Boldly Cautious

Jack Ewing

Chapter 6 in Germany’s Economic Renaissance, 2014, pp 53-64 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract In the late 1990s, Martin Kannegiesser faced a decision that, had he chosen wrong, might have put him out of business. The company founded by his father, Herbert Kannegiesser, and named for him, specialized in machines that automatically ironed and folded laundry. It was a typical niche Mittelstand market, seemingly obscure but essential to the industry that it served, in this case textile manufacturers. But this lucrative market was changing radically. The textile industry was moving to Asia where labor was cheap. Martin Kannegiesser had to decide whether to follow his customers there, which would mean investing in a new factory in China, or to concentrate on its other main group of customers, commercial laundries? The laundries, for their part, were demanding more sophisticated machines that could automate the whole cycle, from washing and drying through folding. Either strategy required massive investment, and Kannegiesser could not afford both.

Keywords: Trade Fair; Family Business; Commercial Laundry; Lucrative Market; Sophisticated Machine (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-137-34054-2_6

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DOI: 10.1057/9781137340542_6

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