Under which conditions do companies engage in the provision of collective goods and services if the state lacks the capacity to do so? To what extent do multinational firms engage in a 'race to the top' fostering rather than undermining regulation? The empirical analyses in the individual chapters look at business responses to some of South Africa's most pertinent governance challenges, HIV/AIDS and environmental pollution. The contributors look at firms in four industry sectors: the automotive industry, the mining industry, the food and beverage industry and the textile industry. These four sectors comprise a significant number of foreign as well as local companies, with or without brand name, which cater to different market segments within South Africa, differ in size and are exposed to varying pressure from NGOs and foreign competitors.

Given the increase in large scale mergers throughout the world, this book addresses the growing problem of restricted competition through collusion and the perennial debate surrounding the use of government subsidies for industries to further national interests. The aims of the book are threefold; firstly, to elucidate the antecedents of competition policy in the US and Europe and to demonstrate how far a convergence of principles has developed. Secondly, to outline the theory of industrial organisation as a major tool to devise an appropriate policy, and thirdly, to discuss the practice of competition policy in the US, individual European countries and the EC as a whole, in terms of collusion, mergers and vertical restraints. Manfred Neumann comprehensively explores the economic arguments that justify the need for competition policy. He considers the historical development of competition policy and the relationship between competition policy and the objectives of governmental policy as a whole. In conclusion, he argues that competition policy should be regarded as a constituent part of economic and social policy. This enlightening and comprehensive book will be of great value to students, researchers and practitioners of law, corporate strategy and industrial and political economics.

This book analyses the vertical relationships of firms in an international context. These relationships, Khalid Sekkat argues, have gained further relevance due to the notable increase in vertical specialization of production across borders in the past few years. The author discusses the objectives and instruments employed in vertical control, the reasons for the choice of instruments made and the way in which national and foreign policy and institutions interact with firms' strategy. Each chapter provides a theoretical analysis of the motivation of firms and their interactions with public policies as well as empirical evidence that underpins the theories presented. This book offers new perspectives for the analysis of the firm's vertical relationships in the global economy and will be of great interest to students and researchers as well as those working in international institutions and lawyers dealing with economic issues.

This book explores the reasons why American industry was so slow to respond to the challenge of high quality goods from Japan in the postwar period.

This work provides a consistent and empirically meaningful definition of surplus and suggests an analytical framework for studying economic growth and stagnation using that concept. The book also presents a case study of the role of surplus in economic growth. In the first part of the work, a method is developed emphasizing the links to classical economic theory and the logical flaws of the earlier works. The second part examines the role of surplus in one country, and tests the classical hypotheses about growth in the long run and in a cross-section of countries.

This dictionary is designed to make the industrial vocabulary of earlier eras understandable and accessible to contemporary investigation. It brings together in one place a great deal of information that has been widely scattered in obscure places. The specialized language of the shop, the mill, and other everyday settings, although initially familiar, becomes quite foreign in the context of general lanuage. Mulligan contends that, upon close examination of this specialized vocabulary, the lives and experiences of the early workers can be better understood, thus opening another avenue in the exploration of this country's industrial heritage. As a historical barometer reflecting the extent of change in an industry, the language of particular crafts and industries brings together the social and cultural background of the participants, and the dynamic of the activity or work.

Since its inception in the late 19th century, Britain's mail order industry both exploited and generated social networks in building its businesses. The common foundation of the sector was the agency system; Sales were made through catalogs held by agents, ordinary people in families, neighborhoods, pubs, clubs and workplaces. Through this agency system mail order firms in Britain were able to tap social networks both to build a customer base, but also to obtain vital information on credit worthiness.
In this, the first comprehensive history of the British mail order industry, the authors combine business and social history to fully explain the features and workings of this industry. They show how British general mail order industry firms such as Kay and Co., Empire Stores, Littlewoods, and Grattan grew from a range of businesses as diverse as watch sales or football pools. A range of business innovations and strategies were developed throughout the twentieth century, including technological development and labor process rationalization. Indeed, the sector was in the vanguard of many aspects of change from supply chain logistics to computerization. The social and gender profile of the home shopper also changed markedly as the industry developed. These changes are charted, from the male-dominated origins of the industry to the growing influence of women both within the firm and, more importantly, as the centre of the mail order market. The book also draws parallels and contrasts with the much more widely studied mail order industry of the United States.
The final section of the book examines the rise of internet shopping and the new challenges and opportunities it provided forthe mail order industry. Here the story is one of continuity and fracture as the established mail order companies struggle to adjust to a business environment which they had partly created, but which also rested on a new range of core competencies and technological and demographic change.

