Business Groups in the West
Origins, Evolution, and Resilience
Published on 22. February 2018
Book
Hardback
586 pages
978-0-19-871797-3 (ISBN)
Description
This volume aims to explore the long-term evolution of different varieties of large enterprises in today's developed economies. It focuses on the economic institution of business groups and attempts to comprehend the factors behind their rise, growth, struggle, and resilience; their behavioral and organizational characteristics; and their roles in national economic development. The volume seeks to enhance the scholarly and policy-oriented understanding of business groups in developed economies by bringing together state-of-the-art research on the characteristics and contributions of large enterprises in an evolutionary perspective.
While business groups are a dominant and critical organization model in contemporary emerging economies and have lately attracted much attention in academic circles and business presses, their counterparts in developed economies have not been systematically examined. This book aims to fill this gap in the literature and is the first scholarly attempt to explore the evolutional paths and contemporary roles of business groups in developed economies from an internationally comparative perspective. In doing so, it argues that business groups actually rose to function as a critical factor of industrial dynamics in the context of Second Industrial Revolution in the late nineteenth century. They have adapted their characteristic roles and transformed to fit to the changing market and institutional settings. As they flexibly co-evolve with the environment, the volume shows that business groups can remain as a viable organization model in the world's most advanced economies today.
While business groups are a dominant and critical organization model in contemporary emerging economies and have lately attracted much attention in academic circles and business presses, their counterparts in developed economies have not been systematically examined. This book aims to fill this gap in the literature and is the first scholarly attempt to explore the evolutional paths and contemporary roles of business groups in developed economies from an internationally comparative perspective. In doing so, it argues that business groups actually rose to function as a critical factor of industrial dynamics in the context of Second Industrial Revolution in the late nineteenth century. They have adapted their characteristic roles and transformed to fit to the changing market and institutional settings. As they flexibly co-evolve with the environment, the volume shows that business groups can remain as a viable organization model in the world's most advanced economies today.
Reviews / Votes
This is exciting original research from 12 modern Western nations, documenting the co-evolution of business groups with their ambient institutional contexts. The work makes clear that we should not think of business groups as anachronisms of the process of economic development, rather they both react to and shape the surrounding context, and therefore are likely very persistent organizational forms. This volume is of great value to scholars and policymakers alike. * Tarun Khanna, Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor, Harvard Business School and Director, Lakshmi Mittal South Asia Institute, Harvard University * This is an innovative and important book with a solid message. It demonstrates that business groups can live and prosper even in the fiercely competitive environment of advanced economies. It is reassuring to observe that business groups in advanced economies still act as value adding entities thanks to their longer-term horizons in decision making processes. I believe that this book has critical implications for the business executives of large enterprises in emerging markets. * Rahmi M. Koc, Honorary Chairman, Koc Holding A.S. * Contrary to the conventional wisdom, diversified business groups have continued to evolve and grow in many developed economies, from Continental Europe and Britain to Canada, the United States and Australia. This book provides the best analysis of the reasons why corporate diversification is so resilient even in the face of global competition and deregulation. * Mauro F. Guillen, Director of the Lauder Institute and Dr. Felix Zandman Professor of International Management, The Wharton School * Colpan and Hikino have given us a remarkable survey of an essential element in modern capitalism. They provide breadth and depth to the comparative study of the flexible business groups which played and continue to play a central role in our industrial economies. * Louis Galambos, Research Professor and Co-Director, The Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise, Johns Hopkins University *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 250 mm
Width: 175 mm
Thickness: 36 mm
Weight
1177 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-871797-3 (9780198717973)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
02/2018
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€111.99
Available for download
E-Book
02/2018
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€111.99
Available for download
Persons
Asli M. Colpan is Associate Professor of Corporate Strategy at the Graduate School of Management and Graduate School of Economics, Kyoto University, Japan; and Visiting Associate Professor at Koc University, Turkey. Previously she was the Alfred Chandler visiting scholar at Harvard Business School and visiting scholar at the Department of Political Science at MIT. Her research interests include corporate strategy, corporate governance, and especially the evolution of large enterprises in developed and emerging economies. Her work has been published in such journals as Industrial and Corporate Change, Journal of Management Studies, Strategic Management Journal, Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Business History and Corporate Governance: An International Review. She co-edited (with Takashi Hikino and James Lincoln) The Oxford Handbook of Business Groups (Oxford University Press, 2010).
Takashi Hikino is Mizuho Securities Endowed Chair Professor at the Graduate School of Management at Kyoto University, Japan; and Visiting Professor at Koc University, Turkey. His major publications include Big Business and Wealth of Nations (co-edited with Alfred D. Chandler and Franco Amatori, Cambridge University Press, 1997), Competing Policies for Competitiveness: Microeconomic Policies During the Golden Age of Capitalism (co-edited with Hideaki Miyajima and Takeo Kikkawa, Oxford University Press, 1998), The Global Chemical Industry in the Age of the Petrochemical Revolution (co-edited with Louis Galambos and Vera Zamagni, Cambridge University Press, 2006), and The Oxford Handbook of Business Groups (co-edited with Asli Colpan and James Lincoln, Oxford University Press, 2010).
