Isn't part of Germany's success in manufacturing their conservatism when it comes to large changes in the way we do business? To take an example, there are stil

Isn't part of Germany's success in manufacturing their conservatism when it comes to large changes in the way we do business? To take an example, there are still companies that make pencils profitably in Germany (the two biggest, Faber-Castell and Staedtler, are local rivals that have been recently arguing in court over who is older [1]; both are at least 250 years old). Both companies are examples of Mittelstand, small-medium sized German manufacturing businesses that grow organically over decades instead of undergoing explosive growth (and explosive failure). This is in part probably due to managers not fearing missing out on The Next Big Thing and trusting in their capital, intellectual property and people. Maybe they think the same about digital innovation right now - let's wait and see where it goes, and when the time comes, throw everything we have at it. [1] http://www.bbc.com/news/business-13019777 http://www.bbc.com/news/business-13019777