Firms, Networks and Business Values
The British and American Cotton Industries since 1750

This book explores the development of the cotton industries in Britain and America in the eighteenth to twentieth centuries.

Mary B. Rose (Author)

9780521025140, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 16 March 2006

368 pages, 30 tables
23 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm, 0.549 kg

'This book explains industrial evolution in terms of divergence rather than of convergence. Its unique comparative perspective confers upon its great value and holds forth to other scholars a model for emulation.' Besprechungen

This book explores the long-term forces shaping business attitudes in the British and American cotton industries from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. Mary Rose traces social, political and developmental differences from the early stages of industrialization. She demonstrates how firms become embedded in networks, and evolve according to business values and strategies. The book examines local and regional networks, the changing competitive environment, community characteristics and national differences. Rose's findings challenge traditional views with new evidence that the character and achievements of each industry uniquely reflect local circumstances and historical experience. This is a critical synthesis of the multidisciplinary literature on the cotton textile industries of two major industrial nations and a study of the changing forces influencing decision making. An important contribution to comparative business history, this book will be of interest to graduates and scholars in all areas of business and economic history.

Acknowledgements
1. Introduction: the evolution of two industries
Part I. The Culture of Business Networks 1750–1860: 2. Industrialisation and the cotton industry in Britain and the United States
3. Family firms, networks and institutions to 1860
4. The management of labour to 1860
5. Networks and the evolution of government-industry relations to 1860
Part II. Continuity and Change: 6. Consolidation and change, 1860–1914
7. Prosperity and decay in war and peace, 1914–39
8. The turbulent years, 1939–80: the politics of decline
9. Conclusion
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Economic history [KCZ], Economics, finance, business & management [K], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], History of the Americas [HBJK], British & Irish history [HBJD1]