Leslie Hannah
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199226009
- eISBN:
- 9780191710315
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199226009.003.0002
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
The many errors and misjudgments in Alfred D. Chandler's Scale and Scope derive from its framing in an established Anglo-American Whig-Progressive misinterpretation of business and technological ...
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The many errors and misjudgments in Alfred D. Chandler's Scale and Scope derive from its framing in an established Anglo-American Whig-Progressive misinterpretation of business and technological history. Case studies of copper and tobacco show that his narratives of global oligopolistic competition in these industries require complete inversion: his alleged successes are more appropriately cast as failures and vice-versa. Such cases are not unique, but representative. His central propositions — that the British were rarely capable of building efficient managerial hierarchies, distinctively preferred family to professional management and headquartered proportionately fewer persistent global industrial oligopolists than both Germany and the United States — have all been comprehensively falsified. Further progress in internationally comparative business history requires a return to the higher standards of Chandler's earlier work and more disciplined quantification of comparisons conceived without the bias of hindsight.Less
The many errors and misjudgments in Alfred D. Chandler's Scale and Scope derive from its framing in an established Anglo-American Whig-Progressive misinterpretation of business and technological history. Case studies of copper and tobacco show that his narratives of global oligopolistic competition in these industries require complete inversion: his alleged successes are more appropriately cast as failures and vice-versa. Such cases are not unique, but representative. His central propositions — that the British were rarely capable of building efficient managerial hierarchies, distinctively preferred family to professional management and headquartered proportionately fewer persistent global industrial oligopolists than both Germany and the United States — have all been comprehensively falsified. Further progress in internationally comparative business history requires a return to the higher standards of Chandler's earlier work and more disciplined quantification of comparisons conceived without the bias of hindsight.
Mira Wilkins
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199241828
- eISBN:
- 9780191596834
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199241821.003.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, International
The literature on the history of multinational enterprises (MNEs) is reviewed in sections. These cover general works, case studies, industry studies, diplomatic history and the history of public ...
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The literature on the history of multinational enterprises (MNEs) is reviewed in sections. These cover general works, case studies, industry studies, diplomatic history and the history of public policy, early history, emerging ideas, and business history journals.Less
The literature on the history of multinational enterprises (MNEs) is reviewed in sections. These cover general works, case studies, industry studies, diplomatic history and the history of public policy, early history, emerging ideas, and business history journals.
David M. Hart
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199251902
- eISBN:
- 9780191719059
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199251902.003.0007
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
This chapter argues that the state, broadly construed, helps to construct corporate technological capabilities. Thus, the business-state interaction in the process of technological innovation must be ...
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This chapter argues that the state, broadly construed, helps to construct corporate technological capabilities. Thus, the business-state interaction in the process of technological innovation must be a focus of business history research. Key concepts from social science research on national innovation systems are introduced and it is shown how they mesh with central tenets of recent work in business history. The chapter then advances four ways of thinking about the state — as organization, fisc, system of rules, and normative order — that lead toward potentially fruitful areas for historical research. This research agenda may lead the field toward an ‘interorganizational synthesis’ that builds on and enriches the best of contemporary business history.Less
This chapter argues that the state, broadly construed, helps to construct corporate technological capabilities. Thus, the business-state interaction in the process of technological innovation must be a focus of business history research. Key concepts from social science research on national innovation systems are introduced and it is shown how they mesh with central tenets of recent work in business history. The chapter then advances four ways of thinking about the state — as organization, fisc, system of rules, and normative order — that lead toward potentially fruitful areas for historical research. This research agenda may lead the field toward an ‘interorganizational synthesis’ that builds on and enriches the best of contemporary business history.
David B. Sicilia
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199251902
- eISBN:
- 9780191719059
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199251902.003.0008
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
This chapter examines the experiences of three US industries — chemical manufacturing, tobacco, and nuclear power — that came under political, legal, and rhetorical attack following World War II, and ...
