The Americanization of Academic Management Education in Germany

After a conceptualization of Americanization, an overview over the process of Americanization of the German system of higher education in management is provided. This process is characterized by four phases: (a) the almost complete absence of American influences on academic German management education before World War II, (b) the “re-education” of German managers after World War II based on American principles of the free market and management approaches with some assumed effects on academic management education, (c) the increasing acceptance of American approaches to management sciences within academia, starting in the 1950s, (d) the attempts to Americanize (via Europeanizing) the higher management education institutions.