"Made in Germany" is a wide and varied term. So far, we have covered sextants, roller pens, cars, the entrepreneurial spirit, and green building standards. I am happy about the following reflection of the identity of a national brand by Miko Matsumura, whose company was acquired by German Software AG. He has quite an original take on the long-term view woven into the term "Made in Germany."
I was made in the United States, my own DNA was "made in Japan". It's accidental that I can comment on "Made in Germany." My silicon valley startup company, INFRAVIO, was acquired by webMethods... which was again acquired by Darmstadt based Software AG, all within the span of a single year. Made in Germany reflects a powerful way of thinking about the passage of time. This time concept applies to both the process through which raw materials of any kind are transformed into products but also value of long-lasting relationships and experience.
Software AG just announced its 40 year anniversary on May 30th. Its founder Peter Schnell made software that is still in use by thousands of large organizations in 70 countries around the world. I recently travelled to Brasilia to visit Banco do Brasil, one of these long-term customers. This forms a baseline expectation of what "reliable" software is -- software that can last the duration of the working lifetime of a person...and beyond.
This feeling is made deeper by a conversation I had with Hans-Christoph Rohland, the operational lead of our R&D unit. He spoke about the architecture and evolveability of software--and how quality is defined by both the expectations and experiences of the user. This understanding carries with it the interconnectedness of the maker, the thing made and the user through a relationship that can stand the ravages of time.
I think of what Paul Saffo said about how "Made in Germany" affects makers as well as users. There is a powerful link between the makers and how things are made. I once asked Karl-Heinz Streibich, the CEO of Software AG about his ten-year plan to turn our company into a 1 billion Euro software giant... as an American, I was greatly puzzled by a CEO who could make statements about anything beyond next quarter, let alone ten years. He said that by having your own plan, you prevent any outsider from measuring your performance -- and you know where you are by your own map.
This map is supported by longer-term employment contracts and expectations, as well as the presence of the German Works Council (Betriebsrat / labor union) on the Supervisory Board. This kind of longevity builds experience, wisdom and long-lasting relationships into the social fabric of the company. Our Founder runs the Software AG Foundation, which is a large socially responsible foundation that owns 27% of the company and thereby extends those relationships into the broader world community.
All of these behaviors speak to a long view of creation that American companies just don't seem to be able to attain.
I'll be the first to admit that my view of the totality of "Made in Germany" is very limited. I know there are many German companies that may be very different. But I wanted to reflect on the most striking aspects of my limited journey to understand the quality and value of what's being made here.
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