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This chapter examines the experiences of three US industries — chemical manufacturing, tobacco, and nuclear power — that came under political, legal, and rhetorical attack following World War II, and identifies cross-cutting patterns in the public and private interests who besieged the industries, and in how they responded. At varying times and with few notable exceptions, the conflicts progressed through five stages: industry success and optimism following the war; sustained challenges by social movements; increasing regulatory control by a ‘new social’ regulatory regime in the early 1970s; new, specialized accommodationist public relations strategies and tactics; and involvement in large-scale tort regulation. Unlike most studies of alleged and real corporate malfeasance, this chapter considers both corporate and anti-corporate interests and actions, and suggests a framework for understanding post-World-War-II political economy more broadly.Less
This chapter examines the experiences of three US industries — chemical manufacturing, tobacco, and nuclear power — that came under political, legal, and rhetorical attack following World War II, and identifies cross-cutting patterns in the public and private interests who besieged the industries, and in how they responded. At varying times and with few notable exceptions, the conflicts progressed through five stages: industry success and optimism following the war; sustained challenges by social movements; increasing regulatory control by a ‘new social’ regulatory regime in the early 1970s; new, specialized accommodationist public relations strategies and tactics; and involvement in large-scale tort regulation. Unlike most studies of alleged and real corporate malfeasance, this chapter considers both corporate and anti-corporate interests and actions, and suggests a framework for understanding post-World-War-II political economy more broadly.
Louis Galambos
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199251902
- eISBN:
- 9780191719059
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199251902.003.0006
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
In the 1980s, the Reagan Administration drastically altered American antitrust policy, virtually eliminating Section 2 cases involving monopolies. This chapter provides a context for that decision by ...
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In the 1980s, the Reagan Administration drastically altered American antitrust policy, virtually eliminating Section 2 cases involving monopolies. This chapter provides a context for that decision by tracing the efforts that the federal government made since 1890 to reconcile an opposition to highly concentrated economic power with the even stronger enthusiasm Americans have always had for the economic success they associated with the nation's largest enterprises. In this setting, judges and government lawyers struggled over the years to come up with a clear concept of monopoly. In the global economy of the late 20th century, the Reagan policy innovation solved that problem and proved to be timely and significant. The new policy allowed American firms to get up to global scale, either through strategic alliances or through mergers that would not have been allowed under previous administrations.Less
In the 1980s, the Reagan Administration drastically altered American antitrust policy, virtually eliminating Section 2 cases involving monopolies. This chapter provides a context for that decision by tracing the efforts that the federal government made since 1890 to reconcile an opposition to highly concentrated economic power with the even stronger enthusiasm Americans have always had for the economic success they associated with the nation's largest enterprises. In this setting, judges and government lawyers struggled over the years to come up with a clear concept of monopoly. In the global economy of the late 20th century, the Reagan policy innovation solved that problem and proved to be timely and significant. The new policy allowed American firms to get up to global scale, either through strategic alliances or through mergers that would not have been allowed under previous administrations.
Richard Coopey and Peter Lyth (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199226009
- eISBN:
- 9780191710315
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199226009.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
This book brings together chapters from the leading historians of British business. The contributors were asked to consider the renaissance in the British economy during the closing decades of the ...