Given the increase in large scale mergers throughout the world, this book addresses the growing problem of restricted competition through collusion and the perennial debate surrounding the use of government subsidies for industries to further national interests. The aims of the book are threefold; firstly, to elucidate the antecedents of competition policy in the US and Europe and to demonstrate how far a convergence of principles has developed. Secondly, to outline the theory of industrial organisation as a major tool to devise an appropriate policy, and thirdly, to discuss the practice of competition policy in the US, individual European countries and the EC as a whole, in terms of collusion, mergers and vertical restraints. Manfred Neumann comprehensively explores the economic arguments that justify the need for competition policy. He considers the historical development of competition policy and the relationship between competition policy and the objectives of governmental policy as a whole. In conclusion, he argues that competition policy should be regarded as a constituent part of economic and social policy. This enlightening and comprehensive book will be of great value to students, researchers and practitioners of law, corporate strategy and industrial and political economics.

The blurring of boundaries between hitherto distinct scientific disciplines, technologies or markets is a common and powerful phenomenon. Subjects of this convergence often change consumer behaviours, favouring products and platforms with multiple functions. The Anticipation of Converging Industries provides a detailed focus on the triggers, drivers and consequences of convergence to create a more concise definition of convergence. This detailed analysis includes a specifically developed toolbox for 'convergence foresight', creating a forecasting method for convergence trends. With the focus on the chemical, biotechnological and pharmaceutical industries, several indicators of convergence in the areas of Nutraceuticals/Functional Foods, Cosmeceuticals and ICT are derived from samples including over 1million patents and scientific publications. By supporting this methodical approach with real world data, The Anticipation of Converging Industries is perfect for industry practitioners looking for a competitive edge in the present and for the future. Similarly, academics will find a comprehensive theoretical concept for better understanding the underlying rationale of convergence at their disposal

Economic progress in the digital knowledge society will be characterized by enormous structural change and the growth of digital services. This book focuses on the role of information and communication technologies for economic integration, networking and growth. It highlights technological and regulatory dynamics with respect to EU countries and the US and presents new policy conclusions at both the national and international levels, including welfare analysis.

The story of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., is exciting--full of struggle, determination, crisis, and heroic endeavor. Air Products grew out of the vision and drive of one individual, Leonard Pool. In the course of fifty years, Pool's precarious project has become a major, multinational corporation. Words like entrepreneurship, sales, finance, engineering, and technology are central to the history of Air Products. So too are concepts like being a late entrant to an established business, struggling to find market niches, moving into fields of endeavor, developing human resources, and breaking through to the level where economies of scale and scope would allow a secure future as a major player on a global scale. The story is one of success; plain luck at some points. But it also contains its share of hard knocks, disappointments, and mistaken strategies.

The enduring style of Air Products--its customer-focus and its emphasis on sales and growth--emerged from the interactions of Leonard Pool's personality, the engineering skills of his colleagues, and the opportunities offered by the industrial gas supplier in the world. It is also a major chemical company and a pioneer in the emerging field of environmental and energy systems. Multinational, technology-based firms like Air Products are an important part of American society and of the emerging global economy. The history of Air Products will be of value to everyone interested in the industrial gas and chemical industries, business history, entrepreneurial history, and American studies.

It is widely admitted that markets are the main driving force of the economy but governments intervention could, in some circumstances, improve on their outcomes. This book provides a structured analysis relating theoretical arguments, implementation approaches and effectiveness of industrial policy.

"United States Service Industries Handbook" is designed to bring together the wealth of information on federal data sources for services, to analyze some of the characteristics of these industries, and to inquire into some of the problems of a service-oriented economy. It examines the strenght of the service sector, the growing proportion of consumer expenditures on service products, the explosion in service sector employment, the increasing importance of services in U.S. international trade, and the inclusion of services in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Also discussed are the present status of the industry and international trade issues affecting services. In addition, this comprehensive volume includes the latest statistics for the industry, a broad bibliography, and a detailed listing of sources of data.

A book that stormed both the bestseller list and the public imagination, a book that created a genre of its own, and a book that gets at the heart of Wall Street and the '80s culture it helped define, Barbarians at the Gate has emerged twenty years after the tumultuous deal it so brilliantly recounts as a modern classic--a masterpiece of investigatory journalism and a rollicking book of corporate derring-do and financial swordsmanship.

