: the Via Regia, which today connects Europe with Asia over a distance of around 4500 kilometres, and the Roman road that ran along the Rhone and Saone rivers to the English Channel.
Die VIA REGIA als Kriegs-und Heeresweg
From now on, without any further real expansion, the markets became more concentrated. Furthermore, a differentiation of an inward-looking nature. The model here is now moving towards an economy without foreign activity.
Permanent trade became popular, more transparent, risks and costs fell. Warehouses, merchant associations and jurisdiction at trade fairs emerged. Along with the nobility, towns were founded, which gave them independence and market rights, and as a result they were able to mint their own coins. Town alliances such as the Lombard League or the Hanseatic League came into being. Political and economic power was concentrated.
As a result of the concentration of locations, productivity grew increasingly. Later, around 1890, Herbert Spencer (Abels, 2019, p.353) elaborated on the connection between productivity and socialisation in society.
Productivity further stimulated long-distance trade. New forms of financing such as accounting, bills of exchange and double-entry bookkeeping emerged. The means of payment of gold, silver and copper coins, which had existed for thousands of years, were revalued.
However, money trading over long transport routes was still a great danger. Bills of exchange emerged in the 13th century. Coins could now be exchanged between neighbouring regions at the place of trade. This later gave rise to paper money. Europe’s previous backwardness compared to Asia and the Arab world is reflected in money trade. China had been trading since the 8th century, the area known today as the Middle East since the 10th century AD.
The expanded trading conditions allowed trade relations to develop with the Islamic and Arab world as well as with Asia. An equally recurring pattern that can be recognised in all parts of the relationship and the world is mutual growth. Europe came into contact with the Islamic and Asian world through the upswing. Relationships developed.
The Silk Road, which is still contested today, gained importance. Originating in ancient times, it had a widespread network of trade routes that now enabled more intensive exchange between Asia and Europe. It stretched from Constantinople to Antioch on the Mediterranean, and from Baghdad to Samarkand. From there on to the Chinese lowlands. Favoured by the emergence of the Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan (around 1155 to 1227).
However, trade via the Silk Road did not stop there. Asia presented its riches and there were more intensive cultural exchanges. Cities such as Genoa and Venice, which were well connected to the trade routes, now acquired great wealth and became just as powerful. Production skills in paper and the use of black powder migrated from China to Europe, and the manufacture of glass from Europe to China.
The great plague found easy access to Europe via the trade route within a few years between 1347-1351. A reason to traditionally want to prevent relations with other countries and continents. A potential for conflict, the opponents are unknown until the outbreak achieves its triumph.
A third to a quarter of the population was wiped out, with direct economic consequences in addition to human and existential hardship. A higher wage level attracted new population groups and classes, especially in larger urban centres. Evidence leads to the assumption that higher quality products such as wine, special clothing and luxury goods were transported from the East to Europe.
After the collapse of the Mongol Empire (cf. et al. Delius 2005, p. 236), the Silk Road became unsafe. Against this development, the demand for trade goods in Europe continued to rise. Alternative trade routes fuelled conflicts between the Christian Europeans and the Islamic empire, which demanded taxes and customs duties. Between the 14th and 15th centuries, the Ottoman Empire increasingly pushed its way into Europe. Europeans sought other trade routes to China, India and Southeast Asia.
The Kingdom of Portugal had been organising expeditions since the 15th century and therefore also financed trading stations and fortifications. The newly established trade route via the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa by Bartholomeu Diaz and later Vasco da Gama around 1498, which travelled as far as India and back again, is very popular. Christopher Columbus also wanted to make an attempt, but his mistake went down more clearly in the history books. He did not land in India, but in the Caribbean and then in Central America. Europeans dominated the world’s oceans at the beginning of the 16th century and brought about colonisation.
What followed is considered the first real globalisation
In the 17th century, England and the Netherlands began to flourish, building on the urban bourgeoisie and thus political centres of power that had emerged by then. London was robust enough to withstand epidemics and major fires and grew to become the largest trading centre in Europe. Moreover, England became a world power (cf. et al. Delius 2005, p. 282). The favourable location of waterways, easily accessible coal deposits, high wages were paid, new professions emerged and trade and financial transactions were carried out for the whole of Europe. Later also for the rest of the world. Towns and trading centres, initially located on the English Channel and later along the Rhine, gradually grew into centres of trade, great growth and prosperity.
A key factor in this development was the processing of cotton, which was further processed in England. This led to a sharp rise in demand for cotton textiles around 1770, favoured by technical revolutions. The first steam engine for mining was built in 1712, the first flying weaver’s shuttle – a textile machine – in 1733, the first spinning machine in 1738 and a spinning wheel with several spindles in 1765. In 1769, James Watt built the steam engine, usable outside the mining industry.
In 1769 the wing spinning machine could be used, in 1779 the spinning mule was created, around 1785 the first mechanical loom, in 1790 the steam-powered spinning machine and then in 1802 the loom for patterned fabrics. The combination of steam power and working machines marked the beginning of the industrial revolution (et al. A.E. Ott, H. Winkel 1985, p. 42).
English and Spanish colonies began to settle in North America, trading raw materials and grain for manufactured goods with the English mother country. Growing demand and technologisation led to greater productivity. The science that emerged from the Renaissance supported the search for more productive solutions. The results formed the fertile breeding ground for the emergence of the later industrial revolution. The mechanical spinning machine, driven by the steam engine, the steam ship and the steam locomotive were created.
Once the Napoleonic War was over, technological achievements spread rapidly. First across Europe, then North America. Countries such as France, Italy, the German Empire and the United States became competitors between 1860 and 1880. Russia, China, the colonial states and Brazil initially remained characterised by agriculture.
New means of transport favoured the processing of huge areas of land such as those in North America, Argentina and Russia, which contributed to their economic development.
The ‘First Transcontinental Railroad’ made rail transport from New York to San Francisco possible from 1869, and the Suez Canal was put into operation. Jules Verne’s 1873 novel ‘Around the World in 80 Days’ became a reality (see Nikolaus Wolf 2013). With the new transport options, transport prices for products fell and long-distance trade took on a new significance between 1870 and 1900. Raw materials, spices and grain could now be made accessible where luxury goods had previously been transported. The living conditions of ordinary people improved. For the first time, the states experienced differences in economic potential due to the fulfilment of the respective needs in the states.
Not every state and every social class was in a position to acquire or utilise the corresponding goods. Colonisation also led to differences in availability. The first globalisation also coincided with the founding of the German Empire around 1870 (cf. et al. Delius 2005, p. 374). It was characterised by a phase of political stability, which was accompanied by cross-border economic integration.
While trade was mainly characterised by trade between Europe, North and South America and the European colonies, Japan became an economic power. China nevertheless remained involved in trade with Europe.
Places of production and places of consumption were usually far apart. This type of circumstance increased continuously, which is considered characteristic of the first phase of globalisation.
Whilst clothing was produced in England, the cotton came from the southern states of the USA. Deliveries were made to India. This development is characteristic of economic forms of specialisation.
Populous Europe had become a leading centre of industrial production, while the colonies and the USA were developing production for raw materials and agricultural goods.
Publishing and home-made textiles declined, while factories grew and attracted immigration from the surrounding areas.
Agricultural crises favoured the influx into the industrial areas of Manchester and the Ruhr.
International standards and rules brought about a stable division of labour in the global economy. London had become an intermediary and thus a financial centre, and gold was regarded as a currency system. National currencies were linked via fixed gold parity and thus became tradable. 26 states agreed on the meridian running through Greenwich as the basis of the international coordinate system (cf. Nikolaus Wolf 2013). Time measurement and maps could now be discontinued.
