Managing the Business of Empire

Managing the Business of Empire

Author: Peter Burroughs

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-05-13

Total Pages: 284

ISBN-13: 1134729057

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This collection of essays honours David Fieldhouse, latterly Vere Harmsworth Professor of Imperial and Naval History at Cambridge and a foremost authority on the economics of the modern British Empire. The contributors include an impressive array of former students, colleagues, and friends, and their subjects range widely across the economic and administrative fields of British imperial history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Reflecting many of Fieldhouse's own areas of scholarly interest, the essays address economics and business, theories of imperialism, strategies of administration, and decolonization.


Book Synopsis Managing the Business of Empire by : Peter Burroughs

Download or read book Managing the Business of Empire written by Peter Burroughs and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-05-13 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of essays honours David Fieldhouse, latterly Vere Harmsworth Professor of Imperial and Naval History at Cambridge and a foremost authority on the economics of the modern British Empire. The contributors include an impressive array of former students, colleagues, and friends, and their subjects range widely across the economic and administrative fields of British imperial history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Reflecting many of Fieldhouse's own areas of scholarly interest, the essays address economics and business, theories of imperialism, strategies of administration, and decolonization.


The Business of Empire

The Business of Empire

Author: H. V. Bowen

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2005-12-22

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 1139447882

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The Business of Empire assesses the domestic impact of British imperial expansion by analysing what happened in Britain following the East India Company's acquisition of a vast territorial empire in South Asia. Drawing on a mass of hitherto unused material contained in the company's administrative and financial records, the book offers a reconstruction of the inner workings of the company as it made the remarkable transition from business to empire during the late-eighteenth century. H. V. Bowen profiles the company's stockholders and directors and examines how those in London adapted their methods, working practices, and policies to changing circumstances in India. He also explores the company's multifarious interactions with the domestic economy and society, and sheds important new light on its substantial contributions to the development of Britain's imperial state, public finances, military strength, trade and industry. This book will appeal to all those interested in imperial, economic and business history.


Book Synopsis The Business of Empire by : H. V. Bowen

Download or read book The Business of Empire written by H. V. Bowen and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2005-12-22 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Business of Empire assesses the domestic impact of British imperial expansion by analysing what happened in Britain following the East India Company's acquisition of a vast territorial empire in South Asia. Drawing on a mass of hitherto unused material contained in the company's administrative and financial records, the book offers a reconstruction of the inner workings of the company as it made the remarkable transition from business to empire during the late-eighteenth century. H. V. Bowen profiles the company's stockholders and directors and examines how those in London adapted their methods, working practices, and policies to changing circumstances in India. He also explores the company's multifarious interactions with the domestic economy and society, and sheds important new light on its substantial contributions to the development of Britain's imperial state, public finances, military strength, trade and industry. This book will appeal to all those interested in imperial, economic and business history.


From Cotton Mill to Business Empire

From Cotton Mill to Business Empire

Author: Elisabeth Köll

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2020-08-25

Total Pages: 450

ISBN-13: 1684173914

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"The demise of state-owned enterprises, the transformation of collectives into shareholding cooperatives, and the creation of investment opportunities through stock markets indicate China’s movement from a socialist, state-controlled economy toward a socialist market economy. Yet, contrary to high expectations that China’s new enterprises will become like corporations in capitalist countries, management often remains under the control of the onetime bureaucrats who ran the socialist enterprises.The concepts, definitions, and interpretations of property rights, corporate structures, and business practices in contemporary China have historical, institutional, and cultural roots. In tracing the development under founder Zhang Jian (1853–1926) and his successors of the Dasheng Cotton Mill in Nantong into a business group encompassing, among other concerns, cotton, flour, and oil mills, land development companies, and shipping firms, the author documents the growth of regional enterprises as local business empires from the 1890s until the foundation of the People’s Republic in 1949. She focuses on the legal and managerial evolution of limited-liability firms in China, particularly issues of control and accountability; the introduction and management of industrial work in the countryside; and the integration and interdependency of local, national, and international markets in Republican China."