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This book brings together chapters from the leading historians of British business. The contributors were asked to consider the renaissance in the British economy during the closing decades of the 20th century. In doing so they were also asked to reconsider the debates and assertions relating to relative economic decline in Britain since the end of the 19th century. Chapters range across the economy, from banking, retail, high technology and staple industries, transport, to sports and leisure industries. In addition, key themes such as foreign investment, government policy, managerial characteristics, marketing, business, ethics, and so on have their own chapters. What emerges is a picture of complexity and reappraisal bringing into question the accuracy or applicability of much of the writing and axioms surrounding British business in the 20th century. Both the nature of economic recovery, the depth and periodization of relative decline clearly do not stand up to scrutiny. If nothing else the book disposes with the notion that a simple re-injection of market forces ideology in the 1980s changed and modernised the British economy. The book has identified both a need for a broad reappraisal to take into account the complexity underlying ideas of renaissance in the late 20th century, in addition to a need to reject unicausal explanations for the fate and possibilities of the British economy in the 21st century.Less
This book brings together chapters from the leading historians of British business. The contributors were asked to consider the renaissance in the British economy during the closing decades of the 20th century. In doing so they were also asked to reconsider the debates and assertions relating to relative economic decline in Britain since the end of the 19th century. Chapters range across the economy, from banking, retail, high technology and staple industries, transport, to sports and leisure industries. In addition, key themes such as foreign investment, government policy, managerial characteristics, marketing, business, ethics, and so on have their own chapters. What emerges is a picture of complexity and reappraisal bringing into question the accuracy or applicability of much of the writing and axioms surrounding British business in the 20th century. Both the nature of economic recovery, the depth and periodization of relative decline clearly do not stand up to scrutiny. If nothing else the book disposes with the notion that a simple re-injection of market forces ideology in the 1980s changed and modernised the British economy. The book has identified both a need for a broad reappraisal to take into account the complexity underlying ideas of renaissance in the late 20th century, in addition to a need to reject unicausal explanations for the fate and possibilities of the British economy in the 21st century.
Kenneth Lipartito and David B. Sicilia (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199251902
- eISBN:
- 9780191719059
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199251902.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
Challenging assumptions about the history and performance of the business corporation in the United States, this book seeks to explain more fully this crucial institution of capitalism. The authors ...
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Challenging assumptions about the history and performance of the business corporation in the United States, this book seeks to explain more fully this crucial institution of capitalism. The authors draw on theoretical insights from economics, law, political science, and cultural studies to show the multiple ways in which corporations have shaped American society, culture, and politics over the past two centuries. They reject assertions that the corporation is dead and show that it in fact has survived, and even thrived by adapting to changes in its politics, social, and cultural environment. They call into question narrow economic theories of the firm, and show instead that the corporation must be treated as a more fully social institution, pointing the way to a new periodization of corporate history and a new set of questions for scholars to explore. Key issues engaged include the legal and political position of the corporations, ways in which the corporation has shaped and been shaped by American culture, controversies over corporate regulation and corporate power, and the efforts of minority and disadvantaged groups to gain access to corporate resources and opportunities.Less
Challenging assumptions about the history and performance of the business corporation in the United States, this book seeks to explain more fully this crucial institution of capitalism. The authors draw on theoretical insights from economics, law, political science, and cultural studies to show the multiple ways in which corporations have shaped American society, culture, and politics over the past two centuries. They reject assertions that the corporation is dead and show that it in fact has survived, and even thrived by adapting to changes in its politics, social, and cultural environment. They call into question narrow economic theories of the firm, and show instead that the corporation must be treated as a more fully social institution, pointing the way to a new periodization of corporate history and a new set of questions for scholars to explore. Key issues engaged include the legal and political position of the corporations, ways in which the corporation has shaped and been shaped by American culture, controversies over corporate regulation and corporate power, and the efforts of minority and disadvantaged groups to gain access to corporate resources and opportunities.
Ian Clark and Phil Almond
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199274635
- eISBN:
- 9780191706530
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199274635.003.0003
- Subject:
- Business and Management, HRM / IR
This chapter examines the distinctive and evolving nature of the American model of capitalism, emphasizing the links between embedded features of the US national business system through a review of ...
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This chapter examines the distinctive and evolving nature of the American model of capitalism, emphasizing the links between embedded features of the US national business system through a review of its historical development. It argues that American industrial capitalism developed against a background quite different to those of European countries, with ongoing effects on the nature of product, financial and labour markets, and on prevalent patterns of production and work organization. The effects of the US business system on patterns of industrial relations, particularly the divide between welfare capitalist and New Deal firms, is also introduced. Recent challenges faced by US firms in the areas of work organization and human resource management are briefly considered. The issue of the transferability of elements of US multinatinals’ domestic management systems to foreign subsidiaries is raised.Less
This chapter examines the distinctive and evolving nature of the American model of capitalism, emphasizing the links between embedded features of the US national business system through a review of its historical development. It argues that American industrial capitalism developed against a background quite different to those of European countries, with ongoing effects on the nature of product, financial and labour markets, and on prevalent patterns of production and work organization. The effects of the US business system on patterns of industrial relations, particularly the divide between welfare capitalist and New Deal firms, is also introduced. Recent challenges faced by US firms in the areas of work organization and human resource management are briefly considered. The issue of the transferability of elements of US multinatinals’ domestic management systems to foreign subsidiaries is raised.
