“Can performing Beethoven symphonies together help employees team up on projects at work, too? Some companies—above all in Germany and Asia—seem to think so,” writes David McHugh in a Monday (12/18) Associated Press article. “A conspicuous number of big German corporate names—along with a handful in Japan and Korea—have their own company-linked symphony orchestra…. Some business experts … argue that a symphony orchestra is an excellent model for the creative teamwork companies need to compete. ‘There’s no activity in the world where you have to react so quickly to each other and work together so well as in an orchestra,’ says Johanna Weitkamp, conductor of the symphony orchestra at the enterprise software company SAP…. Other companies with employee orchestras include engineering firm Siemens … carmakers Daimler, BMW and Ford; auto components and electronics maker Robert Bosch GmbH; airline Lufthansa, and chemical firm BASF…. Most of the orchestras seemed to have started from … employee initiatives…. In the SAP orchestra, amateur musicians among SAP’s employees mix with professional musicians…. Company orchestras also can be found in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan…. Companies with orchestras in Korea include … LG and Hyundai Motor Group, and Sony, Hitachi and Toshiba in Japan.”
Posted December 19, 2017
Pictured: Johanna Weitkamp, conductor of the symphony orchestra at the enterprise software company SAP in Mannheim, Germany
