Juliet E. K. Walker
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199251902
- eISBN:
- 9780191719059
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199251902.003.0010
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
This chapter discusses the position of African Americans in management in American corporations since the Civil Rights era. Examining the careers of prominent black executives and the history of ...
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This chapter discusses the position of African Americans in management in American corporations since the Civil Rights era. Examining the careers of prominent black executives and the history of anti-discrimination suits filed against major firms, it is argued that African Americans have confronted a glass ceiling in their rise to top corporate leadership position that has changed little in the past thirty years despite a few prominent counterexamples. Meanwhile, black entrepreneurship has increased substantially, with notable success stories in the media and entertainment such as Oprah Winfrey. A broader survey of black capitalism, however, shows that black-owned firms remain smaller and less profitable than white- or other minority-owned businesses. The end of segregation, moreover, decimated some sectors of black enterprise that had served a racially divided marketplace. The chapter concludes on a note of cautious optimism, juxtaposing the important but limited number of high profile success stories with the overall lack of change in the position of black business.Less
This chapter discusses the position of African Americans in management in American corporations since the Civil Rights era. Examining the careers of prominent black executives and the history of anti-discrimination suits filed against major firms, it is argued that African Americans have confronted a glass ceiling in their rise to top corporate leadership position that has changed little in the past thirty years despite a few prominent counterexamples. Meanwhile, black entrepreneurship has increased substantially, with notable success stories in the media and entertainment such as Oprah Winfrey. A broader survey of black capitalism, however, shows that black-owned firms remain smaller and less profitable than white- or other minority-owned businesses. The end of segregation, moreover, decimated some sectors of black enterprise that had served a racially divided marketplace. The chapter concludes on a note of cautious optimism, juxtaposing the important but limited number of high profile success stories with the overall lack of change in the position of black business.
Volker R. Berghahn
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691161099
- eISBN:
- 9781400850297
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691161099.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter covers the years up to the official American entry into World War II on the side of Britain and the Soviet Union against Germany, Italy, and Japan. During the years 1933–41, strategies ...
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This chapter covers the years up to the official American entry into World War II on the side of Britain and the Soviet Union against Germany, Italy, and Japan. During the years 1933–41, strategies were developed by those six countries and then turned into actual policies that determined the shape of the relations of American big business with Britain and Germany during the subsequent wartime and postwar periods. And this decade was also decisive for the organization of both the world economy and world politics for the following fifty years until the collapse of the Soviet Bloc in 1989–90.Less
This chapter covers the years up to the official American entry into World War II on the side of Britain and the Soviet Union against Germany, Italy, and Japan. During the years 1933–41, strategies were developed by those six countries and then turned into actual policies that determined the shape of the relations of American big business with Britain and Germany during the subsequent wartime and postwar periods. And this decade was also decisive for the organization of both the world economy and world politics for the following fifty years until the collapse of the Soviet Bloc in 1989–90.
Volker R. Berghahn
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691161099
- eISBN:
- 9781400850297
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691161099.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter examines the third round in the German–American–British business relationship from 1941 to 1957. It begins with an account of Hitler's activities in Eastern Europe, before turning to the ...
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This chapter examines the third round in the German–American–British business relationship from 1941 to 1957. It begins with an account of Hitler's activities in Eastern Europe, before turning to the magazine article published by American businessman Henry Luce, entitled, “The American Century.” This article postulated that, if the twentieth century had not been an American one in its first half, the United States should at least make every effort to realize this idea in its second half, and shape a peace for the rest of the twentieth century that was based on American principles of sociopolitical and economic organization. From here, the chapter discusses the role of American big business in postwar and Cold War periods, the question of cartels, economic reconstruction, and others.Less
This chapter examines the third round in the German–American–British business relationship from 1941 to 1957. It begins with an account of Hitler's activities in Eastern Europe, before turning to the magazine article published by American businessman Henry Luce, entitled, “The American Century.” This article postulated that, if the twentieth century had not been an American one in its first half, the United States should at least make every effort to realize this idea in its second half, and shape a peace for the rest of the twentieth century that was based on American principles of sociopolitical and economic organization. From here, the chapter discusses the role of American big business in postwar and Cold War periods, the question of cartels, economic reconstruction, and others.
