(scurries off to find books on how the Germans nailed their Marshall plan money and the UK spaffed it away and started a spiral to where we are now...)
Having worked for a minor German chemical company in the '80s, I would say it was down to management. The German Mittelstand had parallel career development for those with technical qualifications, resulting in boards that had Engineers and (ex-) Process Chemists represented.
(scurries off to find books on how the Germans nailed their Marshall plan money and the UK spaffed it away and started a spiral to where we are now...)