Claire Holleran
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199698219
- eISBN:
- 9780191741326
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199698219.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical
Given the remarkable concentration of consumers in ancient Rome, the vast majority of whom were entirely reliant on the market for survival, a functioning retail trade was vital to the survival of ...
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Given the remarkable concentration of consumers in ancient Rome, the vast majority of whom were entirely reliant on the market for survival, a functioning retail trade was vital to the survival of the city in the late Republic and the Principate. Through an analysis of the literary, legal, epigraphic, and archaeological evidence, together with wide-ranging comparative studies of the distributive trades, this book provides a systematic account of the retail network of Rome — an area of commerce that has been largely neglected in previous studies. The diverse means by which goods were sold to consumers in the city are investigated, from shops and workshops to permanent and periodic markets, fairs, auctions, street traders, and ambulant vendors. The critical relationship between retail and broader environmental factors, including the structure and organisation of production, the wholesale trade, transport systems, social structure, cultural conventions, income levels, and patterns of consumption are all considered, placing the retail trade within the wider context of the urban economy. In exploring the retail trade of Rome in its totality, the book sheds new light on the experience of living in the ancient city.Less
Given the remarkable concentration of consumers in ancient Rome, the vast majority of whom were entirely reliant on the market for survival, a functioning retail trade was vital to the survival of the city in the late Republic and the Principate. Through an analysis of the literary, legal, epigraphic, and archaeological evidence, together with wide-ranging comparative studies of the distributive trades, this book provides a systematic account of the retail network of Rome — an area of commerce that has been largely neglected in previous studies. The diverse means by which goods were sold to consumers in the city are investigated, from shops and workshops to permanent and periodic markets, fairs, auctions, street traders, and ambulant vendors. The critical relationship between retail and broader environmental factors, including the structure and organisation of production, the wholesale trade, transport systems, social structure, cultural conventions, income levels, and patterns of consumption are all considered, placing the retail trade within the wider context of the urban economy. In exploring the retail trade of Rome in its totality, the book sheds new light on the experience of living in the ancient city.
Coopey Richard, Sean O‘Connell, and Dilwyn Porter
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780198296508
- eISBN:
- 9780191716638
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198296508.003.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of the development of the mail order industry in Britain. It argues that in order to set the history of the mail order sector in Britain, as ...
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This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of the development of the mail order industry in Britain. It argues that in order to set the history of the mail order sector in Britain, as well as the separate histories of the companies that comprised it, in an appropriate context, an approach is required that does more than simply trace changes in the pattern of demand and the corresponding supply-side responses. It is also necessary to explore the territory that lies between business history as traditionally practised, with emphasis on the organizational capacities of the firm, and the history of consumption, a sub-discipline that embraces an understanding of the social structures and cultural practices that have underpinned customer behaviour. An overview of the chapters included in this volume is presented.Less
This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of the development of the mail order industry in Britain. It argues that in order to set the history of the mail order sector in Britain, as well as the separate histories of the companies that comprised it, in an appropriate context, an approach is required that does more than simply trace changes in the pattern of demand and the corresponding supply-side responses. It is also necessary to explore the territory that lies between business history as traditionally practised, with emphasis on the organizational capacities of the firm, and the history of consumption, a sub-discipline that embraces an understanding of the social structures and cultural practices that have underpinned customer behaviour. An overview of the chapters included in this volume is presented.
Coopey Richard, Sean O‘Connell, and Dilwyn Porter
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780198296508
- eISBN:
- 9780191716638
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198296508.003.0002
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
This chapter provides a history of British mail order retailing, tracing its development from its origins in the watch clubs established by the Fattorini family and other late-19th century pioneers ...