The fight to control RJR Nabisco during October and November of 1988 was more than just the largest takeover in Wall Street history. Marked by brazen displays of ego not seen in American business for decades, it became the high point of a new gilded age and its repercussions are still being felt. The tale remains the ultimate story of greed and glory--a story and a cast of characters that determined the course of global business and redefined how deals would be done and fortunes made in the decades to come.

Barbarians at the Gate is the gripping account of these two frenzied months, of deal makers and publicity flaks, of an old-line industrial powerhouse (home of such familiar products a Oreos and Camels) that became the victim of the ruthless and rapacious style of finance in the 1980s. As reporters for The Wall Street Journal, Burrough and Helyar had extensive access to all the characters in this drama. They take the reader behind the scenes at strategy meetings and society dinners, into boardrooms and bedrooms, providing an unprecedentedly detailed look at how financial operations at the highest levels are conducted but also a richly textured social history of wealth at the twilight of the Reagan era.

At the center of the huge power struggle is RJR Nabisco's president, the high-living Ross Johnson. It's his secret plan to buy out the company that sets the frenzy in motion, attracting the country's leading takeover players: Henry Kravis, the legendary leveraged-buyout king whose entry into the fray sets off an acquisitive commotion; Peter Cohen, CEO of Shearson Lehman Hutton and Johnson's partner, who needs a victory to propel his company to an unchallenged leadership in the lucrative mergers and acquisitions field; the fiercely independent Ted Forstmann, motivated as much by honor as by his rage at the corruption he sees taking over the business he cherishes; Jim Maher and his ragtag team, struggling to regain credibility for the decimated ranks at First Boston; and an army of desperate bankers, lawyers, and accountants, all drawn inexorably to the greatest prize of their careers--and one of the greatest prizes in the history of American business.

Written with the bravado of a novel and researched with the diligence of a sweeping cultural history, Barbarians at the Gate is present at the front line of every battle of the campaign. Here is the unforgettable story of that takeover in all its brutality. In a new afterword specially commissioned for the story's 20th anniversary, Burrough and Helyar return to visit the heroes and villains of this epic story, tracing the fallout of the deal, charting the subsequent success and failure of those involved, and addressing the incredible impact this story--and the book itself--made on the world.

Exploding the curious myth that the ocean is a barrier rather than a highway for communication, this unusual interdisciplinary study examines the English Atlantic context of early American life. From the winterless Caribbean to the ice-locked Hudson Bay, maritime communications in fact usually met the legitimate expectations for frequency, speed, and safety, while increased shipping, new postal services, and newspapers hastened the exchange of news. These changes in avenues of communications reflected--and, in turn, enhanced--the political, economic, and social integration of the English Atlantic between 1675 and 1740. As Steele deftly describes the influence of physical, technological, socioeconomic, and political aspects of seaborne communication on the community, he suggests an exciting new mode of analyzing Colonial history.

Corporate Security Responsibility? focuses on the role of private business in zones of conflict. The book contributes to closing the gap between research on Global Governance and Peace and Conflict Studies. It applies a systematic research design to the study of corporate governance contributions to peace and security across a number of cases.

In the past twenty years the clusters of small enterprises proved to be among the most dynamic ways to promote the endogenous growth of local economic systems. However, the case of 'survival clusters' in developing countries is more controversial, as many international organizations and specialized government agencies have verified over their long-term experience. This book offers a new interpretative key, which we call 'a stage and eclectic approach' to the development of clusters. This approach supports public efforts to increase the effectiveness of policy-making and development operations in local contexts.

This book investigates the implications of digital technologies on the industrial and business dynamics of modern economies. In-depth studies analyse how deep-rooted work practices of the Old Economy have been dramatically challenged when confronted with the entrepreneurial wave of the New Economy. Initially the digitization of existing processes was motivated by ideas of rationalization and cost-cutting. The book convincingly shows how reaping the full benefits necessitates fundamental changes in procedures and organizational design. The effects transcend the boundaries of the firm, as established channels of interaction with old partners must be reconfigured and familiar divisions of labour rethought. The Industrial Dynamics of the New Digital Economy presents novel and detailed data showing how vast and still dominant industries of the Old Economy have responded to the new challenges and exploited the emerging opportunities of digitization in very different ways. The book offers the first theoretical framework for analysing and evaluating the different strategies chosen by industries when struggling to rebuild competitive positions in the new digitized business environment and will be of great value to academics, industrial economists and all those interested in technology, innovation and the new economy.