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Accounting and strategy: towards understanding the historical genesis of modern business and military strategy

Keith Hoskin, Richard Macve, and John Stone

in Contemporary Issues in Management Accounting

This chapter addresses the following double question: precisely how and when did the modern practice of strategy and its theorization emerge? What is its historical and thereby present link to ... More

This chapter addresses the following double question: precisely how and when did the modern practice of strategy and its theorization emerge? What is its historical and thereby present link to accounting? Section 8.2 briefly considers the nature of ‘disciplinary’ power, and what it means to say that strategy, as a form of knowledge as well as of power, comes to be ‘disciplinary’. Section 8.3 considers how these practices could have remade strategy into its modern form. Section 8.4 takes up the possible objection that strategy has a long history stretching back into the UK's military past and then was ‘reinvented’ after the Second World War. Section 8.5 addresses the question: why is it that modern strategy appears to have shown up, both in the business and military fields, in mid-19th-century America? Sections 8.6 and 8.7 ask how this revised history of strategy is relevant to modern theory in both military and business spheres. Finally, two major implications that have arisen from doing this history are discussed.Less

The Merchant Family as a Business Enterprise

C. A. Bayly

in Rulers, Townsmen and Bazaars: North Indian Society in the Age of British Expansion 1770-1870

This chapter considers the merchant family in north India during pre-colonial and early periods as a business enterprise. It suggests that many of the patterns of behaviour which seem to characterise ... More

This chapter considers the merchant family in north India during pre-colonial and early periods as a business enterprise. It suggests that many of the patterns of behaviour which seem to characterise the family firm of nineteenth-century north India can be understood as tactics to avoid the risks of operating in a peculiarly hostile business climate. It explains that from early youth, children in merchant families were taught that good business involved the constant division of capital into small, manageable portfolios. It also discusses business management practices including double entry bookkeeping and the use of a central daily cash book.Less

Why Do Countries Privatize?

William Leon Megginson

in The Financial Economics of Privatization

This chapter begins by framing the theoretical debate about the legitimacy and efficiency of state ownership of business enterprises, and then examines the empirical evidence for and against state ... More

This chapter begins by framing the theoretical debate about the legitimacy and efficiency of state ownership of business enterprises, and then examines the empirical evidence for and against state ownership. Since the evidence overwhelmingly indicates that state ownership is less efficient than private ownership in most real industrial settings, the reform of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) by measures short of privatization, such as exposing state enterprises to competition or imposing hard budget constraints is assessed. While some economic reforms can be effective in their own right, the question of whether these reforms would be more effective if coupled with a shift to private ownership remains unanswered. Thus, many countries have decided to launch large-scale privatization programs. The fiscal and macroeconomic impact of these programs on the public finances of divesting countries are examined.Less

The Adventures of Mickey Mouse, Big Mac, and Coke in the Land of the Gauls

Richard F. Kuisel

in The French Way: How France Embraced and Rejected American Values and Power

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 ... More

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

Were Antebellum Cotton Plantations Factories in the Field?

Alan L. Olmstead and Paul W. Rhode

in Enterprising America: Businesses, Banks, and Credit Markets in Historical Perspective

Using census data, plantation records, and narrative evidence, we investigate whether the popular expression "factories in the field" appropriately characterizes antebellum cotton plantations. Based ... More

Using census data, plantation records, and narrative evidence, we investigate whether the popular expression "factories in the field" appropriately characterizes antebellum cotton plantations. Based on micro-samples of farms, plantations, and manufacturing plants in 1859, we compare the size distributions and input mixes of operations. We inquire whether management practices on cotton plantations were closely aligned with those of modern business enterprises or with Taylor’s scientific management. We find that, by some measures, plantations were an intermediate form of enterprise located between the family farm and the contemporary factory, and in some ways, closer to the factory than to the farm. However, by other more important measures, plantations were very different from factories. We argue that the direct analogies between plantations and factories and labor systems employing modern management techniques obscure more than they reveal.Less

Business

Daniel K. Finn

in The Moral Dynamics of Economic Life: An Extension and Critique of Caritas in Veritate

Not only does Pope Benedict provide Caritas in veritate with deep theological roots, but the branches of the tree extend into the practical world of business, where Benedict acknowledges the ... More

Not only does Pope Benedict provide Caritas in veritate with deep theological roots, but the branches of the tree extend into the practical world of business, where Benedict acknowledges the difficulties presented by a focus on profit alone and calls for a rethinking of the foundational purposes and culture of enterprise. This chapter presents the following essays: Leadership Ethics and Caritas in veritate by Luk Bouckaert and The Business Enterprise by Michael J. Naughton.Less

