Corporatism is often seen as the way Swiss stakeholders in business and politics handle industrial challenges in a reasonable and flexible way. The following publication argues, however, that the emergence of corporatist structures in the Swiss watch industry has often encouraged rent-seeking and collusion at the expense of the creation of new markets through innovation. This legacy makes it currently difficult for the industry to effectively respond to new technological challenges and changing societal preferences in the global watch business. The report draws on archival sources, accessible since 2015, that were extensively discussed in the Swiss print media in early 2016. They provide increasing evidence of corporate governance failure in the 1983 merger of SSIH (Société suisse pour l’industrie horlogère) and ASUAG (Allgemeine Schweizerische Uhrenindustrie AG) that led to today’s Swatch Group. The merger, induced by the involved Swiss banks, was portrayed as a necessary step to save the two allegedly bankrupt watch companies. Yet, the archival sources show that ASUAG had already been successfully restructured and was ready to conquer global markets with its new product, the Swatch.
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机译:法团主义通常被视为瑞士商业和政治利益相关者以合理,灵活的方式应对工业挑战的方式。然而,以下出版物认为,瑞士制表业中社团主义组织的出现常常鼓励寻租和勾结,而以通过创新来创造新市场为代价。这些遗产使当前行业难以有效应对新技术挑战和全球钟表行业不断变化的社会偏好。该报告借鉴了2015年以来可获取的档案资源,并于2016年初在瑞士印刷媒体上进行了广泛讨论。它们为1983年SSIH(Sociétésuisse pour l'industriehorlogère)和ASUAG(促成了今天的Swatch集团的Allgemeine Schweizerisische Uhrenindustrie AG。由涉及的瑞士银行引发的合并被描绘为挽救两家据称已破产的手表公司的必要步骤。但是,档案资料显示ASUAG已经成功重组,并准备用其新产品Swatch征服全球市场。
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