Yeah, German precision... That's what it is. You know, some of us do IT project management as a hobby, or worse. Not, you know €100 million + projects -- I mean, at that level, there are too many idiots who don't understand the problems of integrating complex systems, and so idiots rush in where angels fear to tread.
That said, managing (swiss) Germans comes with its own joys. Eleventh months ago, I started work managing a Swiss-German prpject. The previous manager quit six months previous, and my apppintment was slowed by the fact that I was AAA (Asian, American, or African). Yes, it wasn't that hard to take a project that was nearly a year behind and catch up, but that 'efficiency' is half employees who stress out when they don't have reasonable work guidance, and half bureaucracy that remains small and efficient. Now I invite you to find someone in Germany who can claim that the paperwork is anything but soul-crushing, and I ask you, if such people are "efficient," why is the project behind schedule?
In other words, this looks to me like top-level mismanagement. There's damn good employees around the world, andcoding ain't microtechnic. If none of the dev teams can show something excellent, that's all you need to know.
Edit: Motto, wij zullen niet spreken van het Verschil tussen Duits en Nederlands, hoor!