Book Synopsis From Cotton Mill to Business Empire by : Elisabeth Köll

Download or read book From Cotton Mill to Business Empire written by Elisabeth Köll and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-08-25 with total page 450 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The demise of state-owned enterprises, the transformation of collectives into shareholding cooperatives, and the creation of investment opportunities through stock markets indicate China’s movement from a socialist, state-controlled economy toward a socialist market economy. Yet, contrary to high expectations that China’s new enterprises will become like corporations in capitalist countries, management often remains under the control of the onetime bureaucrats who ran the socialist enterprises.The concepts, definitions, and interpretations of property rights, corporate structures, and business practices in contemporary China have historical, institutional, and cultural roots. In tracing the development under founder Zhang Jian (1853–1926) and his successors of the Dasheng Cotton Mill in Nantong into a business group encompassing, among other concerns, cotton, flour, and oil mills, land development companies, and shipping firms, the author documents the growth of regional enterprises as local business empires from the 1890s until the foundation of the People’s Republic in 1949. She focuses on the legal and managerial evolution of limited-liability firms in China, particularly issues of control and accountability; the introduction and management of industrial work in the countryside; and the integration and interdependency of local, national, and international markets in Republican China."


Building a Business with a Beat: Leadership Lessons from Jazzercise—An Empire Built on Passion, Purpose, and Heart

Building a Business with a Beat: Leadership Lessons from Jazzercise—An Empire Built on Passion, Purpose, and Heart

Author: Judi Sheppard Missett

Publisher: McGraw Hill Professional

Published: 2019-06-25

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 1260441318

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Transform your passion into a profitable business—with the help of the legendary entrepreneur who turned an innovative idea into a $100 million global powerhouse. Judi Sheppard Missett is a fitness icon who, at just three years old, discovered a passion for dance that would eventually fuel a global dance fitness empire. After an early life spent honing her dancing skills and a career as a professional jazz dancer, Judi had an epiphany: why not combine the art of jazz dancing with the science of exercise to help others achieve a healthier, happier self-image and life? The wildly enthusiastic response from her first 15 students inspired her to launch Jazzercise, Inc., the world’s leading dance fitness program with a cumulative $2 billion in global sales. In Building a Business with Beat, Judi reveals for the first time the secrets behind the company’s five decades of enormous success. In addition to helping millions of men and women improve their health and well-being through the fun and fitness of dance, Judi has inspired 8,500 franchisees to achieve their dream of owning and running their own business. Now, through powerful personal stories, practical proven-successful advice and insights, Judi shares how you, too, can transform your passion into a profitable business. This inspirational guide will teach you how to: • Create a successful business by discovering and defining your larger purpose• Use your unique perspectives and abilities to enhance the lives of others • Deftly handle everyday obstacles and unplanned events• Develop an open mindset and embrace innovation and new possibilities• Inspire your staff to connect to a purpose greater than day-to-day work, and more Filled with helpful tips, smart strategies, and no-nonsense advice, this book is essential reading for anyone who has ever dreamed of creating a thriving, purpose-driven business. The author is living proof that when you’re doing what you love, it may not seem like work at all.


Book Synopsis Building a Business with a Beat: Leadership Lessons from Jazzercise—An Empire Built on Passion, Purpose, and Heart by : Judi Sheppard Missett

Download or read book Building a Business with a Beat: Leadership Lessons from Jazzercise—An Empire Built on Passion, Purpose, and Heart written by Judi Sheppard Missett and published by McGraw Hill Professional. This book was released on 2019-06-25 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Transform your passion into a profitable business—with the help of the legendary entrepreneur who turned an innovative idea into a $100 million global powerhouse. Judi Sheppard Missett is a fitness icon who, at just three years old, discovered a passion for dance that would eventually fuel a global dance fitness empire. After an early life spent honing her dancing skills and a career as a professional jazz dancer, Judi had an epiphany: why not combine the art of jazz dancing with the science of exercise to help others achieve a healthier, happier self-image and life? The wildly enthusiastic response from her first 15 students inspired her to launch Jazzercise, Inc., the world’s leading dance fitness program with a cumulative $2 billion in global sales. In Building a Business with Beat, Judi reveals for the first time the secrets behind the company’s five decades of enormous success. In addition to helping millions of men and women improve their health and well-being through the fun and fitness of dance, Judi has inspired 8,500 franchisees to achieve their dream of owning and running their own business. Now, through powerful personal stories, practical proven-successful advice and insights, Judi shares how you, too, can transform your passion into a profitable business. This inspirational guide will teach you how to: • Create a successful business by discovering and defining your larger purpose• Use your unique perspectives and abilities to enhance the lives of others • Deftly handle everyday obstacles and unplanned events• Develop an open mindset and embrace innovation and new possibilities• Inspire your staff to connect to a purpose greater than day-to-day work, and more Filled with helpful tips, smart strategies, and no-nonsense advice, this book is essential reading for anyone who has ever dreamed of creating a thriving, purpose-driven business. The author is living proof that when you’re doing what you love, it may not seem like work at all.