Alan M. Rugman and Thomas L. Brewer (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199241828
- eISBN:
- 9780191596834
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199241821.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, International
This handbook synthesizes all the relevant literature on international business over the last forty years in 28 original chapters by the world's most distinguished scholars. The coverage is split ...
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This handbook synthesizes all the relevant literature on international business over the last forty years in 28 original chapters by the world's most distinguished scholars. The coverage is split into five main areas: the history and theory of the multinational enterprise; the political and policy environment; strategies for multinational enterprises (MNEs); managing the MNE; and regional studies—business systems in Asia, Latin America, and the transitional economies. A concluding section has two chapters, one on methodological contributions and the direction of research activity and the other on MNEs and public policy. The handbook is aimed at scholars and students of international business and international economics/politics, lawyers, managers, and policy makers.Less
This handbook synthesizes all the relevant literature on international business over the last forty years in 28 original chapters by the world's most distinguished scholars. The coverage is split into five main areas: the history and theory of the multinational enterprise; the political and policy environment; strategies for multinational enterprises (MNEs); managing the MNE; and regional studies—business systems in Asia, Latin America, and the transitional economies. A concluding section has two chapters, one on methodological contributions and the direction of research activity and the other on MNEs and public policy. The handbook is aimed at scholars and students of international business and international economics/politics, lawyers, managers, and policy makers.
Kenneth Lipartito and David B. Sicilia
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199251902
- eISBN:
- 9780191719059
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199251902.003.0013
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
This chapter summarizes the major findings of the book's chapters and their revisionist implications. Rather than seeing the corporation as the dominant economic form simply because it was more ...
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This chapter summarizes the major findings of the book's chapters and their revisionist implications. Rather than seeing the corporation as the dominant economic form simply because it was more efficient, rational, and professional than competing forms — a view argued by neoclassical economists, Alfred Chandler, and other scholars — this book's authors collectively challenge this master narrative in three key ways. First, they offer an alternative periodization that highlights distinctive corporate forms and purposes in the different eras of the 19th and 20th centuries rather than a Whiggish narrative of the rise and triumph of an ideal type. Second, they argue that the boundaries between corporations and their social, political, legal, and ideological contexts were much more permeable than much traditional scholarship suggestions. Third, they emphasize the contested, rhetorical, and exclusionary nature of corporations as they have served as sites of identity construction.Less
This chapter summarizes the major findings of the book's chapters and their revisionist implications. Rather than seeing the corporation as the dominant economic form simply because it was more efficient, rational, and professional than competing forms — a view argued by neoclassical economists, Alfred Chandler, and other scholars — this book's authors collectively challenge this master narrative in three key ways. First, they offer an alternative periodization that highlights distinctive corporate forms and purposes in the different eras of the 19th and 20th centuries rather than a Whiggish narrative of the rise and triumph of an ideal type. Second, they argue that the boundaries between corporations and their social, political, legal, and ideological contexts were much more permeable than much traditional scholarship suggestions. Third, they emphasize the contested, rhetorical, and exclusionary nature of corporations as they have served as sites of identity construction.
Behlül Üsdiken and Matthias Kipping
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199646890
- eISBN:
- 9780191756320
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199646890.003.0002
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies
This chapter examines how the relationship between history and what is now known as organization studies has unfolded over the past 100 years. Our central argument is that the significance of history ...
