Bosch. History of a Global Enterprise

Bosch, a company with a rich history, embodies key modern trends like transport motorization and household electrification, and was a pioneer of globalization. Its founder, Robert Bosch, was renowned for his liberal views and social principles in management. This comprehensive history, authored by Johannes Bähr and Paul Erker, is the first by independent historians, utilizing unrestricted access to company archives. The narrative begins with Bosch's founding principles and the early days of the company as a small workshop in Stuttgart, detailing its rise to become the world’s leading automotive supplier and the development of a corporate culture focused on social responsibility. The authors also profile significant subsidiaries and trace the evolution of the diverse business activities that define today’s technology and services provider. Key focal points include the company’s actions during the Third Reich and the evolution of its corporate constitution. Spanning over a century, this account highlights Bosch as one of the first global enterprises, showcasing a history marked by remarkable innovations and successes, alongside crises that repeatedly tested the founder’s principles.