First deglobalisation
Europe’s share of the global economy was estimated at 45% in 1913. Whereas around the year 1000, this was estimated at around 15%. The share of the world population was around 30% (cf. Nikolaus Wolf 2013). The rapid rise of the USA and developments in Japan led to the first global crisis and promoted deglobalisation.
Europe lost its dominance, mainly due to the First World War. New York became the new trading centre. Companies such as General Electric and Ford became strong competitors to European companies.
The October Revolution of 1917 put an end to the old Russian Tsarist Empire, which emerged as the seed of a new world power (cf. et al. Delius 2005, p. 402).
The founding of the League of Nations in 1920 was the first attempt to create an international order. In 1922, another attempt was made in Genoa to achieve a stable international order based on the old system. This failed, but after the end of the war, technological innovations such as the use of electricity in production and in households, or the affordable vehicle as a means of transport, enabled a new upswing. The vehicle became a mass product and civil aviation began. Consumption experienced its first upswing.
A real crisis emerged in 1929 with the global economic crisis, which primarily affected the western world (cf. et al. Delius 2005, p. 507). Falling prices and unemployment spread like wildfire. With the dissolution of the gold standard and intensive intervention by states, the fall in prices was halted for the time being. Mass unemployment plunged Europe, especially Germany, into a radical position, which fuelled the Second World War.
Currency blocs were created, multilateral customs treaties were cancelled, bilateral agreements were made, capital was restricted, as was immigration. Countries reduced cross-border trade.
After the Second World War, Germany and Europe were finally disempowered by the distribution of power between the USA and the Soviet Union. For the USA it was the market economy, for the Soviet Union and China the planned economy approach applied. Under the influence of the Marshall Plan, Germany and Europe lost importance. New energy sources such as oil, gas and later nuclear power initially brought the hoped-for upturn.
For Germany, the post-war years under American control signified zero hour (cf. et al. Delius 2005, p. 538). Major industrialists such as Thyssen and Krupp are convicted of complicity during the National Socialist regime. Friedrich Flick, who ran a gigantic coal and steel empire, retained his influence even from his prison cell. Relationships made this possible. The raw materials industry plants in the East are effectively gone due to the occupation zone with the Soviet Union. In the West, Flick continued to operate blast furnaces in Lübeck, coal mines in the Ruhr and the Maxhütte steelworks in Bavaria. Flick offers the state a shareholding and is thus able to secure its sites. He also benefits from the Marshall Plan, receives money from the tax coffers and is released from prison in 1950. Large industrialists are needed after the war for reconstruction and jobs.
As a producer of raw materials, Flick also becomes part of a diverse and growing conglomerate that serves companies such as Daimler Benz, Buderus, Dynamit Nobel, Feldmühle, Hagen-Kabel and Kraus-Maffei. Flick expands his empire into other areas. This was followed by shareholdings and start-ups in the automotive, paper and chemical industries. The French entrepreneur Marcel Dassault was already building aeroplanes before the war. He survived 4 years in Buchenwald concentration camp and was able to build aeroplanes, rockets and engines again after the end of the war. He invented drones.
The Marshall Plan begins to bear fruit in the 1960s. The Americans pump 40 billion dollars into industrial production. Inevitably, Germany has no defence spending, the money flows back into the economy and under Economics Minister and Chancellor Ludwig Erhard, Germany is once again rich and powerful a good 30 years after the war. (Cf. von Menschen und Managern, 2014)
Meanwhile, work was underway on a new world order. The Moscow Declaration of 1943 established the United Nations as a global organisation to safeguard peace and international law. Economic re-integration could only be achieved through a Western and Eastern separation. In the West by the USA and in the East by the Soviet Union. In the West, the GATT agreement (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) and the OECD were created with the aim of dismantling trade barriers. In the East, the CMEA or COMECON was created.
The West attempted to revive the gold standard by creating an international monetary fund in which a link to the US dollar was attempted via the World Bank through a Bretton Woods system, in which the USA undertook to be able to exchange its currency for gold at any time.
The East abolished the system of a planned economy with clearing currencies.
On this new basis, infrastructure projects such as the promotion of electrification, power stations, roads, railways as well as shipping and airports were created. Educational institutions such as schools and universities were established.
This was followed by a period of upswing in Europe, which is known as the ‘Golden Age of Growth’ and is regarded as the economic miracle.
Both the West and the East achieved real growth rates of 4 to 5% until the late 1970s. The former European colonies became independent after the Second World War (cf. et al. Delius 2005, p. 534). Japan, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia now became industrialised countries.
The Middle East, parts of Africa, Argentina, Chile and Venezuela experienced economic dynamism through the export of raw materials to the industrialised nations. Since around 1950, rural-urban migrations have emerged which have grown into megacities over the course of time. Between 1950 and 1970, the material standard of living rose significantly in almost all parts of the world. However, prosperity remained very unevenly distributed.
Ein generelles Muster zeigte sich vor allem bei den rohstoffexportierende Ländern. Sie blieben im Allgemeinen in der Armut, kleine Eliten des Landes aber konnten sich bereichern.
The second Globalisation
1973 and 1979 were years in which the oil crises dominated. The peg of the US dollar to the value of gold was now cancelled. Stagflation ensued (cf. et al. Mankiw, 2024, p. 1040).
1951 The first steps towards European Union are taken. France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg establish the Coal and Steel Community. The abolition of borders marks the beginning of a new competition. The Coal and Steel Community, via the EEC (European Economic Community), is the precursor to today’s European Union (cf. et al. Delius 2005, p. 537).
After 1957, the countries of the Coal and Steel Community and Italy decided in Rome to open their borders to the movement of goods, people and capital. (cf. Of people and managers).
Commodity prices rose and the economy stagnated. The prosperity gap in the West increased. The Soviet Union entered a crisis. Rumour has it that the planned economy was no longer able to cope with the growing complexity and innovative power of the West. According to the sociologist and social theorist Niklas Luhmann, power has too little complexity for modern societies because it starts at far too concrete a level (cf. Byung-Chul Han, 2022, p. 27). It is clear from this that a planned economy cannot cope with the power system itself, at least far less than a democracy. And admittedly, anyone who observes planned economies will have felt exactly the same. At some point, the people rebelled. China reforms itself and starts a rapprochement with the West.
For Germany, a corporatist economic constitution is important for reconstruction. The French politician Jean-Jacques Piette describes it as follows:
‘The works councils have an equal say in decision-making in Germany. […] It is a culture of consensus. […] This has to do with Germany’s history. Germany is a country of tribes and they still have them. They talk to each other until they agree on how to implement something. It’s a country of solidarity. When someone joins a company, they love it. Whether driver, worker or boss. There is a corporate culture that doesn’t exist in other countries.’
In the meantime, many companies in the consumer goods industry have emerged from the raw materials or primary producer industry. All with state support. May 1968 is characterised by political unrest. Both in Europe and in the USA. Students take to the streets, crises, restructuring, redundancies and unemployment characterise the early 1970s. The economic crisis is closely linked to the export and import economy (cf. von Menschen und Managern, 2014).
As during the period of the first globalisation, the technological developments of the 1980s and the liberalisation of the financial markets since the 1970s (cf. study on private household debt) led to increasing rivalry between the USA and the Soviet Union. New transport, information and communication technologies were promoted.
