Business and Management

Britain's leading railway historian provides a critical examination of the Blair government's involvement in the rail industry from 1997 as they tried to deal with the UK's fragmented, privatized railways.

This book looks at the British motor industry. Why are there now no major car manufacturers in Britain? This book considers this and the surrounding issues, making valuable comparisons with overseas manufacturers operating both in the UK and abroad, which provides additional interest and insight. Based upon careful use of company archives, this book covers in particular the issues of product development, quality, design, and range.

Britain's privatized railways continue to provoke debate about the organization, financing, and development of the railway system. This important book provides an authoritative account of the progress made by British Rail prior to privatization, and a unique insight into its difficult role in the government's privatization planning from 1989. Based on free access to the British Railway Board's archives, the book provides an analysis of the main themes: a process of continuous organizational change; the existence of a persistent government audit; perennial investment restraints; the directive to reduce operating costs and improve productivity; a concern with financial performance, technological change, service quality, and the management of industrial relations; and the Board's ambiguous position as the Conservative government pressed home its privatization programme. The introduction of sector management from 1982 and the ‘Organizing for Quality’ initiative of the early 1990s, the Serpell Report on railway finances of 1983, the sale of the subsidiary businesses, the large-scale investment in the Channel Tunnel, and the obsession with safety which followed the Clapham accident of 1988, are all examined. In the conclusion, the book reviews the successes and failures of the public sector, rehearses the arguments for and against integration in the railway industry, and contrasts what many have termed ‘the golden age’ of the mid-late 1980s, when the British Rail-government relationship was arguably at its most effective, with what has happened since 1994.

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.

Every nation likes to believe myths about itself. Americans' belief in the superiority of their managerial know-how seemed to be among those most solidly based in reality. Yet, the author argues, despite its universal claims, American managerialism has never been more than a cultural peculiarity, one moreover whose claims to superiority had not been proved but assumed, on the premise that the best economy must have the best management. That premise, moreover, has not served American managerialism particularly well, for in the 1970s a gap opened up between the mystique of American management and the reality of a mediocre American managerial performance. The ‘mystique’ collapsed and those looking for best practice began to look elsewhere. The author provides a thorough examination of alternative forms of management that grew up in West Germany and Japan during the past decades. He argues that these alternative management forms have done a better job managing capitalist economies since the 1970s than has American managerialism. In fact, he asserts that American managerialism has become so dysfunctional that it threatens to undermine the prosperity of the American people, and America's role in the future world order. In the final chapter the author suggests ways that American management can follow in order to fulfil its original promise. Looking forward, he urges American management to unlearn much of the received wisdom and learn from the successes of others in order for the nation to enter the 21st century with a management equal to the social and economic challenges.

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.

As the world's political and economic leaders struggle with the aftermath of the Financial Debacle of 2008, this book asks the question: have financial crises presented opportunities to rebuild the financial system? Examining eight global financial crises since the late 19th century, this historical study offers insights into how the financial landscape — banks, governance, regulation, international cooperation, and balance of power — has been (or failed to be) reshaped after a systemic shock. It includes careful consideration of the Great Depression of the 1930s, the only experience of comparable moment to the recession of the early 21st century, yet also marked in its differences. Taking into account not only the economic and business aspects of financial crises, but also their political and socio-cultural dimensions, the book highlights both their idiosyncrasies and common features, and assesses their impact in the broader context of long-term historical development.

This is a history of how over a dozen American industries have used computers and been affected by them in the financial, telecommunications, media, and entertainment industries 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 fundamentally changed as a result of the massive use of all manner of information technologies and telecommunications. By the end of the 20th century this created a new digital style of working. It is based on extensive research and is organized by chapters describing what happened, one industry after another. This is a business history, not a history of technology.

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.