The Empire of Business

The Empire of Business

Author: Andrew Carnegie

Publisher: New York, Doubleday, Page

Published: 1902

Total Pages: 382

ISBN-13:

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Reprint: Originally published: New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1902.


Book Synopsis The Empire of Business by : Andrew Carnegie

Download or read book The Empire of Business written by Andrew Carnegie and published by New York, Doubleday, Page. This book was released on 1902 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reprint: Originally published: New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1902.


Foundations of Corporate Empire

Foundations of Corporate Empire

Author: Karl Moore

Publisher: Financial Times/Prentice Hall

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13:

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"The Sumerians invented temple capitalism; the Assyrians made it multinational; the Phoenicians evolved controls; the Greeks leapfrogged with an entrepreneurial model that replaced it; the Romans perfected a robust blend of autonomy and regimentation that flourished for four hundred years. Foundations of Corporate Empire puts all this under a microscope." Richard T. Pascale, associate fellow, Templeton College, University of Oxford "Foundations of Corporate Empire is a dreary title for a business book that turns out to be anything but. It is in fact a sweeping, yet remarkably readable history of globalization that marshals impressive evidence..." Report on Business Magazine From the cradles of civilization to the corporations of global economy, business empires have come and gone but the essence of economic enterprise has always been with us. This is a world in which enterprises have been shaped as much by what they are as what they do, and in which an understanding of where we've come from will aid our interpretation of where we can go. Every future has a foundation to be explored. "In this well-researched and highly readable book, Moore and Lewis persuasively argue that many of today's global economic institutions and structures are not as new as often proclaimed but the product of a long evolutionary process. Their conclusion that a historical perspective provides important clues about the future of globalization is thought provoking and worthy of broad debate." Cornelis A. de Kluyver, Dean, Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management "This fascinating book should serve as a timely reminder to those who seem to think that tomorrow can be managed with scarcely a backwards glance to yesterday. Compulsive reading for businessmen and politicians." Sir David Rowland, President, Templeton College, University of Oxford Foundations of Corporate Empire sketches the history of international business from the emergence of ancient Assyria around 2000 BC through the Phoenician, Carthaginian and Grecian periods up to the time of the Roman Imperium under Augustus, and then on to the medieval and modern eras ending with today's post-modern times. The history of these civilisations has developed around different economic models, which have regularly re-emerged across time and are still present today. Foundations of Corporate Empire looks at our past economic foundations to better understand where we are today and where we should be tomorrow. "A fascinating and important work, which deserves to be widely read." Professor Alister McGrath, Oxford University "Foundations of Corporate Empire offered me an eye-opening insight into how we have come to do business as we do. If you truly want to understand capitalism as we know it, read this book. Beyond any reasonable doubt, it proved to me the old saying that the more things change the more things stay the same." Professor D'Aveni, author of Hypercompetition: Managing the dynamics of strategic maneuvering