1989, fall of the Berlin Wall and collapse of the Soviet Union. The computer finally became established, satellite technology supported the spread of wireless telephony. Container standards fuelled a container revolution. The simplification of shipments between rail, ship and lorry became so easy that transport was further intensified. Transport costs fell. The effects are compared with the development of steamships and the advent of the railway. Computers and communication technologies made industrial production processes easier and industry could be globalised. As early as the 1970s, parts of production were relocated to other parts of the world where production was cheaper.
However, this only reached its peak in the 1980s. Not only did outsourcing become a concept, but further country specialisations were already developing or emerging. Areas such as research and development, design or marketing generally remained in the country. The relocation of production steps became a global trend in which parts of Asia, Central and South America were also involved. Europe and Japan grew moderately, the USA dynamically, while countries in Asia, South and Central America and Africa grew very strongly.
While general specialisation was characteristic of the period of the first globalisation, this was now seen as specialising in the sectors during the second globalisation in the 1980s. In other words, fragmentation in the business sectors, value chains that were outsourced to other countries and states. The gap between rich and poor has widened since then.
Entrepreneurship itself has now taken on a new image. While business areas have sometimes been relocated to other countries, entrepreneurs have detached themselves from their countries of origin, comparable to the long-distance merchants of the Middle Ages. In the 1980s, the economy experienced an acceleration (cf. Bpb, Technik in den 1980er Jahren), which can be seen not least in the further differentiation in outsourcing and value chains.
The commercialisation of computer technology kicked off the 1980s with a bang. The use of computers on the stock markets caused the financial markets to explode. Money was available and knew no bounds. At the same time, companies were forced to expand. Complex mixtures emerged between shareholders, customers, employees and national interests. The attractiveness of the markets in which to operate is essential. Countries that offer an attractive development and platform form interesting markets. (Cf. by managers and people, 2014)
Initially, these were investments in energy and primary products. This was followed in the 1970s by the establishment and expansion of telecommunications companies, favoured by state intervention, i.e. not only capital but also privatisation. It was the time of companies such as Alcatel, which had formerly emerged from the French state-owned company CGE, Norma, Telekom and Matra. Technological innovations such as DSL, ADSL and GSM emerged. (Cf. by managers and people, 2014)
The end for Alcatel came quickly. The inventor of ADSL was pushed out of the market by Chinese competition. Real competition actually came from Siemens, Ericsson and Nokia. However, the price drop caused by the Chinese had not been anticipated. Alcatel once the world’s the market leader lost its shares and was unable to regain them until it was broken up and dissolved into insignificance at the beginning of the 1990s. Nokia, the world market leader for terminals and mobile phones, disappeared in a very short time.
Motorola, the actual inventor of the mobile phone, almost completely disappeared from the market.
The technological changes were so rapid that the market was brutal and relentless. (Cf. von Managern und Menschen, 2014).
This development was certainly also favoured by what had already begun to take shape in the 1968s. A new kind of entrepreneurship was about to emerge in the 1980s. A mixture of hippie culture like Steve Jobs, for example, but also a bourgeoisie, newcomers, young, fast, ambitious, they replaced the older ones. (cf. of managers and people, 2014)
In the 1990s, robots and cutting-edge technologies emerge. Fewer jobs are needed, but highly qualified ones. For the rest, ‘earning less is better than being unemployed’. (cf. von Managern und Menschen, 2014). There is still no sign of the ‘social parasitism’ that was often propagated later.
Managers will later be seen as global players who are difficult to control due to their mobility. Information and communication technologies have also boosted banks and financial markets. They financed and hedged risks. Banking business expanded. The modern economic world and globally active companies can hardly be regulated by states any more. Economic researchers see the dangers in globally active companies that crises could be caused by companies rather than by states. At least the financial crisis of 2008 made this clear once again.
Sources:
von Menschen und Managern, Dokumentarfilm, Frankreich 2014
(https://www.filmdienst.de/film/details/544533/von-managern-und-menschen)
Grundzüge der Volkswirtschaftslehre, Mankiw, N. Gregory, Taylor, Mark P., 9. Auflage, Schäfer-Poeschel Verlag Stuttgart 2024
Kurze Geschichte der Weltwirtschaft, Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Wolf, 19.12.2013
(https://www.bpb.de/shop/zeitschriften/apuz/175486/kurze-geschichte-der-weltwirtschaft)
Zur Erhebung historischer Daten gibt es insbesondere zur Siedlungsgeschichte viele Nachweise. Später, um 1930 wurden erstmals Bruttoinlandsprodukte geschätzt. Als international akzeptierte Quelle für entsprechende Schätzungen gelten Werke von Angus Maddison, „The World Economy“, Volume 1: A Millennial Perspective, Volume 2: Historical Statistics, Paris 2006. (Quelle: bpb.com)
Die 1980er – Ein Jahrzehnt verändert die Welt Teil 2, Quelle Dailymotion Dokumentation
(https://dai.ly/x1vz8cm)
Technik in den achtziger Jahren, abgerufen 18.12.2024 (https://www.bpb.de/shop/zeitschriften/apuz/archiv/532111/technik-in-den-achtziger-jahren-technologische-entwicklungslinien-und-ihre-auswirkungen-auf-arbeitsplaetze-und-arbeitskraefte/)
Historischen Entwicklung der Digitalisierung, abgerufen, 18.12.2024
(https://www.ccnet.de/blog/dvi4-historische-entwicklung-der-digitalisierung-wie-alles-begann/)
Automatisierter Handel und der 87 Crash, Eine technologische Perspektive, abgerufen 18.12.2024
(https://fastercapital.com/de/inhalt/Automatisierter-Handel-und-der-87-Crash–Eine-technologische-Perspektive.html)
Geschichte der theoretischen Volkswirtschaftslehre, Ott, Alfred E., Winkel, Harald, Verlag Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1985
Studie, Verschuldung privater Haushalte und wachsende soziale Ungleichheit
(http://de.gate-communications.com/wirtschaft/verschuldung-privater-haushalte-und-wachsende-soziale-ungleichheit/)
Was ist Macht?, Byung-Chul Han, Reclam Verlag, 2019
Einführung in die Soziologie, Band 1: Der Blick auf die Gesellschaft, Heinz Abels, 5. Auflage, Springer Verlag, 2019
Geschichte der Welt, Hrsg. Peter Delius, Autoren, Dr. Klaus Berndl, Markus Hartstein, Arthur Knebel, Hermann Jose Udelhoven, 2005, Peter Delius Verlag
Die Macht der Geographie, Tim Marshall, 20. Auflage, 2024, dtv-Verlag
Studie, Oktober 2024, Junge Menschen wollen die Wirtschaft besser verstehen
(http://de.gate-communications.com/wirtschaft/junge-menschen-wollen-die-wirtschaft-besser-verstehen/)
Volkswirtschaftslehre, Altmann Jörn, 5. Auflage, 1997, Lucius & Lucius Verlag
Bretton Woods System
(https://www.bpb.de/kurz-knapp/lexika/politiklexikon/17203/bretton-woods-system/)
Wirtschaft – Woher kommt Wachstum?
Diversität als Antwort auf zunehmenden Populismus und Rechtsextremismus.
Eine neue Weltordnung, die sich zwangsläufig durch die sich entwickelnde Diversität ergibt eröffnet nicht nur viele neue Märkte sondern auch Möglichkeiten und ist eine Antwort auf Menschen die meinen der Fortschritt sei schädlich. Das Ziel des Wirtschaftens ist die Befriedigung menschlicher Bedürfnisse. Je vielfältiger der Mensch ist, desto vielfältiger müssen die Antworten auf deren Bedürfnisse sein. Die Expansion der Märkte, neue Märkte aufdecken – dabei kann es sich auch um Märkte handeln die längst vergangene Produkte wieder revitalisieren und damit dem Wunsch von Menschen dienlich sind die Sinn für althergebrachtes und Erinnerungskultur haben. Allem voran aber wird Technologie immer kleiner und erreicht damit eine nie zuvor mögliche Vielfalt an Produkten, so das jedem Menschen geholfen werden kann.