Ian I. Mitroff and Harold A. Linstone
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195102888
- eISBN:
- 9780199854943
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195102888.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Innovation
Global markets, Japanese competition, the service economy, the sophisticated consumer — American business today faces challenges undreamed of just a few decades ago, and traditional approaches to ...
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Global markets, Japanese competition, the service economy, the sophisticated consumer — American business today faces challenges undreamed of just a few decades ago, and traditional approaches to corporate problems are becoming increasingly less effective. And yet MBA programs still preach — and thousands of American firms hold sacred — an antiquated system of business thinking that is wholly inadequate to the problems they face. In this book, the authors pinpoint the profound changes that must occur in the way business executives think, make decisions, and solve problems, if America is to remain competitive. They put forth a radically new approach — “new thinking” — and show executives exactly how to employ these special critical and creative tools to clear the hurdles businesses now face. Varying perspectives, multiple realities, and openness to multiple solutions are the secrets of contemporary problem-solving, and lead us to the cutting edge of innovation. In illustrating how “new thinking” differs from the usual ways in which American firms have handled problems, they analyze a wealth of examples including the decline of the American auto industry and the consequences of this country's blind exporting of technology. They also revisit and interpret some of the gravest crises corporate America has faced: the Bhopal disaster, the Tylenol scare, and the accident at Three Mile Island. This book argues that if we are to produce products and services that can compete in the information age, we must challenge the very foundations of our thinking, and learn how to approach decision-making in a truly creative way.Less
Global markets, Japanese competition, the service economy, the sophisticated consumer — American business today faces challenges undreamed of just a few decades ago, and traditional approaches to corporate problems are becoming increasingly less effective. And yet MBA programs still preach — and thousands of American firms hold sacred — an antiquated system of business thinking that is wholly inadequate to the problems they face. In this book, the authors pinpoint the profound changes that must occur in the way business executives think, make decisions, and solve problems, if America is to remain competitive. They put forth a radically new approach — “new thinking” — and show executives exactly how to employ these special critical and creative tools to clear the hurdles businesses now face. Varying perspectives, multiple realities, and openness to multiple solutions are the secrets of contemporary problem-solving, and lead us to the cutting edge of innovation. In illustrating how “new thinking” differs from the usual ways in which American firms have handled problems, they analyze a wealth of examples including the decline of the American auto industry and the consequences of this country's blind exporting of technology. They also revisit and interpret some of the gravest crises corporate America has faced: the Bhopal disaster, the Tylenol scare, and the accident at Three Mile Island. This book argues that if we are to produce products and services that can compete in the information age, we must challenge the very foundations of our thinking, and learn how to approach decision-making in a truly creative way.
Volker R. Berghahn
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691161099
- eISBN:
- 9781400850297
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691161099.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter traces how American business relations with the two major industrial powers of Europe developed up to 1914. It shows how American economic ties with Britain had been weakening for ...
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This chapter traces how American business relations with the two major industrial powers of Europe developed up to 1914. It shows how American economic ties with Britain had been weakening for several years, but then saw a restrengthening as the political threat of a major war loomed larger and larger on the horizon. The Anglo-American relationship became close and in this sense “special” at the outbreak of hostilities between Britain and Germany in August 1914. Meanwhile German–American economic relations, which, despite many political difficulties, had been intensifying after the turn of the century, became antagonistic in the summer of 1914, even if it took until April 1917 for Washington formally to enter the world conflict on the Allied side against Berlin and Vienna.Less
This chapter traces how American business relations with the two major industrial powers of Europe developed up to 1914. It shows how American economic ties with Britain had been weakening for several years, but then saw a restrengthening as the political threat of a major war loomed larger and larger on the horizon. The Anglo-American relationship became close and in this sense “special” at the outbreak of hostilities between Britain and Germany in August 1914. Meanwhile German–American economic relations, which, despite many political difficulties, had been intensifying after the turn of the century, became antagonistic in the summer of 1914, even if it took until April 1917 for Washington formally to enter the world conflict on the Allied side against Berlin and Vienna.
Robert R. Locke
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198774068
- eISBN:
- 9780191695339
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198774068.003.0002
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History, International Business
The American management mystique emerged from and is identified with the management system that grew up inside American business and manufacturing during the past century. This management system ...
