Between values orientation and economic logic: Bosch in the Third Reich

Johannes Bähr

Business History, 2020, vol. 62, issue 3, 438-450

Abstract: Bosch’s position among the German major corporations was special during the Third Reich. The company was not only the biggest German automotive supplier, but also a family enterprise with a conspicuous corporate culture that rested on the principles of its founder Robert Bosch. Robert Bosch’s principles were irreconcilable with the Nazi ideology. Bosch’s top management, therefore, found itself in an increasingly difficult balancing act between business interests and adherence to its values. In this article we ask what room for manoeuvre Bosch had under these conditions and how its top management acted. Apparently, the firm was able to retain considerable room for manoeuvre in internal matters, especially its personnel policy, and used it in the interest of its Jewish employees. At the same time, Bosch’s armament production expanded vigorously. Bosch was a key manufacturer in the German war economy. During the last war years, the enterprise betrayed its principles in the treatment of its slave labourers, when at the same time members of the top management actively supported the resistance against Hitler. The example of Bosch demonstrates that the business of the enterprise during the Third Reich followed the structure of the market, and not the principles of its management.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1080/00076791.2019.1691343

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