ABSTRACT

This shortform book presents key peer-reviewed research selected by expert series editors and contextualised by new analysis from each author on different forms of organising British industry.

With contributions on the strengths and weaknesses of the holding company structure, government organisation of industry during war time, the effects of forms of organisation on innovation, and debates over the suitability of international comparisons, this volume provides an array of fascinating insights into industrial history.

Of interest to business and economic historians, this shortform book also provides analysis and illustrative case-studies that will be valuable reading across the social sciences.

chapter |4 pages

Introduction

chapter 1|39 pages

Debates and Speculations

The Competitive and Institutional Advantages of Holding Companies: British Businesses in the Inter-War Period

chapter 2|7 pages

Debates and Speculations

Reflections on Robert Fitzgerald on Holding Companies

chapter 3|10 pages

Corporate Structures and Holding Companies in Britain

Evidence, Comparison and Appraisal

chapter |2 pages

Retrospective

Large Firms, Organizational Structures and Comparisons within Business History

chapter 4|23 pages

The Tank Producers

British Mechanical Engineering in the Great War

chapter |3 pages

Retrospective

The Tank Producers