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The American management mystique emerged from and is identified with the management system that grew up inside American business and manufacturing during the past century. This management system appeared in three interrelated places: (1) the shop floor (in factories), (2) the corporation, and (3) the university. This chapter begins by examining all three. It then deals with the propagation of American management ethics, methods, and techniques since World War II. For propagators and propagandized alike, success was achieved less because of measurable or measured appreciations of American management's effect on praxis than because of the mystique engendered by an economically powerful, militarily victorious America. It was the historical situation not the management system that counted more.Less
The American management mystique emerged from and is identified with the management system that grew up inside American business and manufacturing during the past century. This management system appeared in three interrelated places: (1) the shop floor (in factories), (2) the corporation, and (3) the university. This chapter begins by examining all three. It then deals with the propagation of American management ethics, methods, and techniques since World War II. For propagators and propagandized alike, success was achieved less because of measurable or measured appreciations of American management's effect on praxis than because of the mystique engendered by an economically powerful, militarily victorious America. It was the historical situation not the management system that counted more.
Marie-Laure Djelic
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198293170
- eISBN:
- 9780191684968
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198293170.003.0008
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Political Economy, Corporate Governance and Accountability
This chapter discusses the process of embedding the American model of business and industrial production in Western Europe. The launch of the ...
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This chapter discusses the process of embedding the American model of business and industrial production in Western Europe. The launch of the Marshall plan in 1948 provided the U.S. an opportunity to extend its hold over the economic affairs of Western Europe. The Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA), the American agency in charge of foreign assistance, used a coercive or control mechanism to ensure the success of the embedding process. This type of mechanism was necessary to impose rapid changes in the face of strong national resistance, and to limit the extent of reinterpretation and adaptation of the original business model.Less
This chapter discusses the process of embedding the American model of business and industrial production in Western Europe. The launch of the Marshall plan in 1948 provided the U.S. an opportunity to extend its hold over the economic affairs of Western Europe. The Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA), the American agency in charge of foreign assistance, used a coercive or control mechanism to ensure the success of the embedding process. This type of mechanism was necessary to impose rapid changes in the face of strong national resistance, and to limit the extent of reinterpretation and adaptation of the original business model.
Benjamin C. Waterhouse
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691149165
- eISBN:
- 9781400848171
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691149165.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: early to 18th Century
This introductory chapter argues that the decline of liberal and progressive politics and the ascent of a business-oriented, neoliberal political culture did not emerge naturally from the exigencies ...
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This introductory chapter argues that the decline of liberal and progressive politics and the ascent of a business-oriented, neoliberal political culture did not emerge naturally from the exigencies of economic crisis or the inexorable logic of political traditions, but rather as the result of specific efforts by a diverse set of conservative activists. Although their organizational cohesion did not endure, organized American business leaders nonetheless established a vital legacy that continues to shape politics into the twenty-first century. Through their political mobilization, these workhorses of the industrial economy helped establish the political preconditions for the success of conservative politics, electorally and in policymaking. By successfully parlaying their economic clout into a broad-reaching movement, they cemented a conservative and market-oriented political vision whose legacy lingers today.Less
This introductory chapter argues that the decline of liberal and progressive politics and the ascent of a business-oriented, neoliberal political culture did not emerge naturally from the exigencies of economic crisis or the inexorable logic of political traditions, but rather as the result of specific efforts by a diverse set of conservative activists. Although their organizational cohesion did not endure, organized American business leaders nonetheless established a vital legacy that continues to shape politics into the twenty-first century. Through their political mobilization, these workhorses of the industrial economy helped establish the political preconditions for the success of conservative politics, electorally and in policymaking. By successfully parlaying their economic clout into a broad-reaching movement, they cemented a conservative and market-oriented political vision whose legacy lingers today.
Benjamin C. Waterhouse
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691149165
- eISBN:
- 9781400848171
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691149165.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, American History: early to 18th Century
This chapter demonstrates how the Business Roundtable—a consortium of chief executive officers from approximately one hundred and fifty of America's largest publicly and privately held ...