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This chapter provides a history of British mail order retailing, tracing its development from its origins in the watch clubs established by the Fattorini family and other late-19th century pioneers through to 1939. Topics covered include general mail order retailing before 1914, mail order houses during the First World War, expansion of mail order retailing in the 1920s, and the transformation of the mail order corporate landscape in the 1930s.Less
This chapter provides a history of British mail order retailing, tracing its development from its origins in the watch clubs established by the Fattorini family and other late-19th century pioneers through to 1939. Topics covered include general mail order retailing before 1914, mail order houses during the First World War, expansion of mail order retailing in the 1920s, and the transformation of the mail order corporate landscape in the 1930s.
Coopey Richard, Sean O‘Connell, and Dilwyn Porter
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780198296508
- eISBN:
- 9780191716638
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198296508.003.0003
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
This chapter presents an account of the rapid expansion of mail order in the quarter of a century after 1950. With the outbreak of war in 1939, Britain's mail order retailers were faced with severe ...
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This chapter presents an account of the rapid expansion of mail order in the quarter of a century after 1950. With the outbreak of war in 1939, Britain's mail order retailers were faced with severe difficulties. Not only were goods in short supply but consumption was subject to rationing and other forms of restrictions. The continuing climate of economic austerity in the immediate post-war period ensured that it was not until 1950 that mail order retailing resumed an upward momentum. Thereafter, it took off, experiencing rapid growth in the 1950s and 1960s as consumer spending reached hitherto unprecedented levels and consumers took what has been called ‘the great leap forward’ into affluence.Less
This chapter presents an account of the rapid expansion of mail order in the quarter of a century after 1950. With the outbreak of war in 1939, Britain's mail order retailers were faced with severe difficulties. Not only were goods in short supply but consumption was subject to rationing and other forms of restrictions. The continuing climate of economic austerity in the immediate post-war period ensured that it was not until 1950 that mail order retailing resumed an upward momentum. Thereafter, it took off, experiencing rapid growth in the 1950s and 1960s as consumer spending reached hitherto unprecedented levels and consumers took what has been called ‘the great leap forward’ into affluence.
Coopey Richard, Sean O‘Connell, and Dilwyn Porter
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780198296508
- eISBN:
- 9780191716638
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198296508.003.0004
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
This chapter explores the role of the spare-time agent, from the watch club organizer of the late 19th century through to the working housewife and mother a century later. By the end of the 1930s, ...
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This chapter explores the role of the spare-time agent, from the watch club organizer of the late 19th century through to the working housewife and mother a century later. By the end of the 1930s, mail order retailing had begun to deal directly with the women who held the purse strings in working-class families. Agency mail order only became a significant retail phenomenon when it tapped into the rhythms of working-class women's lives. This was made possible by the creation of systems that allowed for simple credit transactions, founded upon the payment of small weekly sums out of the limited disposable income available in the majority of early 20th-century households. Equally important, the catalogues and payments were administrated by family, friends, or neighbours, who were approachable and understood both the needs and credit limitations of their customers.Less
This chapter explores the role of the spare-time agent, from the watch club organizer of the late 19th century through to the working housewife and mother a century later. By the end of the 1930s, mail order retailing had begun to deal directly with the women who held the purse strings in working-class families. Agency mail order only became a significant retail phenomenon when it tapped into the rhythms of working-class women's lives. This was made possible by the creation of systems that allowed for simple credit transactions, founded upon the payment of small weekly sums out of the limited disposable income available in the majority of early 20th-century households. Equally important, the catalogues and payments were administrated by family, friends, or neighbours, who were approachable and understood both the needs and credit limitations of their customers.
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.
Christel Lane and Jocelyn Probert
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199214815
- eISBN:
- 9780191721779
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199214815.003.0004
- Subject:
- Business and Management, International Business, Political Economy
This chapter provides an investigation of the following questions: why power passed from producers to retailers; how retailers utilize their dominance in the chain; and whether this imbalance of ...
