Helene Lieser · 1930
Helene Lieser’s 1930 review of Georg Obst’s Das Buch des Kaufmannes assesses the seventh edition’s two-volume organization. She endorses its authority while questioning the disciplinary hierarchy behind its enlarged treatment of business administration.
Die Namen des Herausgebers und der Mitarbeiter bürgen für die Qualität des umfangreichen und inhaltsreichen Werkes.
English translation: The names of the editor and contributors vouch for the quality of this extensive and substantial work.
Her central reservation concerns subordinating the first volume’s broad educational, legal, historical, and economic material to business administration, which occupies the second volume alongside commercial techniques.
Es will uns aber scheinen, daß der hochverdiente Herausgeber in der Einschätzung der Bedeutung der Betriebswirtschaftslehre etwas weit geht, wenn er den Inhalt des I. Bandes als Hilfswissenschaft der Betriebswirtschaftslehre auffaßt.
English translation: It seems to us, however, that the highly distinguished editor goes somewhat too far in assessing the importance of business administration when he regards the contents of Volume I as an auxiliary discipline of business administration.
The review thus distinguishes practical usefulness from disciplinary primacy. Its closing praise for the detailed subject index affirms the handbook’s reference value without withdrawing that conceptual objection.
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