Das Wirtschaftsmagazin „Wirtschaft vor Acht“ des deutschen TV-Senders, öffentlich rechtliches Fernsehen bildet in einer sehr kurzen, dreiteiligen Serie ein kleines Verständnis über die gegenwärtige Entwicklung, und geht der Frage nach, wie wird Wirtschaft angekurbelt. Dabei wird zunächst der Faktor Rente als Einzelposition dargestellt, im Anschluss dann weitere Faktoren die Wachstum beeinflussen und kommt dabei auf den engen Zusammenhang zwischen gesetzgebener Politik und Konsum, der potenziellen Kaufkraft der Menschen.
Eine neue Weltordnung
Über die Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz wird deutlich, die Weltordnung verändert sich bereits sichtbar, Erwachsen zu werden bedeutet mehr Unabhängigkeit um die man sich bemühen muss, so Beobachter, sei es für Europa erforderlich und Notwendig.
Sicherheit, Energieautonomie, Technologischer Fortschritt, Handelsabkommen und neue Partnerschaften sind die zentralen Themen.
Klug ist, in schlechten Zeiten zu investieren, „sparst du in der Zeit, so hast du in der Not“ – Wenn Europa mit Geld vernünftig gewirtschaftet hat, dann ist aktuell zu erwarten das man sich gegen den Trend nicht nach unten, in der Rezension aufhält, sondern das neue Arbeitsplätze dort entstehen wo es die Zukunft erwartet und benötigt. Künstliche Intelligenz macht eines am deutlichsten erforderlich, Grundsätzliche Anpassungsfähigkeit. Ein deutliches Merkmal gegen Neurotische, Traumatisch psychologische Kriegsschäden und Hinterlassenschaften. Genau der richtige Zeitpunkt um Massiv zu investieren und Menschen an unbekannter Stelle berechtigterweise Hoffnung zu vermitteln. Auch ein solches Merkmal sind die Zölle. Was mit Donald Trump begonnen hat, zieht Gegenzölle nach sich und wird damit der Treiber für die erforderliche Anpassungsfähigkeit. Die einen lösen sich von bisherigen Partnern, andere neue Partner entstehen, wiederum finden andere neue intensivere Wege zur Zusammenarbeit. Die Böswilligen und Egozentrischen Absichten des US-Präsidenten helfen aller Voraussicht nach der Welt, wofür er sich sicherlich rühmen könnte, hätte er gewusst das sein Vorhaben nicht so wirken wird wie erhofft. Die Resilienz aus der Nachkriegszeit kommt nun möglicherweise zum tragen und lässt nicht zu das sich ein weiterer Krieg, wie Jahrzehnte befürchtet wiederholen könnte.
Europa bringt seine Kraft noch nicht wirklich auf die Strasse, so der Berichterstatter. Die Hilfe von Aussen in Form von Druck wirkt da vielleicht wie ein Geburtshelfer durch ein Nadelöhr. Europa wird durch das Verhalten von West und Ost gezwungen endlich dort zu handeln wo es in sich das vielleicht größte Potenzial freisetzen muss, in seiner Einigung!
Der Kalte Krieg und seine Nachwehen ist längst vorbei, das Merkmal Krisenbewältigung führt in die neue Weltordnung.
Wirtschaft vor Acht, 17.02.2025 (Börsenwerte nicht aktuell)
Positive mood in the economy
The topic of the economy is very important to citizens. For good reason, one may assume. It gives them a sense of security and self-determination. Where does growth come from and how will pensions develop in Germany are questions that are swirling around the editorial team of Markus Gürne and the business magazine Wirtschaft vor Acht. Demographics are changing, the baby boomer generation is coming to an end and low birth rates are following. There is an initial gap of a good 20 million people in the German national budget. Added to this is longer life expectancy, to which prosperity also contributes. In view of this, however, it may be underestimated that people are no longer under so much physical strain and want to participate in working life and thus social structure for longer, apart from staying young for longer, which also seems to be demonstrably delayed.
Wirtschaft vor Acht, 18.02.2025 (Börsenwerte nicht aktuell)
Where does economic growth come from – consumption and saving
In the unintended part one of the short presentation of the business magazine programme of the First German Television, the question was how and where can growth for the economy come from. The pension situation was discussed.
In part two, the following video poses the same question with other players shaping the economy.
How can a positive mood for growth be created?
Experts are of the opinion that taxes should be lowered for companies. Low taxes make a location more attractive, which is important in the competition between countries. Companies in Germany have invested less since 2018, while companies in other countries are investing more.
But if companies pay less tax, how does the state get more money?
The lowest denominator remains purchasing power. If people consume, spend their income on consumption, then growth occurs, as the short video makes clear.
As Markus Grüne says here, how we behave as consumers depends on how we vote, what laws, restrictions and opportunities the state offers.
This relationship then forms the positive or negative sentiment.
Wirtschaft vor Acht 19.02.2025 (Börsenwerte nicht aktuell)
At the end of a zeitgeist towards the economy, national economy and our history…
How we humans, consumers, behave is strongly influenced by legislation and policy-making. In economic models, purchasing power is offset by saving. In the simplest case, the money that is not spent on consumption is used for saving. In the other case, the entire income is available for consumption after deductions, based on model calculations.
Which party is not only closest to the truth with its election promises, but also represents a forward-looking attitude towards the global economic challenge of our time, our zeitgeist.
The focus is on retreat, in the form celebrated by populists, or expansion.
The next stage of expansion lies in the more intensive networking of the world. The markets are open. Trade agreements between states and continents facilitate or hinder interstate trade relations. Tariffs are an instrument for creating or dismantling barriers.
Ultimately, however, moral and financial advantages and disadvantages decide which states enter into which relationships with each other and how.
We can refer here to the achievement of the English economist Davod Ricardo and his comparative cost theorem:
The theory of comparative cost advantage states that trade between two parties is worthwhile as soon as they produce their goods at different costs. Ricardo proved that the international division of labour promotes the welfare of the economies involved in trade. He thus justified the advantages of specialising in the product with the lowest opportunity costs.
Until the 2000s, much was still reserved for evolutionary processes. At some point, however, it will be about networking the world, our thoughts, which, with regard to social media, began its campaign sometime in the early 1970s. That’s when the telecoms companies really got going, on the basis of which the internet and ultimately the smallest mobile devices were developed, which decoupled the place where we live from the need to live there.
In the past, you had to cultivate the land, which meant you had to have solid ground, sedentarisation began, and with it the patriarchal form of rule.
We now live in vertical farming and can artificially fertilise products, and have thus become independent of sedentariness. The conditions have changed and with the age of artificial intelligence we are facing a radical innovation, as I can see from Ottmar M. E. Schreiner’s assessment (2005).
We are currently globally networked thanks to split-second messages, location is only necessary to a limited extent and, according to psychology, there are two points of view.
Either we stay where we are, a place where we seem to feel safe and secure, which we would like to call home, or we move away from this position in a blustery, eruptive manner and return again and again. A back and forth does not have to refer to locations alone. It can also mean distancing ourselves from traditional, conservative values and at some point coming back and reflecting on the original values.