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This chapter provides an investigation of the following questions: why power passed from producers to retailers; how retailers utilize their dominance in the chain; and whether this imbalance of power may be found in all western clothing industries. To answer these questions, the chapter covers the following aspects of the German, UK, and US clothing retail sectors: their historical development and current structure, with a focus on the evolution of different retail channels; intensified competition and firms' responses of concentration and corporatization; the move to ‘private label’/store brands and the development of direct sourcing, i.e., sourcing without using domestic middleman firms; the strategy of increased market segmentation and the differing market positions, in interaction with consumption styles, adopted in each country; the development of ‘fast fashion’ and ‘just-in-time’ sourcing; and the internationalization of sales through foreign direct investment. The final section emphasises both the enduring divergences between national retail sectors and the differential degree of power retailers hold vis-à-vis domestic ‘manufacturers’ in each country but also points to some convergence tendencies.Less
This chapter provides an investigation of the following questions: why power passed from producers to retailers; how retailers utilize their dominance in the chain; and whether this imbalance of power may be found in all western clothing industries. To answer these questions, the chapter covers the following aspects of the German, UK, and US clothing retail sectors: their historical development and current structure, with a focus on the evolution of different retail channels; intensified competition and firms' responses of concentration and corporatization; the move to ‘private label’/store brands and the development of direct sourcing, i.e., sourcing without using domestic middleman firms; the strategy of increased market segmentation and the differing market positions, in interaction with consumption styles, adopted in each country; the development of ‘fast fashion’ and ‘just-in-time’ sourcing; and the internationalization of sales through foreign direct investment. The final section emphasises both the enduring divergences between national retail sectors and the differential degree of power retailers hold vis-à-vis domestic ‘manufacturers’ in each country but also points to some convergence tendencies.
James W. Cortada
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195165883
- eISBN:
- 9780199789672
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195165883.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
This book chronicles how sixteen American industries in the manufacturing, transportation, wholesale, and retail sectors have used computers since 1950. It explores the role this technology played, ...
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This book chronicles how sixteen American industries in the manufacturing, transportation, wholesale, and retail sectors have used computers since 1950. It explores the role this technology played, how it changed the work done, and the effects on companies, industries, and the American economy. It argues that what was done within industries was fundamentally changed by the massive use of all manner of information technologies and telecommunications, creating a new digital style of working by the end of the 20th century. The book's findings are based on extensive research and it is organized by chapters describing what happened, one industry after another. This is a business history, not a history of technology.Less
This book chronicles how sixteen American industries in the manufacturing, transportation, wholesale, and retail sectors have used computers since 1950. It explores the role this technology played, how it changed the work done, and the effects on companies, industries, and the American economy. It argues that what was done within industries was fundamentally changed by the massive use of all manner of information technologies and telecommunications, creating a new digital style of working by the end of the 20th century. The book's findings are based on extensive research and it is organized by chapters describing what happened, one industry after another. This is a business history, not a history of technology.
James W. Cortada
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195165883
- eISBN:
- 9780199789672
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195165883.003.0011
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
This chapter describes how computers were used and changed the nature of work in the grocery and apparel industries and how people use the Internet to do their shopping. It also describes the extent ...
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This chapter describes how computers were used and changed the nature of work in the grocery and apparel industries and how people use the Internet to do their shopping. It also describes the extent of use of information technologies.Less
This chapter describes how computers were used and changed the nature of work in the grocery and apparel industries and how people use the Internet to do their shopping. It also describes the extent of use of information technologies.
James W. Cortada
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195165883
- eISBN:
- 9780199789672
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195165883.003.0012
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
This chapter argues that computers fundamentally changed the daily work of the American economy in the late 20th century in manufacturing, transportation, and wholesale and retail industries and ...
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This chapter argues that computers fundamentally changed the daily work of the American economy in the late 20th century in manufacturing, transportation, and wholesale and retail industries and firms. It describes the implications these changes had for management.Less
This chapter argues that computers fundamentally changed the daily work of the American economy in the late 20th century in manufacturing, transportation, and wholesale and retail industries and firms. It describes the implications these changes had for management.
Christel Lane and Jocelyn Probert
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199214815
- eISBN:
- 9780191721779
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199214815.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, International Business, Political Economy
This book studies the way that British, American, and German firms in the clothing industry (manufacturing and retail) co-ordinate and govern their global production networks/value chains. It offers ...
