The
German Mittelstand refers to small and medium sized enterprises (
SMEs) in
Germany, which form the backbone of the country’s economy. Numbering over one million companies, the
Mittelstand employs over 20 million people, is responsible for almost 40 percent of total
German gross investments and accounts for 30 percent of the exports (Hauser 2000). These enterprises are often highly innovative and entrepreneurial, and are frequently very competitive international market leaders. The primary focus of these
German SMEs is usually on highly customized and specialized products and services, resulting in information systems becoming a key competitive weapon (Taylor, 1999; Voigt, 2001). The companies can rely on a highly skilled and flexible work force, which is supplied by
Germany’s exceptional vocational training system. This leads to a very loyal and stable workforce, with a turnover rate of only about 3 percent. Overall,
German SMEs provide a unique setting to study the design and complexity of enterprise systems. The
Mittelstand companies in our sample ranged in size between 593 and 1,200 employees, with annual revenues between 64 and 378 million Euros.
Learn more in:
Enterprise System in the German Manufacturing Mittelstand