German Efficiency

[Marvin the Martian]

So it appears German efficiency strikes again. The NPR story below is about German bureaucracy. Germany is still a very heavy user of fax machines, almost nothing is online. They mention a postal box that has a sign "deposit online forms here".

One issue is the legal system, the need for signature. But it is also suggested that they are very risk-averse, any mention of how to modernize results in, "but this could happen" and so nothing gets modernized.

They quote a stat that about 68% of companies do not want to do business in Germany because of red tape.

Of course, for the companies still selling fax machines, business is booming.

 

[Mas-sa-suta]

Read Eugyppius: The Plague Chronicles for German social commentary and some fine prose

 

[JamieDimonsBalls]

So it appears German efficiency strikes again. The NPR story below is about German bureaucracy. Germany is still a very heavy user of fax machines, almost nothing is online. They mention a postal box that has a sign "deposit online forms here".

One issue is the legal system, the need for signature. But it is also suggested that they are very risk-averse, any mention of how to modernize results in, "but this could happen" and so nothing gets modernized.

They quote a stat that about 68% of companies do not want to do business in Germany because of red tape.

Of course, for the companies still selling fax machines, business is booming.

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It's an interesting concept, but to be honest, NPR simply ripped off this better IMF piece. I always enjoy hearing that it isn't just our government with many internal problems and red tape.

Germany still has some world-class capabilities and industry-leading or forward technology integrated into the products it uses and the designs it perfects. How it isn't able to transition the back office side is perplexing, but indicative of where the top talent in Germany focuses.

 

[Krafty97grad]

It's an interesting concept, but to be honest, NPR simply ripped off this better IMF piece. I always enjoy hearing that it isn't just our government with many internal problems and red tape.

Germany still has some world-class capabilities and industry-leading or forward technology integrated into the products it uses and the designs it perfects. How it isn't able to transition the back office side is perplexing, but indicative of where the top talent in Germany focuses.

GDPR regulation / adherence and associated German Works Councils are likely significantly contributing to the inertia. For global us-based companies with German locations, it takes about as much effort to navigate Germany’s regulatory environment as the rest of the world combined.

 

[larsIU]

How it isn't able to transition the back office side is perplexing,

The company I work for dabbles in BPO offerings. The amount of times I see household names with really horrible back office processes and shit being done on spreadsheets literally (not figuratively) shocks me.

It isn't just governments is what i'm trying to say. On the corporate side, it's b/c there's no revenue in it. It's just a expense to make it better (and difficult to show ROI). Probably why the government doesn't fix it either.

 

[UncleMark]

GDPR regulation / adherence and associated German Works Councils are likely significantly contributing to the inertia. For global us-based companies with German locations, it takes about as much effort to navigate Germany’s regulatory environment as the rest of the world combined.

Buddy of mine (now retired) was once the VP of Compliance for Cook. His job was to shepherd Cook products through all the regulatory approval requirements, worldwide. He hated dealing with Germany and Japan.