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This book studies the way that British, American, and German firms in the clothing industry (manufacturing and retail) co-ordinate and govern their global production networks/value chains. It offers a multi-level analysis, concerned with processes of economic interaction between international, regional, and national economic institutions and actors. This combines an analysis of international/regional regulatory systems, global markets, and conditions in the developing countries where suppliers are found with a focus on the recent development of the clothing industry in three western countries. The book's study of firms' global networks focuses on the power relationships between western producers and retailers on the one hand and between buyer firms in developed and supplier firms in developing countries on the other. The book additionally investigates their impact on labour. Utilizing over a hundred interviews in six countries on three continents, it follows the value chain from developed to developing countries and studies the many issues which confront students of globalization at the current time. The book combines theoretical perspectives from economic sociology, political economy, and management and seeks to utilise the complementary strengths of the Varieties of Capitalism (VoC) approach and that of Global Production Networks/Value Chains.Less
This book studies the way that British, American, and German firms in the clothing industry (manufacturing and retail) co-ordinate and govern their global production networks/value chains. It offers a multi-level analysis, concerned with processes of economic interaction between international, regional, and national economic institutions and actors. This combines an analysis of international/regional regulatory systems, global markets, and conditions in the developing countries where suppliers are found with a focus on the recent development of the clothing industry in three western countries. The book's study of firms' global networks focuses on the power relationships between western producers and retailers on the one hand and between buyer firms in developed and supplier firms in developing countries on the other. The book additionally investigates their impact on labour. Utilizing over a hundred interviews in six countries on three continents, it follows the value chain from developed to developing countries and studies the many issues which confront students of globalization at the current time. The book combines theoretical perspectives from economic sociology, political economy, and management and seeks to utilise the complementary strengths of the Varieties of Capitalism (VoC) approach and that of Global Production Networks/Value Chains.
Coopey Richard, Sean O‘Connell, and Dilwyn Porter
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780198296508
- eISBN:
- 9780191716638
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198296508.003.0005
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
This chapter discusses the importance of the relationship between mail order and ‘free’ consumer credit. British mail order houses helped their customers finance their purchases by allowing them ...
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This chapter discusses the importance of the relationship between mail order and ‘free’ consumer credit. British mail order houses helped their customers finance their purchases by allowing them credit, usually for a period of twenty weeks, but for up to thirty-eight weeks on some more expensive catalogue items. There was no charge to the customer for this service, the cost to the company being bundled in with the price. Here was a second feature that helped to define British mail order retailing, where installment credit sales accounted for over 80% in value of total sales in the mid-1970s.Less
This chapter discusses the importance of the relationship between mail order and ‘free’ consumer credit. British mail order houses helped their customers finance their purchases by allowing them credit, usually for a period of twenty weeks, but for up to thirty-eight weeks on some more expensive catalogue items. There was no charge to the customer for this service, the cost to the company being bundled in with the price. Here was a second feature that helped to define British mail order retailing, where installment credit sales accounted for over 80% in value of total sales in the mid-1970s.
Coopey Richard, Sean O‘Connell, and Dilwyn Porter
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780198296508
- eISBN:
- 9780191716638
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198296508.003.0009
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
This concluding chapter presents a synthesis of the topics discussed in the preceding chapters. The development of general mail order retailing in Britain is discussed, from the late 19th century to ...
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This concluding chapter presents a synthesis of the topics discussed in the preceding chapters. The development of general mail order retailing in Britain is discussed, from the late 19th century to the advent of Internet shopping. It is argued that although influenced to some extent by the American model, it is clear that British mail order retailing followed a significantly different trajectory.Less
This concluding chapter presents a synthesis of the topics discussed in the preceding chapters. The development of general mail order retailing in Britain is discussed, from the late 19th century to the advent of Internet shopping. It is argued that although influenced to some extent by the American model, it is clear that British mail order retailing followed a significantly different trajectory.
