Management and Business in Britain and France The Age of the Corporate Economy (1850-1990)

by Cassis, Youssef; Crouzet, François; Gourvish, Terry

• ISBN13: 9780198289401
• ISBN10: 0198289405
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1995-12-21
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

For generations, the uneasy relationship between Britain and France has captured the popular and scholarly imagination. Comparative studies between the two countries abound, from political systems to eating habits: so far they have not extended to business history. There is now growing interest in comparative business systems, practices, and performance. In these areas comparison with America, Germany, or Japan have taken precedence. This volume, with contributions from leading British and French experts, explores comparative developments and trends in the two countries which for so long were the guiding lights of Europe and the world. In particular it looks at three main dimensions - the family firm; education and training; and mergers and company structure. With a mixture of case-studies, sectoral analysis, and wider-ranging comparison, the book will be a useful addition to an understanding of the evolution of business organization, competitiveness, and performance.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. v
List of Contributors	p. xii
Divergence and Convergence in British and French Business in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries	p. 1
The Family Firm	p. 29
Ownership, Organization, and Management: British Business and the Branded Consumer Goods Industries	p. 31
Mass Retailing: a Last Chance for the Family Firm in France, 1945-90?	p. 52
Christofle: a Family Firm	p. 72
Standard Motors 1945-55 and the Post-War Malaise of British Management	p. 88
Education and Training	p. 109
French Influences on Technical and Managerial Education in England, 1870-1940	p. 111
From Inheritors to Managers: the École Des Hautes Études Commerciales and Business Firms	p. 128
Training Electrical Engineers in France, 1880-1939	p. 147
Engineers in the Boardroom: Britain and France Compared	p. 159
Mergers and Survivals	p. 169
An Impossible Merger? the French Chemical Industry in the 1920s	p. 171
Mergers and the Transformation of the British Brewing Industry, 1914-80	p. 191
Paribas and the Rationalization of the French Electricity Industry, 1900-30	p. 204
Big Business in Britain and France, 1890-1990	p. 214
Index	p. 227
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