What moves people, what the majority of them want in the spirit of the times, is decided and then erupts in wars, conflicts and crises. Some are exuberant to this day, while others are perhaps hiding. Ultimately, I believe that the description by the philosopher of the century Hannah Arendt is the most accurate here – wars, conflicts, discord and crises are the midwife of morality, philosophy and desirable ways of life.
What will come is what will prevail. Some feel accompanied by signs and wonders, while others are calling for civil courage. I am convinced that the present time corresponds to the description and analysis of the economic philosopher Anders Indset, who described how things will turn out in his bestseller ‘Quantum Economy’. With the disappearance of colonialism, every nation has the opportunity to become a sufficiently suitable supplier of products to dominant states. The market becomes more diverse, human needs shift and relocate. Under these conditions, the world market becomes so robust that states such as the USA or Russia do not have enough power to want to establish the interests currently as they once were, divided into East and West, what our political fathers and mothers fought for over decades, state sovereignty and an end to the Cold War.
The current attempt by the USA and Russia to rebuild the walls will only prove, I believe, that this no longer works and thus strengthen state sovereignty and the robustness of the global economy.
Analysis of local conditions
To make yourself aware of the area in which you are located or work, to make it transparent, it is also good to work this out using a location analysis. I have also created such an analysis for my purposes for the place where I currently work.
The Analysis of Location is through inquiry Email available
How Innsbruck wants to develop
Regional TV ORF from 12. February 2025
Meeting places to revitalise the city centre
Smaller structured spaces are obviously more promising for the future due to rising property prices. This is because retail space is crumbling in some places. The motto is, it’s better to have vacancies than lower prices.
The Raiqa in Innsbruck’s city centre is to offer retail, gastronomy, art space and more in addition to a hotel, as reported by ORF. Completion is planned for the beginning of 2026.
ORF February 12, 2025
Disruption and a bit of dogmatism – modern leadership
Blaser mountain in the Wipptal valley, view of the Stubai Alps
The chosen image with a drama filter reflects an archaic-looking landscape that is synonymous with an expected natural turning point in time.
In this text, I will begin with an approach to the subject of leadership, which I will present at the end of the text. Human maturity entails going through order relations that are given names at the end of their term. Historically, there are already a number of analogies that allow us to draw conclusions about global systems of order from the image of the human body. Perhaps some of their best-known representatives are the ‘invisible hand’ of the moral philosopher Adam Smith. Francois Quesnay, founder of the Physiocrats (then economists), personal physician to Louis XV, wrote a major work called ‘Tableau èconomique’ in 1758 in which he described the closed goods and money cycle of the economy. Derived from the human blood circulation. The philosopher Thomas Hobbes perhaps summarised it best in his work Leviathan when he said, ‘The greatest human power is that which arises from the union of very many men into one person’ (quote, Hobbes 1970, p. 80).
On this basis and a few other references, I came up with an image that seems to be gradually gaining ground in a culture that has now become modern leadership. The image is based on the interplay of physical muscles, whereby the interplay of muscles is described as intramuscular neuronal communication, which comes into play via the motor end plate on the muscles themselves, player (agonist), opponent (antagonist) and co-player (synergist). From here, we move on to the image used in conflict management, according to which groups of people and teams can be categorised in a hierarchy. Alpha (leader), beta (expert), gamma (follower) and delta (outsider role) (cf. Berkel 2011, p. 21). Conflict management describes the opposite pole to the problem of poor communication, in particular the use of intuitive communication in teams. I will discuss the latter in another article. This breaking down, bottom-up approach provides the preparation for a caricature by Hans Traxler, which deals with the question of human characteristics, which equates to the development of the individual. Renate Eiseler, a respected Austrian-American art historian, also reports on a dominance system as a cause and problem against this background.
Daniel Goleman’s 1995 bestseller ‘Emotional Intelligence’ provided the seeds for this new-fangled development of an individual and his turning away from colonialist ideas. The book is recommended by the Times as one of the 25 business books of the 20th century that should be required reading for leadership, as well as being a must-read in relevant degree programmes. For me, it was only enough for a translation, but a first edition, from which I quote: ‘As Wilhelm Heitmeyer from the University of Bielefeld has observed, the social dynamic is developing towards more individualisation, more autonomy, and from there to greater competition, especially in the world of work and at universities, and to less solidarity, which ultimately leads to the growing isolation of the individual and the decline of social integration. This creeping disintegration of the community and the intensification of a ruthless endeavour to assert oneself is taking place at a time when the economic pressure resulting from the West-East unification demands more and by no means less cooperation and care’ (cf. Goleman, 1995, p. 7).
‘Thirty steps will take you thirty metres linearly, but exponentially twenty-six times around the earth’. (Cf. quote from Indset, 2019, p. 37). With this sentence, the economic philosopher Anders Indset tries to explain in his Spiegelbesteller what is meant by quantum economy. Whether the invention of the printing press, the combustion engine or industrial mass production, the reaction times took decades, sometimes centuries. The current shortage of necessary microchips makes the urgent need clear. And it is once again the automotive industry that fears that the shortage will continue beyond next year. This can only have a distracting effect on completely new markets. A few years ago, Dr Kraus und Partner from the management consultancy of the same name wrote in a report that markets shift in an almost unpredictable way during crises. And suddenly a huge hole appears. The smaller, more customisable and more functional the chips become, the more deeply they intervene in the most diverse areas of life. The observations of one of the founders of Intel, Gordon Moore, once gave rise to Moore’s Law, in which he recognised that the functionality of chips increases approximately every 18 months. (See Moore’s Law, Intel Corp. 2023).
When products are adapted to human needs in the best possible way and technological intervention in the form of digitalisation of products can be carried out in the same way, radical innovations must occur. The fact that crises reorganise markets can rarely be observed as well as in times of a pandemic. Some disappear in a tragic, dramatic way, while other companies pick up speed, accelerating from almost zero to 100. Nikolai Kondratieff, a Soviet economist who began to analyse the economy to see whether various patterns could be identified or whether there might be indications of early warning indicators for large time arcs. He discovered that there are major waves of productivity in the economy, which later became known as the Kondratieffs. Each Kondratieff describes a cycle that was accompanied by technological innovations. First Kondratieff, clothing by steam engine for textile industry (1780-1830). Second Kondratieff, mass transport by railway and steel (1850 – 1870). Third Kondratieff Mass consumption with electrical engineering and chemistry (1890 – 1920). Fourth Kondratieff Individual mobility with the automobile and petrochemicals (1935 – 1950). Fifth Kondratieff Information and communication with information technology (1980 – 2000). Finally, the sixth Kondratieff sees holistic health with biotechnology and psychosocial health since 2005 (Vgl. Über die Kondratieffzyklen, 2014).
Not confirmed, but the fact should be pointed out that once cycles of need that have already been completed start all over again, but the economy starts at a higher level. I.e, economy begins with the mass phenomenon of textiles. through textiles. This situation can be compared with food and the and the more individual or small groups with large families orientated or orientated landscape is a little different. The economy of course also falls into the cycle of national economic development stages of satisfying needs, In terms of power still ahead of textiles, but not comparably organised in terms of organised. With the advent of industrialisation, a social a social change took place. Where craftsmanship and and passing on the father’s business to the descendants used to take place, the later heirs increasingly worked in industry. Parents and children took different career paths.