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This chapter examines how the relationship between history and what is now known as organization studies has unfolded over the past 100 years. Our central argument is that the significance of history has been shaped largely by the evolution of the broader field of business education and research, though with some geographic variation. Thus, the fairly strong early link with history weakened significantly after the 1950s due to the post-war shift towards scientization in US business schools and the ensuing specialization and fragmentation into sub-fields, which not only resulted in a separate disciplinary identity for organization studies but also marginalized business and management history within business education and research. The chapter traces these changes chronologically, addressing, at the end, the recent revival of interest in history and the intellectual context paving the way for a rapprochement, as well as different directions for furthering the relationship between history and organization studies.Less
This chapter examines how the relationship between history and what is now known as organization studies has unfolded over the past 100 years. Our central argument is that the significance of history has been shaped largely by the evolution of the broader field of business education and research, though with some geographic variation. Thus, the fairly strong early link with history weakened significantly after the 1950s due to the post-war shift towards scientization in US business schools and the ensuing specialization and fragmentation into sub-fields, which not only resulted in a separate disciplinary identity for organization studies but also marginalized business and management history within business education and research. The chapter traces these changes chronologically, addressing, at the end, the recent revival of interest in history and the intellectual context paving the way for a rapprochement, as well as different directions for furthering the relationship between history and organization studies.
Michael Rowlinson and John Hassard
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199646890
- eISBN:
- 9780191756320
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199646890.003.0006
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies
Organization studies and business history are situated in the wider historical context of the cultural turn in society in the late 20th century and the culture wars that broke out over ...
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Organization studies and business history are situated in the wider historical context of the cultural turn in society in the late 20th century and the culture wars that broke out over multiculturalism. The prospects for a rapprochement between business history and organization studies brokered by cultural theory are considered. The focus is on the problematic issues of narrative and identity and the implications for conducting historical research in organization studies. The chapter is divided into four parts. The first gives an outline of the cultural, or culturalist turn in history, and its implications for business history. The second part then considers the prospects for a culturally informed ‘historic turn’ or historical reorientation in organization studies. The third part identifies examples of what could be called deconstructionist history in organization studies. The final part then considers the prospects for a self-conscious return to narrative history, informed by cultural and organization theory.Less
Organization studies and business history are situated in the wider historical context of the cultural turn in society in the late 20th century and the culture wars that broke out over multiculturalism. The prospects for a rapprochement between business history and organization studies brokered by cultural theory are considered. The focus is on the problematic issues of narrative and identity and the implications for conducting historical research in organization studies. The chapter is divided into four parts. The first gives an outline of the cultural, or culturalist turn in history, and its implications for business history. The second part then considers the prospects for a culturally informed ‘historic turn’ or historical reorientation in organization studies. The third part identifies examples of what could be called deconstructionist history in organization studies. The final part then considers the prospects for a self-conscious return to narrative history, informed by cultural and organization theory.
Brian R. Cheffins
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199236978
- eISBN:
- 9780191717260
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199236978.003.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Company and Commercial Law
This chapter puts the historical analysis offered by the book into contemporary context. The reader will find out the UK differs from most other industrialized countries in that ownership (in the ...
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This chapter puts the historical analysis offered by the book into contemporary context. The reader will find out the UK differs from most other industrialized countries in that ownership (in the sense of ownership of shares) is separated from control (having the authority to manage) and that concerns about the adequacy of managerial accountability have dominated debates concerning corporate governance in the UK. While the relevant empirical data offers at best a partial picture of how ownership and control evolved over time, there is sufficient evidence to organize the chronology into distinct periods, around which Chapters 5 to 11 are organized. The chapter acknowledges that the book's treatment of relevant issues is not definitive but argues that the book offers readers various insights concerning the timing of the divorce between ownership and control, the multi-causal nature of the split, the law's role and the durability of current arrangements.Less
This chapter puts the historical analysis offered by the book into contemporary context. The reader will find out the UK differs from most other industrialized countries in that ownership (in the sense of ownership of shares) is separated from control (having the authority to manage) and that concerns about the adequacy of managerial accountability have dominated debates concerning corporate governance in the UK. While the relevant empirical data offers at best a partial picture of how ownership and control evolved over time, there is sufficient evidence to organize the chronology into distinct periods, around which Chapters 5 to 11 are organized. The chapter acknowledges that the book's treatment of relevant issues is not definitive but argues that the book offers readers various insights concerning the timing of the divorce between ownership and control, the multi-causal nature of the split, the law's role and the durability of current arrangements.
