Society for corporate history
| Society for Company History e. V. (GUG) |
|
|---|---|
|
|
| legal form | Registered association |
| founding | 1976 |
| Seat | Frankfurt am Main |
| main emphasis | Society for company history |
| Chair | Sabine Falke-Ibach |
| Managing directors | Andrea H. Schneider-Braunberger |
| Members | approx. 400 (117 corporate and 298 private members, as of August 2019) |
| Website | www.unternehmensgeschichte.de |
The Society for Company History e. V. ( GUG ) is a scientific institution for the promotion of corporate history research based in Frankfurt am Main . In order to promote scientific exchange in Germany and around the world, it organizes international conferences, lecture events, symposia and working groups and publishes the scientific journal Zeitschrift für Unternehmensgeschichte (ZUG) .
history
Beginnings and founding of the GUG
The company's history found its first scientific occupation at the end of the 19th century, whereby the focus was initially on the entrepreneur, not the company. Systematic preoccupation with the company as an organization took place in Germany after the First World War . During the Second World War , the focus was again on the German entrepreneur, and methodically, German corporate history fell back on its level in the interwar period .
In the USA , the company's history was linked to so-called business schools as early as the 1920s . Company history became a regular part of management training here, while the discipline in Germany initially had little impact even after 1945.
At the end of the 1960s, the discipline of economic and social history, and with it that of company history, experienced a strong boom. The focus of corporate history research shifted away from historiographical aspects towards central questions, e.g. B. deal with the socio-economic structural change. The “crises of their subject” acted as a catalyst for the discipline of corporate history: In the 1960s, industrial sectors that were dominant for a long time (including iron and steel) fell into crisis in a very short time. In the course of this, a number of industrial museums and archives were created. In addition, the role of entrepreneurs and companies was heavily criticized in the context of the student movement , which meant additional legitimation pressure.
On the part of the economy, an institution to promote research on corporate history was encouraged. From 1974 the Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft (IW) made an active contribution here, some representatives of the IW were significantly involved in the creation of the GUG and took on important offices after its foundation.
On June 10, 1976 the Gesellschaft für Unternehmensgeschichte e. V. founded in the House of German Industry in Cologne . Wilhelm Treue was elected first chairman of the board and Hans Pohl was elected first chairman of the scientific advisory board by the founding assembly. The founding members were August Thyssen-Hütte AG , Christian Adalbert Kupferberg AG , Daimler-Benz AG , Deilmann AG, Deutsche Bank AG , Kamax AG , Hamburg-Mannheimer Versicherung AG, Henkel AG , Hoesch Werke AG , Karstadt AG , Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz AG , Mannesmann AG , Robert Bosch GmbH , Siemens AG and Taylorix . Since it was founded, the GUG has organized public lectures and scientific symposia every year.
From the beginning, the GUG combined the interests of science and companies. In addition to networking within the research discipline, science was instrumental in maintaining the scientific journal Tradition. Magazine for company history and entrepreneur biography, which was threatened with employment. The GUG took over the magazine, which had been published since 1977 under the title Zeitschrift für Unternehmensgeschichte .
Development of the GUG
Although a large number of company history studies had been carried out in German-speaking countries since the end of the 1960s, the accusation that the discipline was - so plump - "lack of theory" persisted. This changed when in the 1980s, in addition to the classic company histories, on the occasion of anniversaries, a comprehensive study of the history of companies under National Socialism was added. The first study supervised by the GUG also falls into this trend: Between 1984 and 1993, the GUG started its first project on behalf of Daimler-Benz. For two years the time of the company under National Socialism was dealt with. This resulted in a further project on forced labor at Daimler-Benz from 1986, which was completed in 1993 with a publication. From 1986 the GUG started its work in the context of the creation of company archives. She received her first orders in this area from Adam Opel AG (1986–1989), R + V Versicherung (1986–1989) and Dr. August Oetker KG (1986–1987).
In 1997, the GUG hosted a high-profile symposium on companies under National Socialism in the former IG Farben building in Frankfurt am Main. The conference volume published for this purpose was published as Volume 1 of the series of publications on the journal for corporate history.
Challenged by the Critical Company History working group , the GUG professionalized itself, for example. B. by introducing a peer review process in your journal and establishing a jury for the corporate history award, which is independent of its own committees. In the course of these developments, the company's orders also changed, and a professional review of the company's own history became increasingly standard.
In the 1990s membership was established for private individuals; Working groups on banking history, transport history, media companies, the role of companies in National Socialism, insurance history, family businesses and marketing history as well as smaller workshops on individual topics were also established.
In 1994 the office moved from Cologne to Frankfurt am Main, and in 1998 the GUG headquarters moved to Frankfurt am Main. Since then, the GUG has taken on a large number of research assignments. Since the 2010s, the GUG has increasingly started building corporate archives.
In 2012, GUG e. V. is a subsidiary with the Gesellschaft für Unternehmensgeschichte mbH , through which the projects in the field of contract research are handled. The aim is to separate the economic activities of the association from the charitable commitment.
society
The association is directed by the board of directors, the scientific advisory board and the board of trustees. While the Scientific Advisory Board brings together representatives from the scientific discipline of the company's history and the Board of Trustees is made up of company members, both groups are represented on the Executive Board. Sabine Falke-Ibach has been CEO of GUG since March 2019.
