It seems like your message is incomplete. Could you please provide the full text or quote you would like me to translate?I have an example in front of me of a huge German corporation (you know about it) with a ton of suppliers and partners. So, almost at every level, everyone who can takes kickbacks in whatever way they can. This is insider information that the public is unaware of. And God forbid I tell some bourgeois or, even worse, his housewife wife, that German society is corrupt. No way! That only happens in the wild east of Berlin, and you can’t judge their honest citizens and their honest country by my examples from home. And as an argument— “we have freedom of speech, and such things would immediately become known to the public.” Yeah, right.The text for translation: ….».
As an outside observer, I would say that large German corporations are losing on all fronts in the competitive battle against Japanese, Korean, and now even Chinese companies. Of course. Over there, in the wild Far East, it’s either harakiri or 15 years of execution for bribery. We are witnessing the disgraceful decline of Siemens as a mobile phone manufacturer, being pushed out of the home appliance market by the Koreans. What’s left? Heavy machinery? Hmm.
The German corporation in question is probably the first association that comes to mind when you think of “German.” What saves it? A constant distancing from “mass market” products and a hint of exclusivity. However, when parts are purchased with kickbacks, the price for them is higher, and consequently, the car becomes more expensive. Market share is not increasing. The emergence of “elite” Japanese brands complicates the situation, and in the near future, we can expect what happened to Volvo.
The French, facing the same issues, are trying to play with quality to maintain the competitive advantages of their cars, but it’s not working. French cars are mainly purchased in France.
If we take a very rough look at the cost structure of production for any large enterprise, we will see that it includes the cost of renting premises (or “virtual” rent, such as the missed interest from a deposit equal to the cost of purchased premises), salaries, and working capital (materials, raw materials, tools, etc.).
Almost everything can be acquired with a kickback, from renting premises (if they aren’t owned) to files. The only thing that cannot be consumed with a kickback is people’s salaries. If we establish the final quality of a product and want to optimize its cost, it turns out that every dollar stolen from the company through a kickback must be compensated by a dollar from salaries.
We find ourselves in a situation where people’s salaries are low and do not match the market value for their level of expertise, yet there is an opportunity for kickbacks. Human greed knows no bounds, and the amounts of these kickbacks are increasing. This leads to: a) a decrease in the qualifications of employees, meaning that the salary the company can pay corresponds to an increasingly lower level of qualification. This, in turn, creates a necessity to accept kickbacks in order to survive on a meager salary. This is reminiscent of the French or Soviet (AvtoVAZ) model.
b) the worsening of the situation with kickbacks and the rising cost of production, which leads to an increase in the amount of kickbacks (10% of 1000 euros is more than 10% of 500 euros) — the German version.
Both options lack a stable state and are characterized by positive feedback. The more kickbacks are taken, the more kickbacks are taken. The company is heading towards disaster right before the shareholders’ eyes. Or, if it is a state-owned enterprise, it is clinging to the budget.
At the same time, it is believed that these suppliers offer kickbacks. Nothing could be further from the truth. Suppliers dream of operating transparently and providing honest discounts on their products or services, rather than paying kickbacks in “black cash.”