Book Synopsis Foundations of Corporate Empire by : Karl Moore

Download or read book Foundations of Corporate Empire written by Karl Moore and published by Financial Times/Prentice Hall. This book was released on 2000 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Sumerians invented temple capitalism; the Assyrians made it multinational; the Phoenicians evolved controls; the Greeks leapfrogged with an entrepreneurial model that replaced it; the Romans perfected a robust blend of autonomy and regimentation that flourished for four hundred years. Foundations of Corporate Empire puts all this under a microscope." Richard T. Pascale, associate fellow, Templeton College, University of Oxford "Foundations of Corporate Empire is a dreary title for a business book that turns out to be anything but. It is in fact a sweeping, yet remarkably readable history of globalization that marshals impressive evidence..." Report on Business Magazine From the cradles of civilization to the corporations of global economy, business empires have come and gone but the essence of economic enterprise has always been with us. This is a world in which enterprises have been shaped as much by what they are as what they do, and in which an understanding of where we've come from will aid our interpretation of where we can go. Every future has a foundation to be explored. "In this well-researched and highly readable book, Moore and Lewis persuasively argue that many of today's global economic institutions and structures are not as new as often proclaimed but the product of a long evolutionary process. Their conclusion that a historical perspective provides important clues about the future of globalization is thought provoking and worthy of broad debate." Cornelis A. de Kluyver, Dean, Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management "This fascinating book should serve as a timely reminder to those who seem to think that tomorrow can be managed with scarcely a backwards glance to yesterday. Compulsive reading for businessmen and politicians." Sir David Rowland, President, Templeton College, University of Oxford Foundations of Corporate Empire sketches the history of international business from the emergence of ancient Assyria around 2000 BC through the Phoenician, Carthaginian and Grecian periods up to the time of the Roman Imperium under Augustus, and then on to the medieval and modern eras ending with today's post-modern times. The history of these civilisations has developed around different economic models, which have regularly re-emerged across time and are still present today. Foundations of Corporate Empire looks at our past economic foundations to better understand where we are today and where we should be tomorrow. "A fascinating and important work, which deserves to be widely read." Professor Alister McGrath, Oxford University "Foundations of Corporate Empire offered me an eye-opening insight into how we have come to do business as we do. If you truly want to understand capitalism as we know it, read this book. Beyond any reasonable doubt, it proved to me the old saying that the more things change the more things stay the same." Professor D'Aveni, author of Hypercompetition: Managing the dynamics of strategic maneuvering


How to Build a Real Estate Empire

How to Build a Real Estate Empire

Author: Marcel Arsenault

Publisher:

Published: 2005-08-01

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 9780977073306

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This book contains the real estate investment histories of four highly successful individuals. Within this publication, the investors describe the paths they took that resulted in the creation of four separate, self-sustaining real estate empires. Self-sustaining means that the companies they started would continue to flourish without the day-to-day input of the founder. To fulfil such a qualification, the founder must have built a company consisting of a group of independent real estate entrepreneurs who are capable of managing and growing the business to the next level of success. The investors contributing to this book have achieved that goal.


Book Synopsis How to Build a Real Estate Empire by : Marcel Arsenault

Download or read book How to Build a Real Estate Empire written by Marcel Arsenault and published by . This book was released on 2005-08-01 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book contains the real estate investment histories of four highly successful individuals. Within this publication, the investors describe the paths they took that resulted in the creation of four separate, self-sustaining real estate empires. Self-sustaining means that the companies they started would continue to flourish without the day-to-day input of the founder. To fulfil such a qualification, the founder must have built a company consisting of a group of independent real estate entrepreneurs who are capable of managing and growing the business to the next level of success. The investors contributing to this book have achieved that goal.


How to Build a Goddamn Empire

How to Build a Goddamn Empire

Author: Ali Kriegsman

Publisher: Abrams

Published: 2021-04-06

Total Pages: 344

ISBN-13: 1683358090

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From the cofounder of the revolutionary brand Bulletin, a business book that demystifies the world of entrepreneurship in real-time, from the trenches Filled with heart and humor, How to Build a Goddamn Empire shares the real-world, hard-earned business wisdom of one female entrepreneur who transformed an idea into a massive, category-disrupting national brand. As a first-time and inexperienced founder, Ali Kriegsman felt like she couldn’t relate to the glossy, glamorous entrepreneurs crowding her Instagram feed. In reality, Kriegsman learned, building something from nothing is a daily fight with your imposter syndrome, a crash course in venture-capitalist speak, and, as she learned in 2020, a constant battle to weather the storm of an ever-changing marketplace. While in the thick of scaling her business, making a stressful pivot, and managing a team of employees through an unprecedented global pandemic, Kriegsman decided to write about her experience, in the hopes that it will act as a guidepost to future founders. With chapters ranging from “The Business You Start Isn’t the Business You’ll Run” to “Press ≠ Success,” Ali Kriegsman demystifies the world of entrepreneurship in real time, from the trenches. In “Hard Decisions” Kriegsman shares her experiences of managing the company through the COVID-19 crisis with heart and searing honesty. How to Build a Goddamn Empire also features words of wisdom from some of Kriegsman’s fellow female founders who have built successful companies of radically different stages and sizes. By using the questions she’s most frequently asked as her blueprint, Kriegsman offers candid insights into the nuts and bolts of building a brand from scratch—discussing early failures, picking the right cofounder, securing press, finding funding, and even staying afloat during a crisis—to give women the tools that will help take their ideas to the next level.


