http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3 http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-2.xsd
British trading companies in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
Annotation Merchants to Multinationals examines the evolution of multinational trading companies from the eighteenth century to the present day. During the Industrial Revolution, British merchants established overseas branches which became major trade intermediaries and subsequently engaged in foreign direct investment. Complex multinational business groups emerged controlling large investments in natural resources, processing, and services in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. While theories of the firm predict the demise over time of merchant firms, this book identifies the continued resilience of British trading companies despite the changing political and business environments of the twentieth century. Like Japanese trading companies, they 're-invented' themselves in successive generations. The competences of the trading companies resided in their information-gathering, relationship-building, human resource, and corporate governance systems. This book provides a new dimension to the literature on international business through the focus on multinational service firms and its evolutionary approach based on confidential business records.
List of Figures; List of Tables; 1. Trading Companies in Theory and History; 2. Foundations; 3. From Trade to Investment; 4. Trading in Crisis; 5. Concentration and Diversification; 6. Business Groups; 7. Governance and Human Resources; 8. External Relationships; 9. Natural Resources; 10. Traders as Manufacturers; 11. End Game; 12. Conclusion; Appendix 1 Post-tax return on net capital employed of selected British trading companies, 1895-1998; Appendix 2 Pre-tax return on net capital employed of selected British trading companies, 1948-1998
Appendix 3 Sources for calculations on capital employed of British trading companiesSelect Bibliography; Index; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; J; K; L; M; N; O; P; Q; R; S; T; U; V; W; Y; Z
Includes bibliographical references and index.