Global Economic Elites and the New Spirit of Capitalism: Careers and Collective Mindsets of Economic Elites Compared

Is a new spirit of capitalism emerging as a result of neoliberal adjustments in the global economy? The internationalization of management and its comprehensive neoliberals imprint fall short of the assumptions represented by globalization theory. Empirical data on the life trajectories and action orientations of CEOs from leading industrial companies in nine countries across Europe, Asia, and Latin America indicate that local institutional frameworks, diverse regional challenges, and historically embedded cultural influences exert more significant influence than global trends. Different strategies and structures have been identified based on problem-centered interviews with top executives, and they are made accessible for the first time in English for comparative purposes.

​Prof. Dr. Markus Pohlmann is Professor of Organizational Sociology, specializing in organization and social structure, as well as organizational crime at Max-Weber-Institute of Heidelberg University.Dr. Friederike Elias has been a research associate at the Max Weber Institute for Sociology at the University of Heidelberg from 2014 - 2023. She conducted research and taught there in the fields of organizational and labor sociology, with a special focus on the topics of management and digitalization. Since summer 2023, she is administrative director of the Josefine and Eduard von Portheim Foundation Heidelberg.