ABSTRACT
This chapter examines Falconbridge's managerial structure in the 1930s and the agency problems in the organization. Subsidiaries that play a lead role in company development, like the Kristiansand refinery, are on the other hand mostly controlled through socialization, that is, informal controls. International Nickel Company (INCO) acquired the North American rights to the Hybinette process following British America Nickel Company (BANC's) bankruptcy. The most surprising finding in this study of the Kristiansand refinery may be the virtual absence of formal head office control. During the First World War INCO was pushed onto the defensive and the company now built a Canadian refinery. More important was probably the technical ingenuity of the Kristiansand staff and their ability to increase the productivity of the plant. The most surprising finding in this study of the Kristiansand refinery may be the virtual absence of formal head office control.
