Germany summit: Bayer boss – Germans have developed a “consumer mentality”.

Tim Seckel

Anderson: At Bayer there were 1,300 pages of rules

The Bayer boss reports on his mission to transform the chemical and pharmaceutical company and, above all, to abolish bureaucracy. When he took over the leadership in 2023, there were 1,300 pages of rules for him. Instead of rigid bureaucracy, he prefers “ownership” and shared values, says Anderson.

Tim Seckel

Bayer boss: Germans have developed a “consumer mentality”.

The Bayer CEO attests that the Germans have adopted a “consumer mentality”. A country is not like a restaurant where you can expect good service for money. The citizens themselves are also responsible for the success of a country. You can't rely on the government to sort everything out.

Marc-Steffen Unger / Handelsblatt

Tim Seckel

Anderson reports on the first months in Germany

The current Bayer boss Bill Anderson was in Germany for the first time in the 1980s, when he was still a student. In an interview with Handelsblatt deputy editor-in-chief Kirsten Ludowig, he remembers his first impressions: closed shops on Sundays and no air conditioning, not even in cars - unusual for a Texan, says Anderson.

What he observed then and now in Germany was a strong “seriousness” in relation to many things, such as culture and politics. For example, the important book fairs in Frankfurt and Leipzig are a very German phenomenon.