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This chapter demonstrates how the Business Roundtable—a consortium of chief executive officers from approximately one hundred and fifty of America's largest publicly and privately held corporations—holds a unique place in the history of business lobbying. It emerged in direct response to business's crisis of confidence and quickly became a powerful symbol of business leaders' desire to shape politics as well as an expression of their collective power. The first decade of the Roundtable's activism coincided with the dramatic shift of production away from the United States, the permanent decline of both productivity growth and unionization, and the supplanting of manufacturing by financial services as the nation's most important industry. The specific policy threats that drove the leaders of American big business to create the Business Roundtable reflected these shifting dynamics.Less
This chapter demonstrates how the Business Roundtable—a consortium of chief executive officers from approximately one hundred and fifty of America's largest publicly and privately held corporations—holds a unique place in the history of business lobbying. It emerged in direct response to business's crisis of confidence and quickly became a powerful symbol of business leaders' desire to shape politics as well as an expression of their collective power. The first decade of the Roundtable's activism coincided with the dramatic shift of production away from the United States, the permanent decline of both productivity growth and unionization, and the supplanting of manufacturing by financial services as the nation's most important industry. The specific policy threats that drove the leaders of American big business to create the Business Roundtable reflected these shifting dynamics.
Volker R. Berghahn
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691161099
- eISBN:
- 9781400850297
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691161099.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
While America's relationship with Britain has often been deemed unique, especially during the two world wars when Germany was a common enemy, the American business sector actually had a greater ...
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While America's relationship with Britain has often been deemed unique, especially during the two world wars when Germany was a common enemy, the American business sector actually had a greater affinity with Germany for most of the twentieth century. This book examines the triangular relationship between the American, British, and German business communities and how the special relationship that Britain believed it had with the United States was supplanted by one between America and Germany. The book begins with the pre-1914 period and moves through the 1920s, when American investments supported German reconstruction rather than British industry. The Nazi seizure of power in 1933 led to a reversal in German–American relations, forcing American corporations to consider cutting their losses or collaborating with a regime that was inexorably moving toward war. Although Britain hoped that the wartime economic alliance with the United States would continue after World War II, the American business community reconnected with West Germany to rebuild Europe's economy. And while Britain thought they had established their special relationship with America once again in the 1980s and 1990s, in actuality it was the Germans who, with American help, had acquired an informal economic empire on the European continent. This book uncovers the surprising and differing relationships of the American business community with two major European trading partners from 1900 through the twentieth century.Less
While America's relationship with Britain has often been deemed unique, especially during the two world wars when Germany was a common enemy, the American business sector actually had a greater affinity with Germany for most of the twentieth century. This book examines the triangular relationship between the American, British, and German business communities and how the special relationship that Britain believed it had with the United States was supplanted by one between America and Germany. The book begins with the pre-1914 period and moves through the 1920s, when American investments supported German reconstruction rather than British industry. The Nazi seizure of power in 1933 led to a reversal in German–American relations, forcing American corporations to consider cutting their losses or collaborating with a regime that was inexorably moving toward war. Although Britain hoped that the wartime economic alliance with the United States would continue after World War II, the American business community reconnected with West Germany to rebuild Europe's economy. And while Britain thought they had established their special relationship with America once again in the 1980s and 1990s, in actuality it was the Germans who, with American help, had acquired an informal economic empire on the European continent. This book uncovers the surprising and differing relationships of the American business community with two major European trading partners from 1900 through the twentieth century.
Richard F. Kuisel
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691151816
- eISBN:
- 9781400839971
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691151816.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This chapter focuses on major American business enterprises in France. It addresses three issues. First, did Coca-Cola and the others directly export their products, techniques, and strategies to ...
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This chapter focuses on major American business enterprises in France. It addresses three issues. First, did Coca-Cola and the others directly export their products, techniques, and strategies to France, or did they modify their ways to suit the locals? Did they impose or adapt? A second issue is an assessment of the impact of these American multinationals: What kind of reception did they get from French consumers, and what effects did they have on their French competitors? These questions lead toward a third and more general issue—the importance of culture and identity in determining French reaction. Were the perils of these outsiders caused by American managers' misunderstanding or disregard of French values, traditions, and sense of identity? Did culture hamper American business or did it prove so supple that it was of little consequence?Less
This chapter focuses on major American business enterprises in France. It addresses three issues. First, did Coca-Cola and the others directly export their products, techniques, and strategies to France, or did they modify their ways to suit the locals? Did they impose or adapt? A second issue is an assessment of the impact of these American multinationals: What kind of reception did they get from French consumers, and what effects did they have on their French competitors? These questions lead toward a third and more general issue—the importance of culture and identity in determining French reaction. Were the perils of these outsiders caused by American managers' misunderstanding or disregard of French values, traditions, and sense of identity? Did culture hamper American business or did it prove so supple that it was of little consequence?
