Educating for Business in a Global Society - The Strategic relevance of Cooperative Education for Germany's Small and Medium Sized Enterprises

Germany has started to look for new ways of training its future business personnel. The innovative University of Cooperative Education (Berufsakademie or BA as it is called in German and now renamed as the 'Dual Hochschule Baden-Württemberg (DHBW)' in that state) educates student trainees as opposed to traditional business apprenticeships. This investigation attempts to discover whether this represents a change in the paradigm of business education in Germany and how this relates to the needs in particular of SME's (Mittelstand). It compares the BA/DHBW with other providers in the light of the country's dual education philosophy, investigating whether it is new or merely an extension or adaptation of previous strategies.
Making use of secondary data gleaned from the Internet and published material, primary quantitative data collected via a questionnaire distributed to companies and students as well as qualitative data collected via a focus group in 2003, it investigates the perceived value of the more traditional types of basic business education in Germany compared to the BA/DHBW as well as their expected contribution to change management and knowledge sharing.
In Germany, the BA/DHBW appears to enjoy a better image than even the traditional universities. The study tries to delve behind this thinking to discover the criteria managers use when selecting and training their business staff. Originating in the so-called, 'Stuttgart Model'1, initiated by a group of large concerns in Baden-Württemberg, the idea was taken up by the state and developed into the concept 'Berufsakademie'. This is a clear shift away from the original strategy of serving the needs of a small group of international concerns in specific areas. The newest development of the provision of a business discipline specifically engineered to the changing needs of the Mittelstand underlines how far this has developed.
Since this study was carried out, much has changed in this area and the Berufsakadamie in Baden-Württemberg has become the Dual Hochschule (Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW)) which offers Bachelor and Masters degrees.
These findings will still be generally applicable and renewed research would probably lead to reinforcement of the conclusions to be found here.
After concluding that 'Mittelstand' is a culture of its own which defies comparison with large concerns, it contends that these firms are faced with new challenges brought about by the effects of Europeanization and globalization. It investigates the question as to whether the Berufsakademie is seen to be a suitable education provider by its major stakeholders, the companies themselves, compared to students career expectations. It poses the question whether the BA is seen rather as a substitute for the training provided by the Berufsschulen and for filling the expectations required for general office work or whether it is able to compete with the more classical offerings of the Fachhochschule and Universities for filling the jobs in senior management.
It is the avowed intention of the report to provoke discussion about the role of this novel form of tertiary education, not only about the demands likely to be made upon it in the future within the boundaries of the Federal Republic of Germany, but also whether it is innovative enough to contain elements applicable beyond its borders.
The survey reveals that the BA enjoys an extremely high reputation but questions whether it is able to meet all business needs in its present form. The expectations of BA students are extremely high and they sometimes may be disappointed when they do not climb the ladder as fast as they hoped.
The survey amongst companies reveals, most surprisingly, that Mittelstand businesses believe that tuition of business subjects should also take place in English and that soft skills and character traits are perhaps more important when hiring trainees than school marks. The author makes strong recomme