John H. Dunning
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199241828
- eISBN:
- 9780191596834
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199241821.003.0002
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, International
The main thrust and content are considered of two influential strands of the international business (IB) literature. The first examines the development of scholarly thought on the determinants of ...
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The main thrust and content are considered of two influential strands of the international business (IB) literature. The first examines the development of scholarly thought on the determinants of ownership, sectoral pattern, and the geographical scope of multinational enterprise (MNE) activity. The second examines the main changes in the external—technological, economic, and political—environment that have helped to fashion these explanations. These strands are reviewed in two separate sections of the chapter, each of which considers three main time periods: the 1960s to the mid‐1970s, the mid‐1970s to the late 1980s, and the late 1980s to the turn of the twentieth century.Less
The main thrust and content are considered of two influential strands of the international business (IB) literature. The first examines the development of scholarly thought on the determinants of ownership, sectoral pattern, and the geographical scope of multinational enterprise (MNE) activity. The second examines the main changes in the external—technological, economic, and political—environment that have helped to fashion these explanations. These strands are reviewed in two separate sections of the chapter, each of which considers three main time periods: the 1960s to the mid‐1970s, the mid‐1970s to the late 1980s, and the late 1980s to the turn of the twentieth century.
Hüseyin Leblebici
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199646890
- eISBN:
- 9780191756320
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199646890.003.0003
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies
This chapter explores the evolving relationship between organization studies and history, specifically business and management history during the first decade of the 21st century. The front end ...
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This chapter explores the evolving relationship between organization studies and history, specifically business and management history during the first decade of the 21st century. The front end provides a descriptive investigation on the status of historical research in the management field and the nature of interdisciplinary discourse in related fields such as sociology and economics. The second part explores possible reasons behind the limited expansion of interdisciplinary work by bringing various arguments about the nature of explanation, description, and causal arguments developed in different disciplines. A strong integration between these cultures of inquiry requires not only understanding but also appreciating the epistemological and ontological foundations of the other side in order to make such integration possible. The concluding section provides a short catalogue of alternatives for a more productive cooperation between these two fields and suggests that a more fruitful solution is to focus on transdisciplinary rather that interdisciplinary research.Less
This chapter explores the evolving relationship between organization studies and history, specifically business and management history during the first decade of the 21st century. The front end provides a descriptive investigation on the status of historical research in the management field and the nature of interdisciplinary discourse in related fields such as sociology and economics. The second part explores possible reasons behind the limited expansion of interdisciplinary work by bringing various arguments about the nature of explanation, description, and causal arguments developed in different disciplines. A strong integration between these cultures of inquiry requires not only understanding but also appreciating the epistemological and ontological foundations of the other side in order to make such integration possible. The concluding section provides a short catalogue of alternatives for a more productive cooperation between these two fields and suggests that a more fruitful solution is to focus on transdisciplinary rather that interdisciplinary research.
Alexander Bieri (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9781781381373
- eISBN:
- 9781781384886
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9781781381373.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
Crisis, Credibility and Corporate History aims to describe current expectations and strategies held within companies, within academia and amongst the general public for using a company’s history for ...
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Crisis, Credibility and Corporate History aims to describe current expectations and strategies held within companies, within academia and amongst the general public for using a company’s history for communication and marketing purposes. Ranging widely across case studies from major international businesses such as IBM, Maersk and Roche, this timely volume includes contributions from marketing specialists, corporate archivists and scholars. It is particularly useful for business and economic historians who are charged with communication projects linked to disputed historical issues or jubilee activities of businesses. For the first time, possibilities to bridge the gaps in between the scientific demands in reappraising historic events and the marketing requests of companies are explored in this volume.Less
Crisis, Credibility and Corporate History aims to describe current expectations and strategies held within companies, within academia and amongst the general public for using a company’s history for communication and marketing purposes. Ranging widely across case studies from major international businesses such as IBM, Maersk and Roche, this timely volume includes contributions from marketing specialists, corporate archivists and scholars. It is particularly useful for business and economic historians who are charged with communication projects linked to disputed historical issues or jubilee activities of businesses. For the first time, possibilities to bridge the gaps in between the scientific demands in reappraising historic events and the marketing requests of companies are explored in this volume.