Marie-Laure Djelic
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198293170
- eISBN:
- 9780191684968
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198293170.003.0009
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Political Economy, Corporate Governance and Accountability
This chapter discusses the organized resistance and opposition of Western European business, particularly in France, Italy, and West Germany, to ...
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This chapter discusses the organized resistance and opposition of Western European business, particularly in France, Italy, and West Germany, to the structural transformation brought about by the introduction of the American business model. Western European business leaders resented the large-scale transfer of a foreign model they believed was not adopted to European conditions and potentially dangerous for their own interests. The focus of opposition in West Germany is on the issue of competition and antitrust traditions, while in France and Italy, the issue was about the planned redefinition of physical and ownerships structures within the national industry.Less
This chapter discusses the organized resistance and opposition of Western European business, particularly in France, Italy, and West Germany, to the structural transformation brought about by the introduction of the American business model. Western European business leaders resented the large-scale transfer of a foreign model they believed was not adopted to European conditions and potentially dangerous for their own interests. The focus of opposition in West Germany is on the issue of competition and antitrust traditions, while in France and Italy, the issue was about the planned redefinition of physical and ownerships structures within the national industry.
RICHARD WHITTINGTON and MICHAEL MAYER
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199251049
- eISBN:
- 9780191714382
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199251049.003.0005
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Strategy
This chapter explores the fate of diversification in the contested terrain of contemporary Europe. It examines whether European business did step on to the conglomerate bandwagon that American ...
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This chapter explores the fate of diversification in the contested terrain of contemporary Europe. It examines whether European business did step on to the conglomerate bandwagon that American business had pioneered in the 1960s but about which even the Harvard group had misgivings in Europe. It investigates whether Europe also followed the United States in edging down again. It introduces the measures of strategy and strategic change. It examines the historical trends in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. It then looks at the performance, to see how various strategies perform over time and in different contexts.Less
This chapter explores the fate of diversification in the contested terrain of contemporary Europe. It examines whether European business did step on to the conglomerate bandwagon that American business had pioneered in the 1960s but about which even the Harvard group had misgivings in Europe. It investigates whether Europe also followed the United States in edging down again. It introduces the measures of strategy and strategic change. It examines the historical trends in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. It then looks at the performance, to see how various strategies perform over time and in different contexts.
Benjamin C. Waterhouse
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691149165
- eISBN:
- 9781400848171
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691149165.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: early to 18th Century
This book tells the story of the political mobilization of American business in the 1970s and 1980s. The book traces the rise and ultimate fragmentation of a broad-based effort to unify the business ...
