The Harzburger Modell was taught at the Akademie für Führungskräfte der Wirtschaft in Bad Harzburg, founded on March 26, 1956, by Reinhard Höhn. Its motto was Führung durch Delegation, leadership by delegation. Responsibility was delegated to the level of the hierarchy that held the authority to decide. Each employee’s area of tasks was in Stellenbeschreibungen fest umrissen, firmly outlined in a job description. By Höhn’s death in 2000, about 600,000 managers and junior managers had been trained at the academy. From around 1972, American management systems gained ground and the model lost importance. Critics said it favored an authoritarian and bureaucratic style. Höhn was a former SS-Oberführer, and his prominent role in the Third Reich also damaged the model once it became known.