The Americanisation that never was? 1950s German management training and the Baden-Badener Unternehmergespräche, 1954-64

This article will investigate why German business leaders during the 1950s resisted the American lead for advanced management training but instead developed theirvery own model, the Baden-Badener Unternehmergespräche (BBUG). The article explains the origins, set-up and methods of the BBUG; it also analyses the background of the talks' participants during its first decade of existence. In so doing, it provides another viewpoint to the debate on the ‘Americanisation’ of German management in the post-war years.