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This book tells the story of the political mobilization of American business in the 1970s and 1980s. The book traces the rise and ultimate fragmentation of a broad-based effort to unify the business community and promote a fiscally conservative, antiregulatory, and market-oriented policy agenda to Congress and the country at large. Arguing that business's political involvement was historically distinctive during this period, the chapter illustrates the changing power and goals of America's top corporate leaders. Examining the rise of the Business Roundtable and the revitalization of older business associations such as the National Association of Manufacturers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the book takes readers inside the mind-set of the powerful CEOs who responded to the crises of inflation, recession, and declining industrial productivity by organizing an effective and disciplined lobbying force. By the mid-1970s, that coalition transformed the economic power of the capitalist class into a broad-reaching political movement with real policy consequences. Ironically, the cohesion that characterized organized business failed to survive the ascent of conservative politics during the 1980s, and many of the coalition's top goals on regulatory and fiscal policies remained unfulfilled. The industrial CEOs who fancied themselves the “voice of business” found themselves one voice among many vying for influence in an increasingly turbulent and unsettled economic landscape. Complicating assumptions that wealthy business leaders naturally get their way in Washington, the book shows how economic and political powers interact in the American democratic system.Less
This book tells the story of the political mobilization of American business in the 1970s and 1980s. The book traces the rise and ultimate fragmentation of a broad-based effort to unify the business community and promote a fiscally conservative, antiregulatory, and market-oriented policy agenda to Congress and the country at large. Arguing that business's political involvement was historically distinctive during this period, the chapter illustrates the changing power and goals of America's top corporate leaders. Examining the rise of the Business Roundtable and the revitalization of older business associations such as the National Association of Manufacturers and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the book takes readers inside the mind-set of the powerful CEOs who responded to the crises of inflation, recession, and declining industrial productivity by organizing an effective and disciplined lobbying force. By the mid-1970s, that coalition transformed the economic power of the capitalist class into a broad-reaching political movement with real policy consequences. Ironically, the cohesion that characterized organized business failed to survive the ascent of conservative politics during the 1980s, and many of the coalition's top goals on regulatory and fiscal policies remained unfulfilled. The industrial CEOs who fancied themselves the “voice of business” found themselves one voice among many vying for influence in an increasingly turbulent and unsettled economic landscape. Complicating assumptions that wealthy business leaders naturally get their way in Washington, the book shows how economic and political powers interact in the American democratic system.
Marie-Laure Djelic
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198293170
- eISBN:
- 9780191684968
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198293170.003.0005
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Political Economy, Corporate Governance and Accountability
This chapter discusses the key players and institutional channels that influenced the emergence of a cross-national modernizing network that ...
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This chapter discusses the key players and institutional channels that influenced the emergence of a cross-national modernizing network that paved the way for the cross-national transfer of the American model of industrial production to Western Europe. In the late 1940s, France and West Germany established cross-national networks with a number of Americans in key institutional positions of power. Such a network never emerged in Italy because of differences in objectives and ideology between the Italians and the American group. The institutional contiguity inbetween the Germans and the Americans was provided by the American Military Government in Germany.Less
This chapter discusses the key players and institutional channels that influenced the emergence of a cross-national modernizing network that paved the way for the cross-national transfer of the American model of industrial production to Western Europe. In the late 1940s, France and West Germany established cross-national networks with a number of Americans in key institutional positions of power. Such a network never emerged in Italy because of differences in objectives and ideology between the Italians and the American group. The institutional contiguity inbetween the Germans and the Americans was provided by the American Military Government in Germany.
Marie-Laure Djelic
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198293170
- eISBN:
- 9780191684968
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198293170.003.0007
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Political Economy, Corporate Governance and Accountability
This chapter examines the transfer of American structural models of business and industrial production to West Germany. It states that the ...
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This chapter examines the transfer of American structural models of business and industrial production to West Germany. It states that the transfer process proceeded from coercion to voluntary imitation. After World War II, occupation authorities, dominated by the Americans, held all decision-making powers in West Germany. And as part of the American administration's efforts to rebuild the West German economy, it initiated a large-scale, cross-national structural transfer. This was accomplished using coercive means at the beginning but when the Americans co-opted a group of West Germans, the voluntary imitation process started.Less
This chapter examines the transfer of American structural models of business and industrial production to West Germany. It states that the transfer process proceeded from coercion to voluntary imitation. After World War II, occupation authorities, dominated by the Americans, held all decision-making powers in West Germany. And as part of the American administration's efforts to rebuild the West German economy, it initiated a large-scale, cross-national structural transfer. This was accomplished using coercive means at the beginning but when the Americans co-opted a group of West Germans, the voluntary imitation process started.
Marie-Laure Djelic
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198293170
- eISBN:
- 9780191684968
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198293170.003.0010
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Political Economy, Corporate Governance and Accountability
This chapter discusses the negative impact of the speech delivered by U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall at Harvard University in June ...
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This chapter discusses the negative impact of the speech delivered by U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall at Harvard University in June 1947 on international politics and European labor and productivity. The speech divided Europe and scarred the continent for more than 40 years. This division affected the internal political balance within a number of free or democratic European countries. Some Communist Party members were ousted from government coalitions in anticipation of American assistance under the Marshall plan. However, the countries that participated in the Marshall scheme did not readily accept the American business model and launched organized oppositions to the structural transformation of their local industries.Less
This chapter discusses the negative impact of the speech delivered by U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall at Harvard University in June 1947 on international politics and European labor and productivity. The speech divided Europe and scarred the continent for more than 40 years. This division affected the internal political balance within a number of free or democratic European countries. Some Communist Party members were ousted from government coalitions in anticipation of American assistance under the Marshall plan. However, the countries that participated in the Marshall scheme did not readily accept the American business model and launched organized oppositions to the structural transformation of their local industries.