This can also be seen in the development since the mid-1970s, when the textile industry relocated textile production to low-wage and emerging countries. In addition to the known disadvantages, two advantages must be mentioned. The free, unconsidered support in the development of national economies and the first features of global specialisation. All further developments of the Kondratieffs brought with them creeping prosperity, because this meant that global and collective needs were satisfied in the deficit and growth needs. And in a natural way. Even then, I doubt the human ability to have been foresighted and strategically constructive. Instead, I prefer to stick to the clear ability to recognise and analyse patterns and thus the connection to the words of Erich Fromm, ‘God’s work can be recognised by the things that have happened and were’!
Expectations of further waves of productivity result from the Kondratieff waves. Can we now expect a new wave of production with intensive cultivation? Is Anders Indset’s predicted quantum economy about to materialise?
Against the backdrop of a speed of innovation that is close to maximum acceleration, where market participants are so busy, distracted and hardly notice anything, with a focus on efficiency gains, the term disruption, according to business philosopher Dominik Veken, means throwing market rules overboard, using digitalisation and positioning radical business models. Creating a new open, agile path through the creation of meaning and demanding a new cultivation with the best employees and talents. (Cf. Veken, p. 76, 2015) Against the market, a sense of a new world and new ways of working are something irresistible for customers and employees, as the corporate philosopher Veken believes. And I think we can even go so far as to say that many companies, people, customers and employees harbour a desire for change towards a positive development for everyone, but very few have the courage to take the step.
This picture shows representations of the strategy development of management in companies. The pioneer strategy involves establishing a market through your own offering. As a rule, they take a high risk because it is not certain that there will be sufficient demand. This strategy naturally goes hand in hand with a human role model based on courage, boldness and experience. The strategy of the early follower is based on waiting until a pioneer has opened the market and the reactions of market participants can be observed. The strategy of the late follower usually arises when someone wants to participate in the market with a modified form of products and innovations, but cannot present a ‘real’ strategy or business model (see Pioneer, early follower or late follower: Which strategy promises the greatest success? 2007).
Anyone who takes this route can be assumed to have limited means and resources. The risks must also be weighed up economically. The fear of losing something is no coincidence. You will lose something and you are probably well advised to confront this fear in order to hunt it down and resolve it. Because only the unknown causes fear. But once you have done it, you will always feel the urge to give up everything and realise new ideas. Real people of being, as Erich Fromm describes in Having or Being.
Every step in markets that bring about change and want to transform themselves in the light of digitalisation invalidates the traditional systems. (See Oesterreich, p. 6, 2019). Disruption does not come from technology, but from how we handle it, says Anders Indset. (Cf. Indset, p.286, 2019). And he goes on to say that it is about technology and authority. After all, transformation and disruption are ultimately challenges by and for people; they are questions that we humans have to solve. The battle for algorithms, the shift in authority from people and institutions to algorithms and the battle for the technology throne determine how we deal with further developments in times of AI and deep learning.
There is a parallel between today and the time when patriarchy emerged around 6,000 years ago. With the creation and emergence of artificial intelligence, the thoughts and preoccupations with human evolution are repeating themselves. And because we are at a good technological level, we are going through the time of human evolution again and at an accelerated pace. It is a turning point in human history. Some people think they can recognise it as the end of patriarchy. My premonition is that the strongest among all will serve things. So the man will realise that leadership is serving. To serve by enabling needs to be met. That you create products that help people to satisfy their needs in hunger, poverty or even security, housing and mobility. I don’t want to look so much at men in the sense that they are responsible, but rather that each gender is responsible for what it produces. And then there is the interaction in which we learn from each other.
But with a significant degree of acceleration, if that would be surprising. Especially with regard to the issue of authority and responsibility. The philosophers of our time, including Richard David Precht, write about the race for authority between artificial intelligence and human authority. And Anders Indset believes that we can only manage this together. To do this, each of us needs a subjective, validated and plausible world view of how we see the world. (See Indset, p.238, 2019).
According to Otmar Schreiner, innovations are the key drivers of long-term corporate development. To make it more tangible, a delimitation of how innovation radically differs in terms of the possible technological dimension is when technological knowledge differs significantly from previously existing knowledge (cf. Schreiner, p. 24, 2005) As mentioned above, not only in the production of microchips, but generally in the performance development of technologies, these are usually not linear when viewed in a technology life cycle. Discontinuities, stagnation and phases of growth alternate (cf. Schreiner, p. 29, 2005).
The most obvious and prominent example is the automobile engine. In 1902, the internal combustion engine was established as the industrial standard. Possible options were gas, steam and electricity. Subsequent problems such as the size of the engine, the arrangement of the cylinders or the positioning of the engine were gradually researched. However, the basic drive concept has remained the same to this day. The other technologies were dropped and the petrol engine was developed.
The engine, the switch to the battery or artificial intelligence, nanotechnology – these are radical innovations. Many companies, especially in markets where product margins are low, extend product development and marketing costs over the life cycle by waiting until demand has reached a threshold at which price negotiations are more suitable and a minimum sale seems assured. Health or the fulfilment of other basic human needs are less in the foreground and more in the way. This is why there was no particular interest in bringing about extensive changes during the development of the engine. They never actually did. It works, you might think. Opponents encountered massive resistance from such companies and they still do today.
There must therefore be an external influence that intensively disrupts demand in order to persuade such companies to give in. Once decisions have been made, they are driven forward and manifested by the continued employment of sublimations and can hardly be overturned (cf. Schreiner, p. 32. 2005). Like everything, this approach has both good and bad sides. But it is obvious that established organisational structures in established companies can represent resistance to the realisation of radical innovation (cf. Schreiner, p. 33, 2005). When innovations replace something that already exists, bring about change and, above all, call the traditional into question, challenging business models, industries or markets, this is known as disruption. And because it is easier to launch new business models on the market today, other market participants are challenged and faced with uncertainty. (See Oesterreich, p. 6, 2019).
The Disruptive Technological Change model describes the circumstances under which established companies are completely pushed out of the market by new technologies. The failure of such companies is accompanied by a focus on core customers who are initially unable to recognise any benefit from the new technology. The companies do not take up the disruptive technologies. It is new companies that take up these technologies and use them to create new markets. In this way, established companies are pushed out of their markets in the medium to long term (cf. Schreiner, p. 33, 2005).
Products based on disruptive technologies are usually much better adapted to their environment. This is because they are cheaper, simpler, smaller and usually more convenient to use. In the long term, they have the potential to displace existing, established product systems. Nevertheless, these radical innovations have a high degree of uncertainty (cf. Schreiner, p. 25, 2005). New business models bring with them greater dynamics and complexities, forcing companies to adapt. Traditional organisations are Tayloristic and exist on the basis of stable framework conditions.
Taylor’s model, Taylorism, which is ideally understood as a machine model, takes little account of human needs. Charly Chaplin’s Modern Times tells the story (see Charly Chaplin Factory Work). Taylor is regarded as a pioneer of management theory and developed the Scientific Management Model, which provided for the rationalisation of vertical integration through time and motion studies for the optimisation of processes, tools and machines, as well as individual performance targets with corresponding remuneration. Even this rigid structure of Taylor’s makes it clear at the present time that this type of organisation is facing an eruptive reorganisation. Taylorism was to be replaced by the human relations approach. However, the basic features of Taylorism are still fully in place and human relations only seemed to become possible later, or now around 100 years after its emergence. Well-known representatives of human relations were McGregor, Maslow and Herzberg. Mayo was also one of them, whose example I would like to present in order to understand the significance of the human relations approach as a counterpart to Taylorism. This is about independent motivation theories, about how employees can be motivated.
