He was an influential member of the Supervisory Board of Mannesmann

Times are changing. Four years ago, the impatient Ulrich Schumacher déboulait by Porsche in the colours of Infineon proposal square and celebrated with big media came into Fellowship of her baby, the subsidiary of Siemens Semiconductor. Then endorsed thirty-three times, the title still symbolizes the German stock market euphoria during the new economy.

Four years later, the flamboyant boss comes to be a "Palace revolution"; the Infineon action has lost 80 of its value; German investors have finally turned his back on technological values. The first two attempts of IPO of the year X - Fab and Siltronic, two semiconductor manufacturers have been cancelled or postponed.

But the lessons of the dramatic and unexpected resignation officially justified for "personal" reasons are to look elsewhere. They relate both to the evolution of the sensitive issues of "corporate governance" and their growing importance in the debate political and social in Germany, where the Schumacher managers are increasingly shown finger.

Indeed, one who was the youngest skipper of a group of DAX (main German stock market index) is an extreme case, view Willi Bender, representative of the German association of small shareholders (SdK): by cutting and authoritarian personality, its provocations and its polemics, he managed to make enemies everywhere, first with the IG Metall Union, and its shareholders, and finally to its Board of Directors.

This unlikely triad shows how the consensus still plays a key role in the conduct of a German company. As shown in the resistance of a Heinrich von Pierer in Siemens, the key of success for a manager is here to impose sometimes tough decisions, but with the support of these three actors whose interests are often conflicting.

Co-management means in effect that an "Aktiengesellschaft" (AG or anonymous society) Supervisory Board is made up to parity with the representatives of the capital and the employees. On the other hand, the President of the Executive Board is regarded as primus inter pares, i.e. a clash between it and the other members of the Executive Board leads right to quit, as indicated in the "Börsen-Zeitung".

That seems to have happened. Dieter Scheitor, Member of the Infineon Supervisory Board, representing the IG Metall, explains that the other members of the Executive Board, Andreas von Zitzewitz and Peter Fischl, fed serious criticism on the style of management of Ulrich Schumacher. According to him, they were informed in the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Max Dietrich Kley (Meanwhile appointed Chairman of the Board acting), which then convened an extraordinary meeting of the body, last Thursday.

While critics multiply to supervisory boards too benevolent, where Infineon has what reassure skeptics. "Once is not custom, a Chairman of the Supervisory Board is shown to be independent of the President of the Executive Board, said Willi Bender." In Germany, was used to say that a good pattern must be the President of the Board of control in his pocket.

Sign of these incestuous relationships, the monthly "Manager Magazin" has made its one on "the men to go", drawing up a stripper table of persistent links between patterns of "Deutschland AG" who sit on the supervisory boards with each other. It is strong to their incompetence in control, their thirst for power or conflict of interest...

A glance at trial Mannesmann, where the President of the Executive Board of Deutsche Bank, Josef Ackermann, is currently accused of abuse of confidence worsened for granted bonuses judged too generous to the former boss of the conglomerate, Klaus Esser, his hostile by Vodafone acquisition, in 2000. He was an influential member of the Supervisory Board of Mannesmann.

Ironically, Ulrich Schumacher embodies also this generation of "epicure" patterns, whose exorbitant fees are more controversial. At its last General Assembly, he suffered a lift of shields of shareholders for its particularly generous options program, while his Group collects annual losses and the job losses.

For Theodor Baums, Professor of law at the University of Frankfurt and expert in corporate governance, this form of Americanization of the business is a very dangerous development: "It is not an expression of openness to the world or the culture of performance, but a sign of greed and lack of control" on the part of the Supervisory Board.

However, the dismissal of Ulrich Schumacher also likely to scuttle the validity of its provocations, but useful in the debate, according to Theodor Baums. The pattern of Infineon and illustrated by his threats of relocation of the headquarters of the group to the Switzerland to escape the German tax conditions. Controversial project was definitively buried by the Financial Director, Friday.

With his idea of "identify" the 5 of elements the less successful of the group, the project of relocation of Ulrich Schumacher widely contributed to his conflict with the IG Metall. "Will certainly not make tears on his case", now recognized the trade unionist Dieter Scheitor, who expects better cooperation with the future pattern, that is to appoint.

Rare are those who are going to say that the departure of Ulrich Schumacher is a victory for unions or co-management, as its immediate reasons remain obscure. But one thing is certain, as the dismissal of the controversial of Deutsche Telekom, Ron Sommer, boss in the summer 2002, it corresponds to the spirit of the times and goes in the direction of... Gerhard Schröder.

While his Social Democratic Party (SPD) is at an all-time low in opinion polls, German Chancellor more distance as well as its image of "comrade of bosses". These days, he has sharply criticized wages high business leaders who are "not in accordance with morality and decency..." and "unpatriotic" bosses who relocate