Corporate America

Susan L. Mizruchi

in The Rise of Multicultural America: Economy and Print Culture, 1865-1915

This chapter discusses a general economic commitment to diversification, toward manufacturing, banking, and services and away from agriculture, which proved beneficial to American investors and ... More

This chapter discusses a general economic commitment to diversification, toward manufacturing, banking, and services and away from agriculture, which proved beneficial to American investors and entrepreneurs. Above all, the American legal system was uniquely hospitable to business enterprise. Not only were there few inhibiting tariff barriers between states and regions but venture capitalists were protected against foreign competition by direct and indirect subsidies. Corporate and contractual laws, lenient bank and bankruptcy laws, and the relative freedom from the demands of organized labor and the claims of environmentalists, all made for a society unusually hospitable to business enterprise. With a government comparatively young and small, no aristocracy, no church, and no standing army, the nation had few impediments to the expansion of market forces.Less

The Unofficial Economy in Africa

Rafael La Porta and Andrei Shleifer

in African Successes, Volume I: Government and Institutions

We examine the productivity of informal firms (those that are not registered with the government) in 24 African countries using field work and World Bank firm level data. We find that productivity ... More

We examine the productivity of informal firms (those that are not registered with the government) in 24 African countries using field work and World Bank firm level data. We find that productivity jumps sharply if we compare small formal firms to informal firms, and rises rapidly with the size of formal firms. Critically, informal firms appear to be qualitatively different than formal firms: they are smaller in size, produce to order, are run by managers with low human capital, do not have access to external finance, do not advertise their products, and sell to largely informal clients for cash. Informal firms thus occupy a very different market niche than formal firms do, and rarely become formal because there is very little demand for their products from the formal sector.Less

Criminal Enterprises, Markets, and Industries

Geoff Dean, Ivar Fahsing, and Petter Gottschalk

in Organized Crime: Policing Illegal Business Entrepreneurialism

This chapter examines how a criminally-oriented business enterprise works using a business development model as the operating framework. It first considers the microeconomics of criminal market ... More

This chapter examines how a criminally-oriented business enterprise works using a business development model as the operating framework. It first considers the microeconomics of criminal market behaviour by focusing on several business-related concepts such as competitive market forces, supply and demand graphs, market share, and size. It then explores, from a macroeconomic perspective, how various global spheres of influence combine to shape market opportunities and global crime industries. It also discusses how these market-shaping mechanisms present both threats and opportunities for policing organised high-end criminal entrepreneurship. The chapter concludes by looking at two case studies that illustrate the nature of profit-driven, market-oriented, and entrepreneurially-led criminal businesses: the business of organised crime in Lithuania and crime in the commerce industry.Less

Luxuriant Growth: The Walkers and Black Economic Nationalism

Kate Dossett

in Bridging Race Divides: Black Nationalism, Feminism, and Integration in the United States, 1896-1935

This chapter discusses the work of the legendary black businesswoman Madam J. C. Walker and her daughter A'Lelia who found a niche for themselves within black organizations as well as in political ... More

This chapter discusses the work of the legendary black businesswoman Madam J. C. Walker and her daughter A'Lelia who found a niche for themselves within black organizations as well as in political circles. This chapter offers an account of the ideological challenges that Madam Walker faced in the establishment of what would be one of the most influential businesses along the black strata. This chapter examines the manner with which she combined economic profitability with the aim to uplift the racial image particularly of black women. The chapter also discusses the business enterprises, marketing strategies, and political and cultural activities of Madam Walker and her daughter. The chapter recounts how Madam Walker secured a place within the black elites by promoting economic and political opportunities for black women with the aid of her network of politicized Walker agents. The chapter also includes a discussion on her daughter A'Lelia and her efforts in maintaining her mother's legacy.Less

The Evolution of Corporate Criminal Law

in Corporate Bodies and Guilty Minds: The Failure of Corporate Criminal Liability

This chapter focuses on the evolution of corporate criminal law in America. The historical phases of the substantive corporate criminal law discussed in the chapter share the tension accompanying the ... More

This chapter focuses on the evolution of corporate criminal law in America. The historical phases of the substantive corporate criminal law discussed in the chapter share the tension accompanying the social control of business enterprises, whether this tension appears as concerns with the metaphysics of personhood (phase one), the rise and obscure fall of vicarious liability (phase two), the routine risk-shifting between agents and principals (phase three), the successful and failed attempts at model state and federal codes (phase four), the reactions to a “new” regulatory state (phase five), the gaming of regulators by the “good citizen” corporation (phase six), or the reactive prosecution and regulation following a period of scandals marked by widespread accounting fraud and governance and compliance failures (phase seven). These seven phases overlap significantly and are far from discrete. They do, however, provide one account of some of the more important trends and milestones of the corporate criminal law. Notably, all phases reflect the powerful influence of the public and segments of the business community in lobbying for or inhibiting legislative reform. These influences remain once legislation is passed, and they often dictate the extent to which laws are largely ignored or rigorously enforced.Less

