Germany, Leadership, Latitude - understand-culture

News on the State of the Business

Section 666 of the German Civil Code sets the information duty of a person who carries out a task for someone else. Der Beauftragte ist verpflichtet, dem Auftraggeber die erforderlichen Nachrichten zu geben, auf Verlangen über den Stand des Geschäfts Auskunft zu erteilen und nach der Ausführung des Auftrags Rechenschaft abzulegen. The agent must give the principal the necessary news. On request, he must report on the state of the business. After the task is done, he must give an account.

Section 665 lets the agent depart from the principal’s instructions if he may assume that the principal bei Kenntnis der Sachlage die Abweichung billigen würde, would approve the change if he knew the facts. Before he departs, he must notify the principal and wait for his decision, unless the delay brings danger. Section 675 applies both rules to paid service and work contracts that involve handling another person’s affairs.

The Captain’s Judgment

On a German merchant ship, the law gives one person the last word. The Maritime Labor Act, das Seearbeitsgesetz, states: Der Kapitän ist der Vorgesetzte aller Besatzungsmitglieder. The captain is the superior of all crew members. He holds the highest power to give orders to the crew and to everyone else on board. The same section protects his judgment against the company that owns the ship. Er darf vom Reeder nicht daran gehindert werden, alle Entscheidungen zu treffen, die nach dem fachlichen Ermessen des Kapitäns für die Sicherheit des Schiffes […] erforderlich sind. The shipowner may not stop him from making any decision that the safety of the ship, its voyage or the people on board requires in his professional judgment. If he cannot use his powers himself, he may hand them to the chief mate or the chief engineer, each within his own department. Every use of these powers must be reported to the captain within 24 hours. The captain must enter the transfer, and any use of force or arrest, in the ship’s log without delay.

The Vocabulary of Meaning and Purpose

im Sinne des Erfinders
In the sense of the inventor. As intended. Usually in the negative: Das ist nicht im Sinne des Erfinders, that is not what was intended.

sinngemäß
According to the sense. A rule applied sinngemäß is applied to a new case in the way its meaning requires.

nach Sinn und Zweck
According to meaning and purpose. It is the standard question of German law when a rule must be interpreted.

Befehl ist Befehl.
An order is an order. Today it is used only critically or with irony, as the excuse of a person who did not think.

eigenmächtig
On one’s own authority, without permission. It is a word of reproach, and it marks where room to act ends.

Safety Before Economy

The Association of German Engineers, the VDI, publishes ethical principles for the profession. In the 2021 edition, engineers act responsibly with regard to the possible consequences of their work. They follow a ranking. The public good comes before private interests. Sufficient safety comes before economy and mere function.

If a moral conflict at work cannot be resolved within the job, engineers should seek support from institutions. Then the principles name a last resort. Notfalls ist als letzter Ausweg die Herstellung von Öffentlichkeit oder sogar die Verweigerung weiterer Mitarbeit in Betracht zu ziehen. If necessary, as a last resort, an engineer should consider going public, or even refusing to continue the work.

The GTI Nobody Ordered

In March 1973, a Volkswagen test engineer wrote an internal memo proposing a sporty version of the new Golf. Development chief Ernst Fiala turned it down. Volkswagen’s own history quotes him: “It’s far too expensive, you’re all mad.” A small group of engineers went on anyway. Officially, their prototype was a test platform for the chassis.

In May 1975, the team showed the car to VW’s chief executive Toni Schmücker, who approved it. The Golf GTI was shown at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 1975 and went on sale in 1976. According to Volkswagen, dealers sold ten times the planned number in the first year.

The Crossing at Bornholmer Straße

On the evening of 9 November 1989, thousands of East Berliners crowded the border crossing at Bornholmer Straße. The officer in charge that night was Harald Jäger, a lieutenant colonel of the Stasi, the state security service. His calls for help through official channels had no effect. His superiors did not believe him.

In the end, Jäger had the barrier raised. Journalists later told him it was 23:20. He reported to the operations center: Passkontrollen eingestellt. Die GÜST war nicht mehr zu halten. Passport checks stopped. The crossing could no longer be held. In 2014, the public broadcaster ARD told the story in the television film Bornholmer Straße.

“I’ll Play Now”

On 23 June 1973, Borussia Mönchengladbach played 1. FC Köln in the final of the German Cup. Coach Hennes Weisweiler had left Günter Netzer on the bench. The score was 1 to 1 after ninety minutes. Before extra time, by Netzer’s own account, he told Weisweiler: Ich spiele dann jetzt. I’ll play now.

He came on. In the 93rd minute, his first touch was a pass to his teammate Bonhof. Bonhof played the ball back, and Netzer scored the winning goal, 2 to 1.

Afterwards, Netzer told the press that Weisweiler had agreed. Fifty years later, the sports broadcaster Sport1 called this a charming fib. Weisweiler let it look as if the coach were still the boss, but inside he was boiling.

Useful Illegality

In 1964, the sociologist Niklas Luhmann published his book Funktionen und Folgen formaler Organisation, functions and consequences of formal organization. One of its chapters is titled Brauchbare Illegalität, useful illegality. The term describes rule-breaking that helps an organization to work. Organizational sociologists still use it as the technical term for such rule-breaking.

In 2015, the sociologist Stefan Kühl applied the term to the emissions scandal in his paper Volkswagen ist überall, Volkswagen is everywhere. He wrote that generous readings of the law and small departures from rules are functional for an organization, and are therefore tolerated. In his view, Volkswagen’s leadership did not fail because of these everyday departures. It failed because it managed its useful illegalities unprofessionally.

Unreasonable Instructions Need Not Be Followed

German labor law lets the employer direct the work, but only within billiges Ermessen, fair discretion. Since a ruling in 2012, the Federal Labor Court had held that an employee must follow even an unfair instruction until a court has ruled on it.

On 14 June 2017, the court’s Tenth Senate said it would decide otherwise. An employee need not follow an unfair instruction, not even for the time being. In September 2017, the Fifth Senate gave up its earlier view.

The case was about an employee whom his employer had transferred from Dortmund to Berlin. Since 2017, employees may refuse an instruction they consider unfair. They carry a risk. If a court later finds the instruction fair, they lose their pay for the time they refused to work. Even a dismissal without notice may be upheld.

Corridors for Action and Decision

The German Medical Association distinguishes two kinds of medical rules. Richtlinien rest on a legal basis. Leitlinien, clinical guidelines, do not. The association defines them in one sentence. Leitlinien sind als Handlungs- und Entscheidungskorridore zu verstehen, von denen in begründeten Fällen abgewichen werden kann oder sogar muss. Guidelines are to be understood as corridors for action and decision, from which a doctor may, or even must, depart in justified cases.