The pioneer Elton Mayo carried out Hawthorne experiments in the 1920s. The aim was to prove a connection between external working conditions, such as lighting in the workplace, and the labour productivity of working people. The Hawthorne effect refers to experiments and studies in socio-psychological fields. Such studies can unintentionally trigger positive effects. The connection could not be proven. Nevertheless, productivity increased with consistently adverse conditions. After much puzzling, Mayo was able to find out that the mere fact that employees were allowed to participate in the experiment was enough to motivate them to work. This was because the experiment showed attention and appreciation, which was honoured by a more productive way of working. Perhaps the philosopher Byung Chul Han’s description of ‘violence and freedom as the two cornerstones of power’ (cf. Han, 2022, p. 15) is also helpful here. In other words, a continuum that shows the range within which people can or cannot be motivated. No power is formed in actions under coercion (cf. Han, 2022, p. 18).
A system that only recognises violence as a means of power is poor in differentiation and only capable of lower productivity (cf. Han, 2022, p. 19). if you want to motivate employees, then do not restrict them, because then they will become really productive. Because power is most powerful, most stable, where it creates a feeling of freedom, where it does not require force (cf. Han, 2022, p.57). The groundwork for theories of this kind has already been laid by several authors over the past hundreds of years. First and foremost Herbert Spencer with his fundamental work on sociology.
This also proves that an organisation that is suppressed has the effect of releasing a strong will for freedom. We should therefore not be surprised when people behave irrationally. The urge for freedom is greater than reason. The dispositive of sexuality, contrary to what religion gives us to understand, does not express itself as a law of prohibition, but as a mechanism of incentive and propagation. Power leads to more lust (cf. Han, 2022, p. 47). The drive of pleasure and displeasure goes hand in hand with the development of the human instinct. Religion obviously suppresses lust for life. Whether this is good or bad – in the long term – is not for me to judge. Because there are reasons for all phenomena in this world.
And my presentation is certainly not intended to be a call for behavioural recommendations. Desire develops lust for life, wherever it comes from, the deprivation of freedom suppresses this desire.
It is therefore only understandable that organisational development is crying out for changes that enable workers to develop their potential. Some people remember the first demonstrations in the 1960s/70s, others may still see images from that time of people on strike in front of factory gates, a sun on a red background with the number 35 for the 35-hour week. It was about the humanisation of work. There was no talk of disruption here, but there were slight eruptions.
In order to make future organisations more adaptable, the outdated but common term of neurosis or reluctance works against adaptation, further means are needed in addition to the usual efforts to increase efficiency and productivity. To this day, profit maximisation targets still persist in companies. However, for more than 15 years now, corporate goals have been viewed in a very differentiated way. It is simply no longer enough to say ‘next year we want to increase turnover by 15% and double profits’.
Today, it is necessary to make it clear that ‘if we want to remain at the top of the market in the long term, we must endeavour to offer our customers meaningful products and services in addition to our core products, which are not necessarily prominent in the market, but which retain our customers in the long term’, or something similar. Such formulations are created using definitions for visions, philosophies, drafts for strategic management and, derived from this, for operational action.
The dependency of the corporate cycle is essential in how one builds up one’s own strategies in the organisation. Glasl and Lievegoed came up with the best-known division of phases into pioneer, differentiation, integration and association phases. In the pioneering phase, the entrepreneur is the person who shapes the company. In the differentiation phase, the company has reached a size where it is or will be divided into functional areas, hierarchies and delegations. Management here is no longer solely in the sense of people, but through the system.
In the integration phase, the working people with their personality and their characteristics, their resources, are at the centre of the company. The company’s main focus is now on the meaningful deployment of employees to achieve a common goal. Employees are encouraged to play an active role in shaping the organisation. In the association phase, the company and the economic players come more into focus and take centre stage. Co-operations are formed, comparisons (benchmarking) with other companies make it clearer to reflect on the unique selling points, one is usually networked and is part of a kind of biotope. The ability to swim dynamically in the market is a given. These phases are also accompanied by perhaps the three most important management styles, each of which must be adapted. Autocratic, democratic or laissez-faire style. In future organisations, cooperation and communication must be given more consideration in a complex and dynamic context. The authors of Agile Organisation agree that responsibilities and decisions must be distributed dynamically and according to the situation.
Luhmann links power to social relationships. Power is the space between two objects that completely surrounds both objects. Power is a medium of communication that increases the likelihood of the adoption of decisions between ego and alter, while actions under duress do not develop power (cf. Han, 2022, p. 19). The ego is me, age is the temporal distance to myself.
Traditional line organisations with fixed management organisations can hardly achieve this. In my pending elaboration by Heide Göttner-Abendroth on egalitarian forms of society, which unite patriarchal and matriarchal organisations and which will hopefully also be a solution for regional local supply of companies, communication and cooperation, better future forms of intelligent networking, are made possible in a suitable way. According to the authors Bernd Oestereich and Claudia Schröder, VUCA, which stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity, has increased. In order to be able to react more quickly to market changes in the future, more communicative feedback is required. Retrospectives are work meetings with the aim of reflecting on and improving collaboration and work processes. They are less concerned with operational matters.
Retrospectives should lead to organisational self-organisation in phases, both in terms of content and ritual. The organisation finds itself out empirically, which has already been proven by Angela Moré with regard to group research. From her point of view, it is also understandable that the group seeks something divine in leadership. Erikson has described that we already come out of the womb at the time of birth, in the classical way, with our heads downwards, our gaze is therefore directed upwards and the human being is thus naturally given the longing in life to seek something that we as human beings can look up to. In terms of meaning, no one will be able to counter this.
Bernd Oestereich and Claudia Schröder are of the opinion that it is a matter of organising parts of leadership as leadership work that enables rapid adaptation to market conditions. Leadership topics are linked to statutory roles and must therefore be managed centrally (see Oesterreich, p. 137, 2019). To a certain extent, disruption is therefore opposed to dogmatism. Anders Indset believes that dogmatism is probably the biggest and most pressing problem of our time. This is because dogmatism involves truths that cannot or must not be questioned without running into serious problems.
In its presentation, dogmatism clearly points to what I would like to call the primordial development of neuroses. According to my research, I consider dogmatism to be a further developed but modified form of the counter-play of adaptations to the reality of life.
Ultimately, however, when it comes to substantial questions of humanity, such dogmatic questions, such as the former question of whether the earth is now a disc and punishable by death, will ultimately be reduced to religious dogmatisms. This does not make them any less dangerous, but presumably triggers more intense crises. Because what is at stake is the foundation of faith, something that is directed towards the future. ‘We are all more similar to the particles and waves of the quantum world than we usually realise. Being human means being rational and irrational, materialistic and spiritual, logical and intuitive, and in dreams and imagination we can even resurrect the dead’ (cf. quote, Indset, p. 195, 2019).
Companies experience a completely new dimension of agility when there is an inner drive, something internal that provides a fundamental direction. A firm foothold, a stable attitude. A common spirit fulfils employees, allowing them to become an extension of the interests of managers, and managers themselves will know how to organise themselves under the common spirit in the sense of being, thereby expressing their authority.
This sustainable belief sets companies in motion to react dynamically to challenges, releases creativity and gives the now living organism a soul. Answering the questions of identity, conviction, transparency, i.e. what is our inner compass, participation, through what, how and with what do we inspire through our spirit? And agility bring a sparkle to the eyes and enthusiasm to the faces of managers and employees alike (cf. Veken, p. 194, 2015).
