Volker Lingnau / Florian Beham / Florian FuchsDas Phänomen „Betrieb“ revisited

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The German notion of a “Betrieb” constitutes the major research object of German business administration (“Betriebswirtschaftslehre” or “BWL”). As unambiguous and almost trivial as this statement may sound, the answers to the question of what actually distinguishes a “Betrieb” from a “Non-Betrieb” appear to be diffuse. If this question is addressed at all, it is typically based on definitions that date back to the middle of the last century and accordingly reflect the economic and social conditions of that time. As a result, large areas that have long been established as research objects in the German tradition of “BWL” are not included (e.g., public entities), more recent developments (e.g., public-private partnerships) are ignored, or institutions that are comparable in terms of administration are categorically differentiated, which is also not convincing from an epistemological point of view. Based on these limitations, the monograph by Lingnau, Beham, and Fuchs develops a new systematization of the German notion of “Betrieb” as well as a new concept of such entity as a socio-technical system, drawing on the insights of newer systems theory. The authors also discuss why not every socio-technical system can be meaningfully described as a “Betrieb” where they develop three major characteristics of such entities: First of all, a for third parties visibly pursued purpose, second, the sufficient professionalism of management, and third, the existence of a formal operator. In addition, the increasing importance of knowledge in the management process is emphasized before the considerations conclude with some thoughts on the limits of controlling such entities as complex, non-trivial systems. In this context, the central concept of ma-agement is examined in more detail. The considerations are completed with the conception of the enterprise as a specific value-added-focused entity. Finally, the monograph also covers aspects of business responsibility, for instance, with regard to corporate sustainability. In such vein, this book closes with the latest developments in European legislation on sustainability reporting, such as the EU taxonomy.

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