The current business has been carried out by the office since 1996 under the direction of the managing director, Andrea H. Schneider-Braunberger . She is also the managing director of the Gesellschaft für Unternehmensgeschichte mbH, founded in 2012 .
The GUG is financed through membership fees and donations.
Fields of activity
Public lecture event
Since its foundation, the GUG has organized a public lecture event once a year with a partner company with participants from science, business, politics and the media.
Scientific symposium
With the annual scientific symposia, the GUG wants to offer space for the discussion of selected scientific topics, give historical research new impulses and identify possible research gaps.
Working groups
In order to promote scientific discourse, the GUG has been organizing topic-specific working groups since the 1990s, for example on the topics of banking and insurance history, family businesses and marketing history. Members are university professors, young scientists, archivists and entrepreneurs.
Company history symposium
Together with the Witten Institute for Family Businesses , the GUG organizes the Symposium on Company History .
Company histories and archives
The GUG oversees corporate history studies and accompanies clients, authors and editors from the conception to the manuscript ready for printing. In addition, GUG advises companies on setting up company archives.
Since 2012, these projects have been handled by the subsidiary Gesellschaft für Unternehmensgeschichte mbH in order to separate the economic activities of the association from the charitable commitment.
Company history journal
Since 1977 the GUG has published the magazine for corporate history (ZUG) , which is published twice a year by De Gruyter . The trade journal is an important German-language trade journal in the field of company history. The contributions go through an anonymous review process and are published in German or English.
Company history award
The GUG awards the prize for company history every year. This prize is awarded to an outstanding monograph , dissertation or habilitation thesis on the company's history. It will be published in the ZUG series of publications. In addition, independent critical company histories, conference proceedings and letter editions are published in the series.
Corporate museums online
Together with the corporate museums network, the GUG operates the corporate museums online portal (UMO). This is an online directory of corporate museums in German-speaking countries. It provides information on contact details, opening times and current exhibitions and events at the museums.
Economic archive portal
In addition, the GUG operates the Wirtschaftsarchivportal (WAP) in cooperation with the Association of German Business Archives, an online directory of over 100 business archives in German-speaking countries.
School project "SchuleUnternehmen"
In cooperation with schools in the Rhine-Main area and partners from the business world, the GUG has initiated an offer for classes in upper secondary schools. The project aims to open up a new approach to the subject of business for schoolchildren, with the focus on conveying historical facts from business and business history. Topics are globalization, business start-ups, company organization or the characteristics of crises.
Library
The GUG maintains a library with company and economic history publications. Titles can be borrowed after prior registration.
Workshop History Communication X
The GUG has been organizing workshops twice a year for representatives from various companies since 2013 in order to exchange ideas on fundamental issues relating to the subject of "historical communication".
International networking
The GUG is represented in the European Business History Association (EBHA) and is a member of the International Economic History Association (IEHA). By hosting various international conferences - including the EBHA annual meeting in 2004, the annual meeting of the Business History Conference (BHC) in 2014, the first World Conference for Business History, also in 2014, and a joint conference with the British Association for Business History (ABH) 2016 - the GUG contributes to the worldwide networking of representatives of the company's history.
Web links
literature
- Hartmut Berghoff, Modern Company History. Paderborn et al .: Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh, 2004, 360f.
- Harm G. Schröter, The institutionalization of corporate history in the German-speaking area, in: Journal for Corporate History, Issue 1/2000, pp. 30–49, ed. from the Society for Company History eV
- Sandra Hartig, From «Tradition» to Innovation. The foundation of the company for corporate history, in: Journal for corporate history, issue 2/2001, pp. 221–236, ed. from the Society for Company History eV
- Werner Plumpe: Company history in the 19th and 20th centuries. Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter Oldenbourg 2018.
- Andrea H. Schneider, German corporate history and the development of its institutions, in: Wilfried Feldenkirchen / Susanne Hilger / Kornelia Rennert (eds.), History - Company - Archives, Festschrift for Horst A. Wessel on his 65th birthday, Essen 2008, p 147-167.
Individual evidence
- ^ Werner Plumpe: Company history in the 19th and 20th centuries. De Gruyter Oldenbourg, Berlin / Boston 2018, p. 95 .
- ↑ Hartmut Berghoff: Modern company history . Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn et al. 2004, p. 360 f .
- ^ Werner Plumpe :: Company history in the 19th and 20th centuries. De Gruyter Oldenbourg, Berlin / Boston 2018, p. 99 .
- ↑ Barbara Hopmann, Mark Spoerer, Birgit Weitz, Beate Brüninghaus: Forced labor at Daimler-Benz . In: Journal for Company History / Supplements . Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart: 1994.
- ^ Lothar Gall / Manfred Pohl: Enterprises in National Socialism . In: Series of publications on the journal for corporate history . CH Beck, Munich 1998.
- ^ Witten Institute for Family Businesses. Retrieved September 18, 2019 .
- ↑ An overview of current and completed GUG archive projects can be found at :. Retrieved September 18, 2019 .