James W. Cortada
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195165883
- eISBN:
- 9780199789672
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195165883.003.0009
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
This chapter describes the size, form, presence, and role of wholesale and retail industries over the last half century in America. The chapter provides both an economic and business description of ...
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This chapter describes the size, form, presence, and role of wholesale and retail industries over the last half century in America. The chapter provides both an economic and business description of these sectors. It then describes the evolving nature of technical styles of using computing in these industries.Less
This chapter describes the size, form, presence, and role of wholesale and retail industries over the last half century in America. The chapter provides both an economic and business description of these sectors. It then describes the evolving nature of technical styles of using computing in these industries.
John A. Booth
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199289653
- eISBN:
- 9780191710964
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199289653.003.0011
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Arising from the 1948 Costa Rican civil war, a multiparty system developed in Costa Rica under a social democratic National Liberation Party (PLN) that dominated the polity for decades. Small ...
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Arising from the 1948 Costa Rican civil war, a multiparty system developed in Costa Rica under a social democratic National Liberation Party (PLN) that dominated the polity for decades. Small conservative opposition parties coalesced to win the presidency upon occasion. These merged into the Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC), which challenged the PLN for dominance within the system in the 1990s. Under stresses imposed by neo-liberalism, the Costa Rican party system destabilized in the early 2000s. This chapter traces the evolving system, examines the parties in presidential and legislative elections over time, and discusses citizen electoral participation. It examines major parties' social bases and their evolving legitimacy, organization, membership, recruitment, financing, factionalism, and interest articulation. It describes the impact for the party system of the rise of media-dominated retail electoral politics, depersonalization partisan politics, and the adoption of primary elections. The PLN stumbled badly in the elections of 1998 and especially 2002, but rallied while the PUSC — plagued by scandals in two administrations — effectively collapsed in the 2006 election. Trends suggest increasing instability and volatility of the system.Less
Arising from the 1948 Costa Rican civil war, a multiparty system developed in Costa Rica under a social democratic National Liberation Party (PLN) that dominated the polity for decades. Small conservative opposition parties coalesced to win the presidency upon occasion. These merged into the Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC), which challenged the PLN for dominance within the system in the 1990s. Under stresses imposed by neo-liberalism, the Costa Rican party system destabilized in the early 2000s. This chapter traces the evolving system, examines the parties in presidential and legislative elections over time, and discusses citizen electoral participation. It examines major parties' social bases and their evolving legitimacy, organization, membership, recruitment, financing, factionalism, and interest articulation. It describes the impact for the party system of the rise of media-dominated retail electoral politics, depersonalization partisan politics, and the adoption of primary elections. The PLN stumbled badly in the elections of 1998 and especially 2002, but rallied while the PUSC — plagued by scandals in two administrations — effectively collapsed in the 2006 election. Trends suggest increasing instability and volatility of the system.
Lucy Newton
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199226009
- eISBN:
- 9780191710315
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199226009.003.0011
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
The ‘Big Five’ banks dominated British retail banking before 1939 and provided strength and stability in the financial sector. Yet after 1945, these institutions lost their dominance as providers of ...
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The ‘Big Five’ banks dominated British retail banking before 1939 and provided strength and stability in the financial sector. Yet after 1945, these institutions lost their dominance as providers of domestic financial services due to the severe restrictions placed on their lending activity by government regulation and increasing competition from non-bank financial institutions. It was only after 1970, and the lifting of such regulation, that British retail banks were able to flourish once again. Yet the banks have not been without criticism. They have been the subject of several government enquiries which have queried their levels of competition and efficiency and how well they served the needs of consumers and the British economy. Moreover, the global financial crisis starting in 2007 put British retail banks under severe strain and brought the question of performance and regulation to the fore.Less
The ‘Big Five’ banks dominated British retail banking before 1939 and provided strength and stability in the financial sector. Yet after 1945, these institutions lost their dominance as providers of domestic financial services due to the severe restrictions placed on their lending activity by government regulation and increasing competition from non-bank financial institutions. It was only after 1970, and the lifting of such regulation, that British retail banks were able to flourish once again. Yet the banks have not been without criticism. They have been the subject of several government enquiries which have queried their levels of competition and efficiency and how well they served the needs of consumers and the British economy. Moreover, the global financial crisis starting in 2007 put British retail banks under severe strain and brought the question of performance and regulation to the fore.