Marcelo Bucheli and R. Daniel Wadhwani (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199646890
- eISBN:
- 9780191756320
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199646890.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies
This book brings together leading organization scholars and business historians to examine the opportunities and challenges of incorporating historical research into the study of firms and markets. ...
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This book brings together leading organization scholars and business historians to examine the opportunities and challenges of incorporating historical research into the study of firms and markets. It examines the reasons for the growing interest in historically grounded research in management departments and business schools, and considers both the intellectual and practical questions the endeavor faces. The volume is divided into three parts. The first part, History and Theory, considers the relationship between historical reasoning and key theoretical schools of organizational thought, including institutional theory, evolutionary theory, and critical theory. The second part, Actors and Markets, considers how historical perspective can provide researchers with insights into organizational change, entrepreneurial processes, industry emergence, and the co-evolution of states and markets. In the final section, Sources and Methods, the contributors explicate historical methodologies within the context of other approaches to studying organizations and provide concrete suggestions for researchers in the field. The introduction places these issues within the broader context of developments in the fields of business history and organization studies, and orients readers to the ‘future of the past in management and organization studies.’Less
This book brings together leading organization scholars and business historians to examine the opportunities and challenges of incorporating historical research into the study of firms and markets. It examines the reasons for the growing interest in historically grounded research in management departments and business schools, and considers both the intellectual and practical questions the endeavor faces. The volume is divided into three parts. The first part, History and Theory, considers the relationship between historical reasoning and key theoretical schools of organizational thought, including institutional theory, evolutionary theory, and critical theory. The second part, Actors and Markets, considers how historical perspective can provide researchers with insights into organizational change, entrepreneurial processes, industry emergence, and the co-evolution of states and markets. In the final section, Sources and Methods, the contributors explicate historical methodologies within the context of other approaches to studying organizations and provide concrete suggestions for researchers in the field. The introduction places these issues within the broader context of developments in the fields of business history and organization studies, and orients readers to the ‘future of the past in management and organization studies.’
R. Daniel Wadhwani and Marcelo Bucheli
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199646890
- eISBN:
- 9780191756320
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199646890.003.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies
This chapter examines the opportunities and challenges presented by the incorporation of historical research and reasoning into management and organizational studies, and argues that the value of ...
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This chapter examines the opportunities and challenges presented by the incorporation of historical research and reasoning into management and organizational studies, and argues that the value of history lies in its ability to offer unique perspectives on management, organizations, and markets, rather than in providing a longitudinal version of social scientific explanations. Researchers interested in the use of history will need to recognize its distinct epistemic assumptions and its employment of a retrospective viewpoint to understand organizational behavior and cognition, and to understand the particular methodological approaches the historical perspective entails. The chapter introduces these issues and examines them against the backdrop of growing interest in the use of historical evidence and reasoning to study organizations. It introduces the essays contained in the collected volume Organizations in Time: History, Theory, Methods and frames them in relationship to the broad topic of historical methods in organizational research.Less
This chapter examines the opportunities and challenges presented by the incorporation of historical research and reasoning into management and organizational studies, and argues that the value of history lies in its ability to offer unique perspectives on management, organizations, and markets, rather than in providing a longitudinal version of social scientific explanations. Researchers interested in the use of history will need to recognize its distinct epistemic assumptions and its employment of a retrospective viewpoint to understand organizational behavior and cognition, and to understand the particular methodological approaches the historical perspective entails. The chapter introduces these issues and examines them against the backdrop of growing interest in the use of historical evidence and reasoning to study organizations. It introduces the essays contained in the collected volume Organizations in Time: History, Theory, Methods and frames them in relationship to the broad topic of historical methods in organizational research.