Modern leadership
My observations have shown me for some time now that a human need is being realised in the course of artificial intelligence. ‘No sooner is one wish fulfilled than it makes a thousand more’ – Wilhelm Busch is said to have coined this phrase, which I consider to be absolutely important and correct. Because as is the case with needs, once they are satisfied, a new differentiation arises. Everything that follows becomes more compartmentalised, which in most cases is reflected in a perceived complexity. But the need that was allowed to be satisfied has dissolved in people. So it’s not that a need has disappeared, but that it has become part of my personality. I have matured as a result!
With this description, I argue that with the realisation of artificial intelligence, man shows that the spirit has reached a maturity that I relate, among other things, to the biblical description, ‘…Fill the earth and subdue it…’ (Luther Bible Genesis 1:28).
When the human spirit has reached such maturity, then power and sexuality are never far away, because there are very close connections to human life and its development. My own observations, as well as various books on the subject of artificial intelligence, have shown me that we as humans reach a certain level of maturity in this area. At the same time, we are coming to terms with whether and that we are the cause of a catastrophe that is tantamount to sawing off the branch we are sitting on.
In dealing with artificial intelligence, we inevitably look back, re-ligio as Heide Göttner- Abendroth once described it very clearly and in detail. Heide Göttner-Abendroth is one of the world’s leading matriarchal researchers. The term re-ligio implies looking back, reflecting on the past. And if we do this against the backdrop of an uncertain future in the context of climate responsibility and artificial intelligence, then I would speak of biblical proportions.
These questions and problems put us in a situation where we have to become humble and relate to God. From this and other arguments, I deduce that a modern, new image of leadership can be drawn here.
The really leading companies have been proving themselves here for very few years.
So what can modern leadership mean?
A framework is provided. This framework consists of rules and laws that establish boundaries. On the one hand, rules are important within the team in order to get along with each other. It is not a question of what is right and what is mine, but also of being able to accept and accept that someone has different views and that these play an important role is part of a democracy and is therefore important. So we need rules in the group, in the team. And then there are the external boundaries. Sales and distribution is the interface to the outside world. The way I present myself as a member of a sales team forms the common language or communication to the outside world.
The spirit of the times therefore demands that we speak from one mouth I want and need to stand behind what the company is doing so much that I speak with my colleagues as if from one mouth, even though we are of different minds.
With this illustration, I would like to refer to a biblical image. In the Book of Revelation, it becomes clear that the spirit of God is something that consists of many different characters and patterns. And in the context of artificial intelligence, questions are currently being asked about the differences between natural and artificial intelligence. And there, too, a differentiated spirit is being discussed.
The fact that we as members of this organisation are of one mind is a goal in the sense of modern forms of organisation that ensure the survival of companies. I therefore see it as a positive development that the labour market has currently changed and that companies need people, but at the same time are in a situation where they have to be selected with a view to representing the company. And the people who want to work in companies can currently choose the organisation in which they want to develop their impact.
This is precisely what forms the transition to the form of organisation that the current leading companies, the global market players, use.
If, as a leader, I dwell on every single little thing that comes to mind, then I inhibit the thinking and creative spirit of the team members. This form of leadership has several negative effects.
Firstly, diffusion is characterised. This means that it is difficult for each individual with an independent mind to subordinate themselves to the organisation. The individual always wants to do everything differently and cannot find the right order. Leadership that dwells on every little question instead of interrupting and inhibiting the team’s thinking within the framework of the rules also undermines its own authority. Genuine leadership can only be demonstrated and proven by the fact that the members of the organisation want to follow the leadership of their own free will. This is the basis for all members of the organisation to become of one mind. They want to connect with each other, they think and act without having to discuss every sentence, they communicate intuitively. They and the individual can develop freely. Voluntary following is the highest and noblest form of leadership. It is the highest form because power and authority go hand in hand.
To put it in a nutshell again, dwelling on neurotic disorders makes it clear above all that it is an instrument of power. It is part of power.
If I work as a leader in a team and have something to say everywhere, then I hinder the free development and creativity of the team members. As a consequence, they filter themselves in other directions. This drives the team members outwards, away from the centre.
Framework conditions, visions and tangible goals give an organism a creative dynamic. Within these, people can develop freely. It is interesting to note that this kind of free development actually shows the most diverse approaches to various topics.
The diversity of people is therefore an inexhaustible treasure trove of diversity and diverse creative possibilities in a team.
Voluntary following is the highest form of leadership, which also involves authority. A person who follows another person does so of their own free will. Just as social media platforms offer in most cases.
If leadership suppresses the fact that team members can learn something, want to learn something, then you know that’s not leadership. Because these people are already in a position where they could not assert themselves as leaders.
The key point, however, is that if people can develop freely, then their talents can be recognised and constructively encouraged.
By analogy with the human muscular system, there are players, opponents and team-mates. A leader, and this would be almost self-explanatory in the analogy, is the person who coordinates their movement themselves with their willpower, learnt and thus unconsciously today.
By analogy with this development, we also lead. This leading happens more intuitively and is in a developmental stage. Because it has a lot to do with order. We have to identify groups of people as agonists, antagonists and synergists. In this way, we are able to organise them like our own muscles.
I grew up independently. My parents had opened a shop for the time they were bringing up their children, which my mother was supposed to run in order to be able to organise and manage the children’s upbringing in this way. My father was at work during the day and often spent long periods travelling around the country and abroad. So we grew up with independence and self-organisation from an early age. Even though we had security through our father’s job, a secure income, we were still confronted with the question of existence. You also build up a standard of living that you want to maintain. We had everything, we wanted for nothing. I would say that we grew up wealthy. But we also paid a price. Work was omnipresent, a sense of duty and necessity was closely linked to it. However, as my father later started his own business, the whole thing was intensified.
When I started my initial training, I was given the opportunity to be elected to the Youth Works Council after a relatively short time. This was a really rich experience for me in a global company.
The dichotomy between entrepreneurial thinking and the need for a works council ultimately led me to clarify these positions. To this day, many companies are reluctant to allow this to develop. But I have to say that whenever a system of organisation is given a name, you can grasp it. There is an order. For this reason, I myself see the really essential and important aspect for companies, for management, that you can use it to organise and manage a company to a higher quality. From a management perspective, the works council is the counterpart and is organised accordingly. It represents the interests of the employees. It is the antagonist in this trio. And so every position in the company has a tangible organisational relationship. While unorganised people in a company can only bring diffuse thinking into loyalty with difficulty.
As children, we learnt to walk and thus the mental coordination of our muscles. When I want to play the ball with my foot, my playing leg is supported by the opposite muscle, which forms the counterweight, the counter-coordination. The muscles that connect these two, the player (agonist) and the opponent (antagonist), are connected by other surrounding muscles that are described as synergists. They also support, play around and coordinate the movement action.
It was the philosopher Thomas Hobbes who once described in his work Leviathan that the mass of people will form a great mind. Thomas Hobbes is not the only one. Quite the opposite. On the road to economics, there were others who got to the heart of this issue much more specifically, as mentioned at the beginning.
Joachim Bauer, neuroscientist and doctor, made it clear in his book ‘How we become what we are’, and this simply fits in with our current times, that people are and become what they were as children growing up. On the one hand, there is the subconscious, the history of humanity that has accumulated in a compressed form in a person to this day. On the other hand, there is our own development since birth.
We learn to see when our colour receptors have developed. We learn to walk when our voluntary nervous system has developed. In short, we become human. This is how we guide our organism and we need guidance or want to be guided until we have developed our own maturity. We want to know how and where to orientate ourselves in life. For this purpose, religion, among other things, is embedded in us, far deeper in our thoughts and actions than one could possibly grasp.
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