We are still in the same city, but a few hundred meters away, close to the central station: the new administrative building of the Municipal Utilities Bochum (Stadtwerke Bochum) is built on concrete piles for the use of geothermal heat. For two years, they have been providing electricity all over Germany; soon they are going to provide gas throughout the country as well. Their influence has grown and so did their responsibility.

On the one hand, the liberalisation of the energy markets has strengthened the position of four large energy companies that own a large complex of nuclear and fossil power plants and network operators; on the other hand, however, it enabled small municipal utilities to gain more strength in the market. The most famous example can be found in the case of the ‘electricity rebels’ who founded the company EWS Schönau, situated in the Black Forest, which is one of the four major providers of green electricity nationwide.

The Municipal Utilities Bochum also offer green electricity: affordable electricity from Austrian hydroelectric power plants (one euro more per month), or higher-priced tariffs for the development of locally based renewable energy sources. At the same time, they are building their first offshore wind farm in cooperation with a number of other municipal utilities; Trianel, a European-wide operating company, directs the project. Nevertheless, Trianel is still building coal-fired and gas-fired power plants.

The municipal utilities are operating locally and under democratic control and the fact that they are growing puts pressure on the former monopolists. Their traditional locations are changing because urban population is declining or saving electricity, gas, and water; when working together, the municipal utilities gain a stronger position in the market in order to provide large capacities as well as a large network. The primary objective of the Municipal Utilities Bochum is to strengthen local energy sources as well as co-generation plants for combined heat and power electricity generation.

The decentralised supply through regionally situated small hydroelectric power plants, composting plants, coal mine methane plants, co-generation plants, and photovoltaic roof systems is growing faster than it is the case with large energy groups such as RWE and EnBW. According to Thomas Schönberg, the company's press officer, growth is not their corporate objective. Instead, they wish to satisfy as many customers as possible.

When the balance sheet total increases, there is also enough economic strength left to co-finance the local public transport system, or to accomplish the re-municipalisation of other electricity and water suppliers. Here as well, growth is in the interest of the municipality. According to Schönberg, the municipal utilities in Bochum is just one of many municipal utilities which follow the same principles.

Starting in Munich, we are crossing the big pond to learn about growth consulting for companies. We are visiting W. L. Gore and Associates, whose headquarters are in Newark, Delaware, which is located in the middle of the US East Coast and is the second smallest state in terms of surface area. Delaware owes its wealth to the DuPont family, founders of one of the biggest chemical groups in the world.

The chemist Wilbert Lee "Bill" Gore worked here for 16 years until he and his wife started their own business in 1958. He worked with Polytetrafluoroethylene, the famous PTFE, which is better known by the registered name Teflon by DuPont. He used this substance to develop Gore-Tex, the textile fibre membranes used for waterproof, air-permeable clothes.

As well-known as the insulating, weather-resistant fibre is, we know little about the anti-growth-culture of this multi-billion dollar company. This culture has led the company to achieve continuous growth in regard to its balance sheet total, number of employees, patents and products. However, this only occurs in units of about 150 employees.

This number, which is identical to the so-called Dunbar number, has proven itself to be key for a functional growth process at Gore. Bill Gore once said in an interview that in his experience, growth becomes difficult once they exceed this number. Therefore the company builds new factories and buildings, but all of them are autonomous units within the company.

One of the 'associates' explained that one aspect of the company’s growth principle is that every new factor^y comes with a parking lot that houses 150 cars. Once they see people parking on the lawn, they know that the time has come to build a new factor^y. At Gore, all employees are referred to as 'partners'. There are no official titles, regardless of salary, responsibilities or duration of employment.

There are no department managers, bosses or supervisors but rather sponsors and mentors, which the employees elect themselves based on who they think is best suited for those tasks. There are no organigrams, no budget or strategy plans and salaries are agreed upon in democratic fashion. The most appealing rooms in the buildings are either conference rooms or open-access areas, so that nobody can distinguish themselves based on the location of their office.

Gore & Associates is regularly among the top ten of the world‘s most popular employers. Gore & A., which started as a small company with few employees in the 1960s, has become a private association of enterprises with a turnover of USD 3 billion and 9500 employees ? pardon, associates, who work in autonomous units of 150 people in 30 countries and only have to adhere to the company‘s corporate culture.

This is a fascinating model for growth, which is based on the empirical Dunbar number. This number defines social groups of about 80 to 230 individual members as the most vital, innovative and resilient groups. There are two Gore factories in Germany: both are located near Munich and employ no more than 150 associates each.