By Robert G. Ogilvie
There is a great difference between the career path of an officer in a modern army and that of a senior manager or CEO in the world of business.
Today there are special institutions for higher military education in many countries. This system developed in the nineteenth century and prior to this there were actually no institutionalized forms of advanced military education. There were weapon instruction schools such as artillery schools, bridge and road building schools or fortress engineering schools, but no institutes for higher military education. The first systematically organized military educational institute was the Prussian 'Kriegs Akademie', an institution for advanced military learning which, during the period from 1815 to 1945, was regarded as the best of its kind and served as a model for many other countries.135
Today, a military commander can reach a top-position within the military after following long formal training and education in military academies and staff colleges (Sandhurst, West Point, US Army Industrial College and the like). After many years in the service and proven abilities (mostly in times of peace) he rises in rank step by step and then the opportunity might come to command larger field units like a regiment, a brigade, a division or even an Army Corps. It is often a slow bureaucratic promotional process. Senior executives in the world of business reach their elevated position in a number of ways. Firstly as an entrepreneur/founder of a successful company which during his lifetime grows into a large (family owned) corporation. For example, after 1945 and in one generation, large firms became established such as Moulinex (household appliances), Adidas and Puma sport shoes (originally Dassler), Kärcher (high pressure cleaning equipment), Bosal (car exhausts), Body Shop (cosmetics), Virgin (airlines) and Microsoft. In family owned firms it is usually the eldest son or daughter who succeeds the founder, however, this sometimes poses a problem. Another way, in which an employee can get a top-position in a firm, is by steady promotion whilst proving his ability in different functions. In that way larger corporations recruit and hone their future executives (IBM, Sony, Philips, Shell, Unilever, Toyota etcetera). Such a career path is comparable to that in a military organization. Another way to reach a top-position is by being spotted by a head hunter who acts as an intermediary between a candidate and the firm looking for a new manager, a top-executive, a member of the board or even a CEO.
The difference with the modern military is that in a business firm a thorough, formal education is not always necessary to achieve a top position. Another, more fundamental difference, is that most promotions to higher ranks in the military take place in peacetime, partly in a simulated situation, and only when war breaks out will it be proven if the candidate is indeed endowed with 'combat leadership'. Promotion in the business firm takes place in 'real time' i.e. during combat because a firm always operates in a competitive environment. Irrespective of the thorough training, selection procedures and promotion thresholds, the military 'establishment' has not always succeeded in finding creative, competent and stress durable commanders during a war.
