Books in the Routledge International Studies in Business History series

Shows the effect of the war on Unilever as well as the conditions in the European food, oil and fats and soap industries. This book argues that Unilever survived World War II because the group had prepared itself legally well in advance. It also explores the external conditions, which helped the company to survive the war.

This book examines the mechanisms and channels through which American managerial know-how and US management models were transferred to Europe after 1945, as well as the actual influence on European industries and regions in the 1950s and 1960s.

Britain and Japan have both achieved a position of global economic primacy. Within each state one region has served as an economic powerhouse. This book compares the two regions of Lancashire and Kansai, each chapter being jointly written by a British and Japanese scholar.

A description of the influence of the US management model on Europe after 1945 in the ROUTLEDGE INTERNATIONAL STUDIES IN BUSINESS HISTORY series. The text analyses the reaction to the US productivity drive in Europe in detail, and is Volume 6 in the series.

The financial crisis of 2008 brought new urgency to the question how best to organise national economies. This volume gives a business history perspective on the Varieties of Capitalism debate and considers the respective merits of the liberal and coordinated market economies. It looks at individual firms and business people as well as institutions and takes a long-term perspective by covering the whole 20th century. The authors examine both continuity and change with a particular focus on the Netherlands, a nation with an open economy, situated between two countries that oppose each other in the way they organize their economies: Germany and Great Britain. The Netherlands also provides an important case study with Dutch business maintaining strong links to the United States, widely considered to be the ''typical'' liberal market economy. Contributors address the main topics of the capitalism debate, including labour relations, corporate governance, the firm and its leaders, coordination between firms, innovation, multinationals as agents of change, and economic performance. They show that the Netherlands moved from a mostly liberal market economy before 1914 towards a coordinated market economy from the 1930s onwards, and - up to a certain extent - back again to a more liberal market economy. Under both varieties of capitalism the country experienced economic growth and stagnation, but a more equal division of wealth occurred in the coordinated market economy only. Wars and international economic crises offered moments for revaluation and changes of tack. This book raises questions for every country around the globe: How is change being brought about? Can one see different results from a liberal or a more coordinated market economy? And most critically: which system is more effective in bringing prosperity and enabling enough people to share in the wealth?

In contrast to widespread assessments that family enterprises lack sufficient resources and capabilities to go global, many family companies are competing successfully in an increasingly globalized business environment. Worldwide, a large number of thriving multinationals are still family-owned and/or under family control. While there is abundant literature on the phenomenon of globalization from many different disciplines, neither the literature on multinationals nor the growing field of family business studies have systematically investigated family multinationals yet. This volume is one of the first to deal explicitly with family multinationals and the role of the family in internationalization. It situates itself at the crossroads of internationalization studies on the one hand and family business research on the other. Why do families continue to play such a large role in some of the most prominent firms in emerging and mature economies? How did they manage to maintain ownership control, yet divest of unrelated business ventures? How did they internationalize yet maintain control? This book identifies the idiosyncratic strategies and structures of family multinationals in different countries and at different points in time. A comparative historical and case study approach allows us to explore the role of the family through the firms'' various internationalization pathways and understand long-term developments and path dependencies.

This volume compares the role played by State intervention in the economy in the United Kingdom and Italy. In both nations, the State played an important role as Entrepreneur in the 20th century but with different aims in each country. The crisis of 2008/2009 compels us to reconsider State intervention in the economy as a tool that cannot be undervalued.

This is the first book to summarise the 20th century economic history of the Netherlands from a business history perspective.

This book explores the connections between religion and capitalism in the context of modern Britain, offering a survey of historical controversies within religion and business and a chronology of significant events since the 1770s.

This book gives detailed account of the evolution and theory of multinational trading companies and a major contribution to our knowledge of the history and theory of international business.

Offers insights into the motivations of the Victorian women who opted to pursue enterprises of their own. This book argues that industrialization inaugurated a commercial and retail revolution that is responsible for the creation of niche markets and service industries, expanding the variety of opportunities for women.

Draws on ancient sources and modern economic theory to detail the concept of 'known world' globalization, arguing that a mixed economy existed in a variety of forms in the ancient world. This title provides an historical interpretation of the contemporary globalizing economy and a theoretical framework for the historical economic analyses.

A collection of essays, which examine women's financial activity from the early days of the stock market in eighteenth century England and the South Sea Bubble to the mid-twentieth century. It demonstrates how many women managed their own finances despite legal and social restrictions.

This volume examines the American influence on West German and Japanese industry from the 1950s to the 1970s, providing a valuable contribution to the debate on 'Americanization' from a historical and comparative perspective.

This title draws on contributions from nine Western scholars and forms one of the widest comparisons of national management techniques. It questions the growing role of management schools and how to improve links with business.

Applying certain Marxist categories of analysis to the study of American history, the central thesis of this book is that the main peculiarity of American historical development was the almost direct transition from a colonial to an imperialist economy. It is useful as a resource for students and researchers of business and American studies.

This volume explores how firms operating in industries as diverse as film making, shipping, engineering, mining, and advertising have collaborated to develop innovative services, technologies and products to reach new markets.

This volume examines the American influence on West German and Japanese industry from the 1950s to the 1970s, providing a valuable contribution to the debate on 'Americanization' from a historical and comparative perspective.

This book charts the sheer extent of women's financial management and provides for economic, social, cultural, and gender historians material grounded in empirical research essential for understanding women's place in capitalist societies.

This book provides a unique long-term analysis of the rise, consolidation, decline, and occasional re-emergence of these networks in fourteen countries across North and South America, Europe, and Asia in the 20th and early 21st centuries.

Examines trademarks and brands, and their historical role in national competitive and comparative advantage and in overall economic growth. This book provides a historical account of the contribution of brands in consumer goods to economic growth. It examine the development of trademark law, and its influence on brand strategy.

In this edited volume the editors highlight the relative importance of European actors in the globalization of technological change by documenting developments in France, Germany, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. Developments in Europe sit side by side with those in Mexico and the USA.

In this edited volume the editors highlight the relative importance of European actors in the globalization of technological change by documenting developments in France, Germany, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. Developments in Europe sit side by side with those in Mexico and the USA.

This book employs an interdisciplinary approach to analyze innovation in entrepreneurship networks from a European perspective, focusing on the best methods for combining old and new knowledge.

Combines the accounts of economists with the pictures painted by writers of fiction. This book argues that views about American big business and its effects on welfare can be reconciled; and policies derived from a combination of ideas from the business world and from those who have dissented from the story told by economists.