Book Synopsis How to Build a Goddamn Empire by : Ali Kriegsman

Download or read book How to Build a Goddamn Empire written by Ali Kriegsman and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2021-04-06 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the cofounder of the revolutionary brand Bulletin, a business book that demystifies the world of entrepreneurship in real-time, from the trenches Filled with heart and humor, How to Build a Goddamn Empire shares the real-world, hard-earned business wisdom of one female entrepreneur who transformed an idea into a massive, category-disrupting national brand. As a first-time and inexperienced founder, Ali Kriegsman felt like she couldn’t relate to the glossy, glamorous entrepreneurs crowding her Instagram feed. In reality, Kriegsman learned, building something from nothing is a daily fight with your imposter syndrome, a crash course in venture-capitalist speak, and, as she learned in 2020, a constant battle to weather the storm of an ever-changing marketplace. While in the thick of scaling her business, making a stressful pivot, and managing a team of employees through an unprecedented global pandemic, Kriegsman decided to write about her experience, in the hopes that it will act as a guidepost to future founders. With chapters ranging from “The Business You Start Isn’t the Business You’ll Run” to “Press ≠ Success,” Ali Kriegsman demystifies the world of entrepreneurship in real time, from the trenches. In “Hard Decisions” Kriegsman shares her experiences of managing the company through the COVID-19 crisis with heart and searing honesty. How to Build a Goddamn Empire also features words of wisdom from some of Kriegsman’s fellow female founders who have built successful companies of radically different stages and sizes. By using the questions she’s most frequently asked as her blueprint, Kriegsman offers candid insights into the nuts and bolts of building a brand from scratch—discussing early failures, picking the right cofounder, securing press, finding funding, and even staying afloat during a crisis—to give women the tools that will help take their ideas to the next level.


The Business of Empire

The Business of Empire

Author: Jason M. Colby

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 2011-10-27

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 080146272X

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The link between private corporations and U.S. world power has a much longer history than most people realize. Transnational firms such as the United Fruit Company represent an earlier stage of the economic and cultural globalization now taking place throughout the world. Drawing on a wide range of archival sources in the United States, Great Britain, Costa Rica, and Guatemala, Colby combines "top-down" and "bottom-up" approaches to provide new insight into the role of transnational capital, labor migration, and racial nationalism in shaping U.S. expansion into Central America and the greater Caribbean. The Business of Empire places corporate power and local context at the heart of U.S. imperial history. In the early twentieth century, U.S. influence in Central America came primarily in the form of private enterprise, above all United Fruit. Founded amid the U.S. leap into overseas empire, the company initially depended upon British West Indian laborers. When its black workforce resisted white American authority, the firm adopted a strategy of labor division by recruiting Hispanic migrants. This labor system drew the company into increased conflict with its host nations, as Central American nationalists denounced not only U.S. military interventions in the region but also American employment of black immigrants. By the 1930s, just as Washington renounced military intervention in Latin America, United Fruit pursued its own Good Neighbor Policy, which brought a reduction in its corporate colonial power and a ban on the hiring of black immigrants. The end of the company's system of labor division in turn pointed the way to the transformation of United Fruit as well as the broader U.S. empire.


Book Synopsis The Business of Empire by : Jason M. Colby

Download or read book The Business of Empire written by Jason M. Colby and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2011-10-27 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The link between private corporations and U.S. world power has a much longer history than most people realize. Transnational firms such as the United Fruit Company represent an earlier stage of the economic and cultural globalization now taking place throughout the world. Drawing on a wide range of archival sources in the United States, Great Britain, Costa Rica, and Guatemala, Colby combines "top-down" and "bottom-up" approaches to provide new insight into the role of transnational capital, labor migration, and racial nationalism in shaping U.S. expansion into Central America and the greater Caribbean. The Business of Empire places corporate power and local context at the heart of U.S. imperial history. In the early twentieth century, U.S. influence in Central America came primarily in the form of private enterprise, above all United Fruit. Founded amid the U.S. leap into overseas empire, the company initially depended upon British West Indian laborers. When its black workforce resisted white American authority, the firm adopted a strategy of labor division by recruiting Hispanic migrants. This labor system drew the company into increased conflict with its host nations, as Central American nationalists denounced not only U.S. military interventions in the region but also American employment of black immigrants. By the 1930s, just as Washington renounced military intervention in Latin America, United Fruit pursued its own Good Neighbor Policy, which brought a reduction in its corporate colonial power and a ban on the hiring of black immigrants. The end of the company's system of labor division in turn pointed the way to the transformation of United Fruit as well as the broader U.S. empire.