Carlo Morelli
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199226009
- eISBN:
- 9780191710315
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199226009.003.0015
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
The rise of large-scale retailing represents arguably one of the success stories of British business in the second half of the 20th century. Growing consumer prosperity after the Second World War saw ...
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The rise of large-scale retailing represents arguably one of the success stories of British business in the second half of the 20th century. Growing consumer prosperity after the Second World War saw rising demand for an ever widening array of consumer products. To match these changes innovations from the United States were adopted by leading British retailers from the 1950s. A new wave of innovation emerged, this time generated from within, during the ‘Golden Age’ of retailing from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s. Thus, over the period of half a century British retailing had become a leading sector for innovation within British business. As a result by the 1990s the largest retailers were now turning to internationalization as they themselves began to transfer their own technological know-how into new markets. Charting the rise of large-scale retailing this chapter provides a theoretical basis for understanding the dynamic and innovatory nature of retailing. The chapter locates the dynamic nature of large-scale retailing in its economic role as realising the value generated higher up the supply chain. The retailing function should be understood not as creating value in commodities but in ensuring the value generated in the production processes can be released, through consumption. Retailing is an intermediary market function required for value to be realised. The chapter examines this value realisation in more detail through the history of Britain's largest food retailer, Tesco PLC. Food retailers, most notably Tesco, led the process of shifting the balance between hierarchies and markets in retailing. In so doing, dynamic and innovatory relationships emerged which are key to understanding contemporary retailing in the late 20th century.Less
The rise of large-scale retailing represents arguably one of the success stories of British business in the second half of the 20th century. Growing consumer prosperity after the Second World War saw rising demand for an ever widening array of consumer products. To match these changes innovations from the United States were adopted by leading British retailers from the 1950s. A new wave of innovation emerged, this time generated from within, during the ‘Golden Age’ of retailing from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s. Thus, over the period of half a century British retailing had become a leading sector for innovation within British business. As a result by the 1990s the largest retailers were now turning to internationalization as they themselves began to transfer their own technological know-how into new markets. Charting the rise of large-scale retailing this chapter provides a theoretical basis for understanding the dynamic and innovatory nature of retailing. The chapter locates the dynamic nature of large-scale retailing in its economic role as realising the value generated higher up the supply chain. The retailing function should be understood not as creating value in commodities but in ensuring the value generated in the production processes can be released, through consumption. Retailing is an intermediary market function required for value to be realised. The chapter examines this value realisation in more detail through the history of Britain's largest food retailer, Tesco PLC. Food retailers, most notably Tesco, led the process of shifting the balance between hierarchies and markets in retailing. In so doing, dynamic and innovatory relationships emerged which are key to understanding contemporary retailing in the late 20th century.
Alan D. Morrison and William J. Wilhelm Jr.
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199296576
- eISBN:
- 9780191712036
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199296576.003.0007
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Financial Economics
This chapter traces developments in the investment banking industry in the first half of the 20th century. It discusses the contemporary reasoning that led away from the minimal state and towards a ...
