However I suspect that "Quality of academic staff and differences in the curriculum (leadership vs management)" refers to the fact that the Germans selected instructors versus the US then and now assigning whoever was available without too much regard for capability (which is far from being the same thing as 'qualification') all too often...

General Philip Sheridan summed it up well in the 1870s when he noted with respect to the recent Prussian victory and a fascination in the US with them "We will make a mistake if we adopt the mechanics of the Prussian system rather than its intent." (or words to that effect; I let a friend borrow the book {LINK}). Sheridan also noted that whenever the Europeans had a war, the US army adopted the cap of the winning side -- a proclivity that still, quite unfortunately, holds true.

On the leadership versus management. An accurate slam. We in the US wrongly concentrate on the thing that can be 'measured' with metrics rather than on the far more important competency that can only be subjectively evaluated -- until a lot of people are killed unnecessarily. That produces a metric...