William Lazonick and David J. Teece (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199695683
- eISBN:
- 9780191738265
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199695683.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Innovation, Business History
Alfred D. Chandler, Jr. was, by general consensus, the pre-eminent business historian of the twentieth century. Through a prodigious body of work, Chandler made the study of the evolution of business ...
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Alfred D. Chandler, Jr. was, by general consensus, the pre-eminent business historian of the twentieth century. Through a prodigious body of work, Chandler made the study of the evolution of business enterprise integral to the study of the evolution of economy and society. His work combined detailed historical investigations with grand sociological syntheses. As a result, Chandler's study of the modern business enterprise invited social scientists and business academics as well as historians to contribute to our understanding of a central institution of our time. Chandler revealed how managerial activity was central to the functioning of successful industrial corporations, and hence to the performance of the economy as a whole. This book gathers together contributions from management scholars fundamentally influenced by the work of Chandler to discuss management innovation, the ways in which people who exercise strategic control over the allocation of resources put in place organizational structures that can enable an enterprise to prosper and grow. The volume offers a range of perspectives to examine the challenges that corporate management encounters.Less
Alfred D. Chandler, Jr. was, by general consensus, the pre-eminent business historian of the twentieth century. Through a prodigious body of work, Chandler made the study of the evolution of business enterprise integral to the study of the evolution of economy and society. His work combined detailed historical investigations with grand sociological syntheses. As a result, Chandler's study of the modern business enterprise invited social scientists and business academics as well as historians to contribute to our understanding of a central institution of our time. Chandler revealed how managerial activity was central to the functioning of successful industrial corporations, and hence to the performance of the economy as a whole. This book gathers together contributions from management scholars fundamentally influenced by the work of Chandler to discuss management innovation, the ways in which people who exercise strategic control over the allocation of resources put in place organizational structures that can enable an enterprise to prosper and grow. The volume offers a range of perspectives to examine the challenges that corporate management encounters.
Devon Powers
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780252042874
- eISBN:
- 9780252051739
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252042874.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
What is a trend? What role do trends play in consumer culture? How do trends come into being? And how do trends shape the future? This book explores these and other questions through a focus on the ...
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What is a trend? What role do trends play in consumer culture? How do trends come into being? And how do trends shape the future? This book explores these and other questions through a focus on the business of trend forecasting, an industry that emerged in the 1970s to anticipate, manage, and influence the future of culture. Galvanized by the rise of futurism and by social scientific research on popular culture and taste, pioneers in trend forecasting turned unease about the future into a business opportunity, using trends to marketize cultural change. Since then, the business of trends has grown into a highly influential (if sometimes overlooked) facet of the wider consulting industry. Trend forecasters advise some of the world’s most prominent companies on how to innovate, disrupt, strategize, and otherwise manage the future. In addition to the early history of trend forecasting, the book examines how current trend professionals do what they do, taking stock of contemporary practices and exposing their built-in assumptions. In sum, On Trend argues that trends have become an important way to sell cultural change, and as such they deeply shape and profoundly limit our ideas about what the future can be.Less
What is a trend? What role do trends play in consumer culture? How do trends come into being? And how do trends shape the future? This book explores these and other questions through a focus on the business of trend forecasting, an industry that emerged in the 1970s to anticipate, manage, and influence the future of culture. Galvanized by the rise of futurism and by social scientific research on popular culture and taste, pioneers in trend forecasting turned unease about the future into a business opportunity, using trends to marketize cultural change. Since then, the business of trends has grown into a highly influential (if sometimes overlooked) facet of the wider consulting industry. Trend forecasters advise some of the world’s most prominent companies on how to innovate, disrupt, strategize, and otherwise manage the future. In addition to the early history of trend forecasting, the book examines how current trend professionals do what they do, taking stock of contemporary practices and exposing their built-in assumptions. In sum, On Trend argues that trends have become an important way to sell cultural change, and as such they deeply shape and profoundly limit our ideas about what the future can be.