American Business History: a Very Short Introduction

American Business History: a Very Short Introduction

Author: Walter A. Friedman

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2020-04-15

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 0190622474

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By the early twentieth century, it became common to describe the United States as a "business civilization." President Coolidge in 1925 said, "The chief business of the American people is business." More recently, historian Sven Beckert characterized Henry Ford's massive manufactory as the embodiment of America: "While Athens had its Parthenon and Rome its Colosseum, the United States had its River Rouge Factory in Detroit..." How did business come to assume such power and cultural centrality in America? This volume explores the variety of business enterprise in the United States and analyzes its presence in the country's economy, its evolution over time, and its meaning in society. It introduces readers to formative business leaders (including Elbert Gary, Harlow Curtice, and Mary Kay Ash), leading firms (Mellon Bank, National Cash Register, Xerox), and fiction about business people (The Octopus, Babbitt, The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit). It also discusses Alfred Chandler, Joseph Schumpeter, Mira Wilkins, and others who made significant contributions to understanding of America's business history. This VSI pursues its three central themes - the evolution, scale, and culture of American business - in a chronological framework stretching from the American Revolution to today. The first theme is evolution: How has U.S. business evolved over time? How have American companies competed with one another and with foreign firms? Why have ideas about strategy and management changed? Why did business people in the mid-twentieth century celebrate an "organizational" culture promising long-term employment in the same company, while a few decades later entrepreneurship was prized? Second is scale: Why did business assume such enormous scale in the United States? Was the rise of gigantic corporations due to the industriousness of its population, or natural resources, or government policies? And third, culture: What are the characteristics of a "business civilization"? How have opinions on the meaning of business changed? In the late nineteenth century, Andrew Carnegie believed that America's numerous enterprises represented an exuberant "triumph of democracy." After World War II, however, sociologist William H. Whyte saw business culture as stultifying, and historian Richard Hofstadter wrote, "Once great men created fortunes; today a great system creates fortunate men." How did changes in the nature of business affect popular views? Walter A. Friedman provides the long view of these important developments.


Book Synopsis American Business History: a Very Short Introduction by : Walter A. Friedman

Download or read book American Business History: a Very Short Introduction written by Walter A. Friedman and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2020-04-15 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By the early twentieth century, it became common to describe the United States as a "business civilization." President Coolidge in 1925 said, "The chief business of the American people is business." More recently, historian Sven Beckert characterized Henry Ford's massive manufactory as the embodiment of America: "While Athens had its Parthenon and Rome its Colosseum, the United States had its River Rouge Factory in Detroit..." How did business come to assume such power and cultural centrality in America? This volume explores the variety of business enterprise in the United States and analyzes its presence in the country's economy, its evolution over time, and its meaning in society. It introduces readers to formative business leaders (including Elbert Gary, Harlow Curtice, and Mary Kay Ash), leading firms (Mellon Bank, National Cash Register, Xerox), and fiction about business people (The Octopus, Babbitt, The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit). It also discusses Alfred Chandler, Joseph Schumpeter, Mira Wilkins, and others who made significant contributions to understanding of America's business history. This VSI pursues its three central themes - the evolution, scale, and culture of American business - in a chronological framework stretching from the American Revolution to today. The first theme is evolution: How has U.S. business evolved over time? How have American companies competed with one another and with foreign firms? Why have ideas about strategy and management changed? Why did business people in the mid-twentieth century celebrate an "organizational" culture promising long-term employment in the same company, while a few decades later entrepreneurship was prized? Second is scale: Why did business assume such enormous scale in the United States? Was the rise of gigantic corporations due to the industriousness of its population, or natural resources, or government policies? And third, culture: What are the characteristics of a "business civilization"? How have opinions on the meaning of business changed? In the late nineteenth century, Andrew Carnegie believed that America's numerous enterprises represented an exuberant "triumph of democracy." After World War II, however, sociologist William H. Whyte saw business culture as stultifying, and historian Richard Hofstadter wrote, "Once great men created fortunes; today a great system creates fortunate men." How did changes in the nature of business affect popular views? Walter A. Friedman provides the long view of these important developments.