ABSTRACT
The Bosch Group is a leading global manufacturer of automotive and industrial technology, consumer goods, and building technology (see also https:// www. bosch.com). In fiscal year 2009, some 275,000 employees generated sales of €38.2 billion. Set up in Stuttgart, Germany in 1886 by Robert Bosch (1861-1942) as a “Workshop of Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering”, the Bosch Group today comprises a manufacturing, sales, and after-sales service network of some 300 subsidiaries and regional companies in more than sixty countries. Through its sales and service partners, Bosch extends its worldwide presence to about 150 countries. With more than a €3.5 billion annual budget for research and development and around 3,800 patents applied for worldwide each year, Bosch places an emphasis on the global orientation of the Group that dates back to the nineteenth century. Today, 62 percent of the sales are achieved in Europe, 18 percent in America, and 20 percent in Asia Pacific, including other countries.
