Smiths Group (formerly Smiths Industries), part of the UK FTSE 100
index, is a global engineering company with a market capitalisation
over GBP5bn. Evolving from beginnings in the Victorian jewellery
trade, to significant market presences in the twentieth century
motor accessory, clock and watch industries, it has reinvented
itself again as a diversified international company, operating in
the medical, communications, security and engineered components
sectors. Its narrative history, illuminating the reasons for its
survival and adaptability, offers useful data and information to
aid wider research into questions such as the legitimacy of
conglomerates as a business model, the creation and maintenance of
corporate culture, issues of succession, the effects of mergers and
the questionable value placed upon targeted synergies-even the role
of serendipity. The story begins with several generations of the
Smith family amassing a fortune in retail, and then, following a
1914 stock-market flotation, describes the transition from family
run business to the development of a professionally-run managerial
enterprise. Since the 1970s it has had to face the decline of major
markets and competitive pressures, leading to the adoption of new
business lines, globalisation, and the internationalisation of its
workforce. It now has 23,000 employees across more than 50
countries-along the way shocking the markets by abandoning core
businesses and undergoing a controversial merger. Unfettered access
to company records, and interviews with former staff members,
provide insights into the strategy and management of the firm,
illuminating the rich culture of Smiths, characterised by the
frequent fostering of technical brilliance and a cast of larger
than life characters.
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