Black Women’s Representation

Nadia E. Brown

in Sisters in the Statehouse: Black Women and Legislative Decision Making

Chapter 3 utilizes elite interviews to investigate how the intersection of the multiplicity of Black women’s identities affects their decision-making process. It evaluates the extent to which the ... More

Chapter 3 utilizes elite interviews to investigate how the intersection of the multiplicity of Black women’s identities affects their decision-making process. It evaluates the extent to which the data support the theory that legislators’ identities are a factor in the legislative decision making. The chapter argues that the political context for a particular issue strongly influences the likelihood that a representative will use her identity as a means for understanding and articulating policy preferences on the Minority Business Enterprise program.Less

Roman Businesses

Keith Roberts

in The Origins of Business, Money, and Markets

This chapter describes important Roman businesses other than agribusiness and public contracting. The businesses fall into three broad categories: manufacturing, trade, and services. Much ... More

This chapter describes important Roman businesses other than agribusiness and public contracting. The businesses fall into three broad categories: manufacturing, trade, and services. Much manufacturing took place where the raw materials were found. Ore, for instance, was refined at the mine mouth; marble was roughly shaped into blocks and pillars at the quarry; wood was stripped and trimmed in the forest; sheep were sheared and the fleeces washed on the farm. Most manufacturers were artisans who lived in and sold their goods from the workshop. Romans divided trade into several functions. Financiers provided the inventory and cash for working capital; others, sometimes the financiers' slaves or clients, accompanied the goods to market; still others might sell at the destination. Skippers, soldiers, and veterans often played a major role in the trading process. Among the services Romans enjoyed were art, medicine, hospitality, and entertainment that made life more enjoyable; education, mail, and legal counseling that facilitated social life; and transport and finance which Roman businesses depended on.Less

Entrepreneurialism of Organized Crime

Geoff Dean, Ivar Fahsing, and Petter Gottschalk

in Organized Crime: Policing Illegal Business Entrepreneurialism

This chapter explores the business dynamics of high-end, entrepreneurially-driven organised crime in its ruthless pursuit of profits and relentless desire to outsmart law enforcement. It first ... More

This chapter explores the business dynamics of high-end, entrepreneurially-driven organised crime in its ruthless pursuit of profits and relentless desire to outsmart law enforcement. It first considers a case example involving three young Norwegian women who were caught at the airport in Cochabamba in Bolivia with more than twenty-two kilos of cocaine in their luggage, and have since been remanded in custody on drug smuggling charges. It then provides an overview of the business enterprise paradigm and the entrepreneurialism of organised crime, with particular emphasis on five essential capabilities that drive entrepreneurial behaviour: opportunity perspective, resources mobilisation, decision-making under uncertainty, people cooperation, and profit maximisation. The chapter concludes by presenting a case study of criminal entrepreneurship.Less

Governments and Business

Tan Cheng-Han and Jiangyu Wang

in Covid-19 in Asia: Law and Policy Contexts

This chapter evaluates the deleterious effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on business enterprises in Asia. In these extraordinary and unprecedented circumstances, it was not surprising that governments ... More

This chapter evaluates the deleterious effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on business enterprises in Asia. In these extraordinary and unprecedented circumstances, it was not surprising that governments stepped in to forestall a collapse of markets brought about by the simple fact that ordinary life had been disrupted. Beyond liquidity and stimulus measures taken by central banks that feature in many past recessions, many Asian jurisdictions saw unprecedented provision of financial support and measures to businesses and individuals to tide them over and lessen the risk of insolvency. These measures included temporary moratoriums on financial obligations and debt recovery, relief from other contractual obligations, employment support, increases to the debt thresholds for the commencement of insolvency proceedings, and infrastructure investments. These extraordinary measures, if effective, had the potential to become part of an expanded standard playbook to deal with future economic shocks, and the chapter focuses on them with particular reference to China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore.Less

Problem: Discussion Summary

Subramanian Rangan

in Performance and Progress: Essays on Capitalism, Business, and Society

This section of the book summarizes the discussion in the five chapters that have covered the first theme in this book: problem. The chapters in this section have been devoted to achieving clarity ... More

This section of the book summarizes the discussion in the five chapters that have covered the first theme in this book: problem. The chapters in this section have been devoted to achieving clarity about the presence, nature, and extent of problems related to modern capitalism. Their general premise has been that the aims and practice of business enterprise have been decoupled in some respects from the notion of social progress. The chapters have explored this decoupling on a practical level and on a conceptual level.Less