Takashi Hikino is Mizuho Securities Endowed Chair Professor at the Graduate School of Management at Kyoto University, Japan; and Visiting Professor at Koc University, Turkey. His major publications include Big Business and Wealth of Nations (co-edited with Alfred D. Chandler and Franco Amatori, Cambridge University Press, 1997), Competing Policies for Competitiveness: Microeconomic Policies During the Golden Age of Capitalism (co-edited with Hideaki Miyajima and Takeo Kikkawa, Oxford University Press, 1998), The Global Chemical Industry in the Age of the Petrochemical Revolution (co-edited with Louis Galambos and Vera Zamagni, Cambridge University Press, 2006), and The Oxford Handbook of Business Groups (co-edited with Asli Colpan and James Lincoln, Oxford University Press, 2010).
Content
Part I. Concepts and Arguments
1: Asli M. Colpan and Takashi Hikino: Introduction: Business Groups Re-examined
2: Asli M. Colpan And Takashi Hikino: The Evolutionary Dynamics of Diversified Business Groups in the West: History and Theory
3: Ben Ross Schneider, Asli M. Colpan and Weihuang Wong: Politics, Institutions, and Diversified Business Groups: Comparisons Across Developed Countries
4: James R. Lincoln and Matthew Sargent: Business Groups as Networks
Part II: National Experiences of Business Groups
Group 1. Historical Frontrunners in Europe
5: Geoffrey Jones: Britain: Global Legacy and Domestic Persistence
6: Marco Becht: Belgium: The Disappearance of Large Diversified Business Groups
7: Abe De Jong and Ferry De Goey: The Netherlands: The Overlooked Variety of Big Business
8: Harm Schroeter: Germany: An Engine of Modern Economic Growth
9: Youssef Cassis: France: A Complement to Multidivisional Enterprises
Group 2. Catch-up Nations in Europe
11: Mats Larsson and Tom Petersson: Sweden: Tradition And Renewal
12: Andrea Colli and Michelangelo Vasta: Italy: Enduring Logic and Pervasive Diffusion
12: Alvaro Cuervo-Cazurra: Spain: Regulation and Ideology as Drivers for Transformation
13: Alvaro Ferreira Da Silva and Pedro Neves: Portugal: Changing Environment and Flexible Adaptation
Group 3. Western Offshoots
14: Takashi Hikino and Marcelo Bucheli: The United States in Historical Perspectives: The Strange Career of Business Groups in Industrial Development
15: David Collis, Bharat Anand and J. Yo-Jud Cheng.: The United States in Contemporary Perspectives: Evolving Forms, Strategy and Performance
16: Simon Ville: Australia: From Family Networks to Boom and Bust Groups
17: Randall Morck and Gloria Tian: Canada: The Rise and Fall and Rise and Fall Again
1: Asli M. Colpan and Takashi Hikino: Introduction: Business Groups Re-examined
2: Asli M. Colpan And Takashi Hikino: The Evolutionary Dynamics of Diversified Business Groups in the West: History and Theory
3: Ben Ross Schneider, Asli M. Colpan and Weihuang Wong: Politics, Institutions, and Diversified Business Groups: Comparisons Across Developed Countries
4: James R. Lincoln and Matthew Sargent: Business Groups as Networks
Part II: National Experiences of Business Groups
Group 1. Historical Frontrunners in Europe
5: Geoffrey Jones: Britain: Global Legacy and Domestic Persistence
6: Marco Becht: Belgium: The Disappearance of Large Diversified Business Groups
7: Abe De Jong and Ferry De Goey: The Netherlands: The Overlooked Variety of Big Business
8: Harm Schroeter: Germany: An Engine of Modern Economic Growth
9: Youssef Cassis: France: A Complement to Multidivisional Enterprises
Group 2. Catch-up Nations in Europe
11: Mats Larsson and Tom Petersson: Sweden: Tradition And Renewal
12: Andrea Colli and Michelangelo Vasta: Italy: Enduring Logic and Pervasive Diffusion
12: Alvaro Cuervo-Cazurra: Spain: Regulation and Ideology as Drivers for Transformation
13: Alvaro Ferreira Da Silva and Pedro Neves: Portugal: Changing Environment and Flexible Adaptation
Group 3. Western Offshoots
14: Takashi Hikino and Marcelo Bucheli: The United States in Historical Perspectives: The Strange Career of Business Groups in Industrial Development
15: David Collis, Bharat Anand and J. Yo-Jud Cheng.: The United States in Contemporary Perspectives: Evolving Forms, Strategy and Performance
16: Simon Ville: Australia: From Family Networks to Boom and Bust Groups
17: Randall Morck and Gloria Tian: Canada: The Rise and Fall and Rise and Fall Again