Multiple Information Systems Coping with a Growing and Changing Business: Robert Bosch Corporation

Abstract

Bosch is a name known throughout the world for many of its products. These include, for example, electrical and electronic automotive equipment, private and public communications technology, power tools, household appliances, and thermotechnology, as well as automation technology and packaging machines (Figure 1). The small ?workshop for precision mechanics and electrical engineering? which Robert Bosch founded in Stuttgart in 1886, and which soon began to specialize in ignition systems for motor vehicles and engines of all kinds, had become the Robert Bosch GmbH (Robert Bosch Limited Corporation). This company operates worldwide and is one of the largest companies in the Federal Republic of Germany in terms of turnover, which amounted to DM 50.3 billion in 1998. Appendix 2 gives an overview of some key business figures for the ten year period through 1998.