The Reichskuratorium für Wirtschaftlichkeit: Fordism and Organized Capitalism in Germany, 1918–1945

Abstract

The Reichskuratorium (RKW) was founded in 1921 by Carl Friedrich von Siemens and his subalternate, Carl Köttgen. The organization strove to implement measures of industrial and organizational efficiency in Germany in the interwar era following the American models of Frederick W. Taylor and Henry Ford. This study uses the organization as a vehicle to evaluate varieties of organized capitalism in German business and industrial history since the late nineteenth century. Most recent research has identified forms of organized capitalism that include significant input from organized labor along with state and industry as the most “modern” forms. While these efforts stagnated and eventually failed in Germany's interwar Weimar Republic, they are still seen as the origin of a characteristic and successful postwar model of organized capitalism. Acknowledging that this view is accurate, this study draws attention to the alternate model of the RKW which strove to implement technical and organizational measures of industrial and economic efficiency using state funding but avoiding significant input from organized labor. This variation of German organized capitalism emerged from the more traditional, self-regulating patterns of the late nineteenth century. It persisted through the Weimar Republic, through World War II, and into the postwar era. Less fruitful for understanding the character of the RKW are models from the 1970s Cold War era which elaborated a strongly symbiotic version of organized capitalism between state and big business, which allegedly subordinated efforts of big business to state interests.

The emergence of uniform principles of cost accounting in Sweden 1900–36

“…State involvement in industrial matters, however, did increase as a result of the First World War and, subsequently, the 1930s depression. This is illustrated by state financial support for the formation of the IVA in 1919, an organization which, like the German RKW founded in 1921 (Shearer 1997), spread modern methods of production through consultants.…”

“…As a part of the VDI, AWF formed a committee to standardize cost accounting and, in 1920, the first draft of a plan for full costing was issued, standardizing the concepts of cost, elements of costs, cost centres and cost units (AWF 1921a(AWF , 1921b. The period after the First World War in Germany was otherwise characterized by an effort to standardize the different concepts of costs, on the basis of co-operation between universities, public authorities and practice (Dorn 1961) where the state appeared as a driving force (Peiser 1923 Accounting,Business & Financial History 331 In 1921, on the initiative of VDI and Carl Friedrich von Siemens, and financed by the German state, the Reichskuratorium für Wirtschaftlichkeit in Industrie und Handwerk (RKW) was formed to foster innovation and the efficiency movement (Shearer 1997). In the mid-1920s, the RKW formed a committee for economic administration (Ausschuss für wirtschaftliche Vervaltung, AWV).…”

Emergence, consolidation and dominance of meta-regimes: Exploring the historical evolution of mass production (1765–1972) from the Deep Transitions perspective

“…The relationship between mass and specialty production was characterized by important regional differences. In European countries with a strong craft tradition, mass production was claimed to be an American phenomenon that, because of smaller markets, lower incomes and diversified consumer preferences, could not be copied [ 65 ]. In USA, however, a shift from symbiosis to competition between mass and specialty production was taking place.…”

Implementing the Gantt chart in Europe and Britain: the contributions of Wallace Clark

“…The Germans took a nationalistic approach to scientific management by creating the Reichskuratorium für Wirtschaftlichkeit (RKW) in 1921 (Shearer, 1997). Through the efforts of steel manufacturer Carl Friedrich von Siemens and his colleague, Carl Köttgen, the state-funded RKW, was a clearinghouse for German academic or industry specialists to study and promote industrial economy and efficiency during the interwar years of the Weimar Republic.…”