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This chapter traces developments in the investment banking industry in the first half of the 20th century. It discusses the contemporary reasoning that led away from the minimal state and towards a conception of the State as an ‘enterprise association’, in which the law serves ends rather than means. It argues that this thinking engendered a hostility towards investment banks, which was reflected in the New Deal legislation of the 1930s. Hence, it is argued that although the financing of two world wars, the emergence of retail securities investors, and the great depression of the 1920s all affected the industrial organization of investment banks, the most important influences upon the industry at this time were legal and political. The chapter then follows the legislative trail, culminating in the failed 1947-1953 anti-trust suit (US v. Morgan et. al.) that the Justice Department in the US brought against seventeen investment banks.Less
This chapter traces developments in the investment banking industry in the first half of the 20th century. It discusses the contemporary reasoning that led away from the minimal state and towards a conception of the State as an ‘enterprise association’, in which the law serves ends rather than means. It argues that this thinking engendered a hostility towards investment banks, which was reflected in the New Deal legislation of the 1930s. Hence, it is argued that although the financing of two world wars, the emergence of retail securities investors, and the great depression of the 1920s all affected the industrial organization of investment banks, the most important influences upon the industry at this time were legal and political. The chapter then follows the legislative trail, culminating in the failed 1947-1953 anti-trust suit (US v. Morgan et. al.) that the Justice Department in the US brought against seventeen investment banks.
Martin Ruef
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691162775
- eISBN:
- 9781400852642
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691162775.003.0007
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
This chapter argues that familiar paths to economic development such as investments in railroad infrastructure, banking, and market centers, produced unpredictable returns for Southern communities in ...
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This chapter argues that familiar paths to economic development such as investments in railroad infrastructure, banking, and market centers, produced unpredictable returns for Southern communities in the decades after the war. Confronted with new forms of commerce, boosters faced not only uncertainty in anticipating how much economic and demographic growth to expect from their communities, but also categorical uncertainty in deciding what paths to economic revitalization might be possible. Under conditions of profound change, the most reliable approach for postbellum communities to secure capital investments, attract new residents, and increase the production of local goods was to create organizational forms that were present in other comparable communities, thereby avoiding accusations of idiosyncrasy. This produced a remarkable pattern of economic underdevelopment, and by 1900, most small Southern towns were tied to cotton monocropping and a homogeneous pattern of retailing.Less
This chapter argues that familiar paths to economic development such as investments in railroad infrastructure, banking, and market centers, produced unpredictable returns for Southern communities in the decades after the war. Confronted with new forms of commerce, boosters faced not only uncertainty in anticipating how much economic and demographic growth to expect from their communities, but also categorical uncertainty in deciding what paths to economic revitalization might be possible. Under conditions of profound change, the most reliable approach for postbellum communities to secure capital investments, attract new residents, and increase the production of local goods was to create organizational forms that were present in other comparable communities, thereby avoiding accusations of idiosyncrasy. This produced a remarkable pattern of economic underdevelopment, and by 1900, most small Southern towns were tied to cotton monocropping and a homogeneous pattern of retailing.
Viviana A. Zelizer
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691139364
- eISBN:
- 9781400836253
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691139364.003.0020
- Subject:
- Sociology, Economic Sociology
This chapter focuses on the intersections of culture and consumption. It takes up recent investigations of consumption outside of sociology; sociological studies of consumption, outside the claimed ...
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This chapter focuses on the intersections of culture and consumption. It takes up recent investigations of consumption outside of sociology; sociological studies of consumption, outside the claimed territory of economic sociology; and consequent challenges to economic sociology. Following those three points, it reviews three different sites of consumption—households, ethnic–racial communities, and retail settings—where extensive research has recently occurred, with an eye to better integration between economic sociology and empirical studies of consumption. It argues that although cultural variation plays a significant part in consumption, it is a common mistake to suppose that consumption forms a warm cultural island in a frigid economic sea. Shared understandings and their representations—the components of culture—undergird all of economic life, from e-commerce to sweatshops.Less
This chapter focuses on the intersections of culture and consumption. It takes up recent investigations of consumption outside of sociology; sociological studies of consumption, outside the claimed territory of economic sociology; and consequent challenges to economic sociology. Following those three points, it reviews three different sites of consumption—households, ethnic–racial communities, and retail settings—where extensive research has recently occurred, with an eye to better integration between economic sociology and empirical studies of consumption. It argues that although cultural variation plays a significant part in consumption, it is a common mistake to suppose that consumption forms a warm cultural island in a frigid economic sea. Shared understandings and their representations—the components of culture—undergird all of economic life, from e-commerce to sweatshops.
