ABSTRACT
Apart from any question of the provision of finance, perhaps the feature which most discriminates between American-affiliated companies and British firms producing under US licence is that while both derive benefit from an exchange of technical and research information, only the former are directly affected, if not determined, by American entrepreneurial and managerial procedures. Already, in previous chapters, we have touched upon certain aspects of the managerial techniques adopted by US subsidiaries and Anglo-American concerns, and the impact which they have made on different sections of the British economy. Chapter 1, for example, briefly commented on the early influence exerted by such affiliates as the Westinghouse Company, British ThomsonHouston Ltd and United Beef Trust Ltd on current UK managerial techniques. Chapter 4 further outlined the various kinds of administrative and organizational relationships which might exist between parent and branch. Chapter 5 described the extent to which US managerial techniques dictated the operating methods of the UK subsidiary, and Chapter 6 examined these in the light of the competitive advantage which such techniques afforded. Chapter 7 analysed the purchasing techniques adopted by US branch plants, and the ways in which these had affected the efficiency and development of their component and raw material suppliers.