Marie-Laure Djelic
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198293170
- eISBN:
- 9780191684968
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198293170.003.0006
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Political Economy, Corporate Governance and Accountability
This chapter discusses the role of a small French group in launching and fostering the large-scale transfer of American structural models of ...
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This chapter discusses the role of a small French group in launching and fostering the large-scale transfer of American structural models of business to France. Members of this group occupy key positions of institutional power on the French national scene. They not only developed a set of mechanism that was to bring about radical transformation within the French industry, but also redefined the American business model before diffusing it onto the national scene. This same group was also instrumental in the emergence of a Western European economic space.Less
This chapter discusses the role of a small French group in launching and fostering the large-scale transfer of American structural models of business to France. Members of this group occupy key positions of institutional power on the French national scene. They not only developed a set of mechanism that was to bring about radical transformation within the French industry, but also redefined the American business model before diffusing it onto the national scene. This same group was also instrumental in the emergence of a Western European economic space.
Volker R. Berghahn
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691161099
- eISBN:
- 9781400850297
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691161099.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This concluding chapter summarizes the major points of the preceding chapters. For the period up to World War I, it became clear that the elites of the United States, and its businessmen on the East ...
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This concluding chapter summarizes the major points of the preceding chapters. For the period up to World War I, it became clear that the elites of the United States, and its businessmen on the East and West coasts in particular, saw their country as a highly dynamic and modern industrial and financial power. Based on the idea of a competitive capitalism, American big business, in the wake of the great merger wave of the late nineteenth century and congressional legislation that had banned the formation of cartels and monopolies, developed in the direction of an oligopolistic market organization. These developments shaped corporate attitudes and practices toward the domestic and international economy from 1900 onward. No less important, the emergence of the United States as a major industrial power stirred Britain and Germany into responses to the American challenge.Less
This concluding chapter summarizes the major points of the preceding chapters. For the period up to World War I, it became clear that the elites of the United States, and its businessmen on the East and West coasts in particular, saw their country as a highly dynamic and modern industrial and financial power. Based on the idea of a competitive capitalism, American big business, in the wake of the great merger wave of the late nineteenth century and congressional legislation that had banned the formation of cartels and monopolies, developed in the direction of an oligopolistic market organization. These developments shaped corporate attitudes and practices toward the domestic and international economy from 1900 onward. No less important, the emergence of the United States as a major industrial power stirred Britain and Germany into responses to the American challenge.
Steven Conn
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781501742071
- eISBN:
- 9781501742088
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501742071.003.0002
- Subject:
- Education, History of Education
This chapter examines why educational leaders and businessmen in the United States thought it was a good idea to establish business schools in the first place. The answer often offered at the time ...
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This chapter examines why educational leaders and businessmen in the United States thought it was a good idea to establish business schools in the first place. The answer often offered at the time was that American business itself had grown so big and complex by the turn of the twentieth century that a new university-level education was now required for the new world of managerial work. However, the more powerful rationale was that businessmen wanted the social status and cultural cachet that came with a university degree. The chapter then looks at the Wharton School of Finance and Economy at the University of Pennsylvania, which was founded in 1881 and became the first business school in the United States. All of the more than six hundred business schools founded in the nearly century and a half since descend from Wharton.Less
This chapter examines why educational leaders and businessmen in the United States thought it was a good idea to establish business schools in the first place. The answer often offered at the time was that American business itself had grown so big and complex by the turn of the twentieth century that a new university-level education was now required for the new world of managerial work. However, the more powerful rationale was that businessmen wanted the social status and cultural cachet that came with a university degree. The chapter then looks at the Wharton School of Finance and Economy at the University of Pennsylvania, which was founded in 1881 and became the first business school in the United States. All of the more than six hundred business schools founded in the nearly century and a half since descend from Wharton.