This text blends economic theory with empirical evidence to chart business development over the last two centuries in the U.K., the U.S., Japan, and Australia. It addresses enduring concerns for entrepreneurs and managers and demonstrates the value of a historical perspective from which to judge present-day issues. Each chapter considers an issue of current significance, introduces theories to illuminate the topic, and discusses historical evidence and debates.

This book challenges conventional wisdom by revealing an extensive and heterogeneous community of foreign businesses in Australia before 1914. Multinational enterprise arrived predominantly from Britain, but other sender nations included the USA, France, Germany, New Zealand, and Japan. Their firms spread out across Australia from mining and pastoral communities, to portside industries and CBD precincts, and they operated broadly across mining, trading, shipping, insurance, finance, and manufacturing. They were a remarkably diverse population of firms by size, organisational form, and longevity. This is a rare study of the impact of multinationals on a host nation, particularly before World War One, and that focuses on a successful resource-based economy. Deploying a database of more than 600 firms, supported by contemporary archives and publications, the work reveals how multinational influence was contested by domestic enterprise, other foreign firms, and the strategic investments of governments in network industries. Nonetheless, foreign agency - particularly investment, knowledge and entrepreneurship - mattered in the economic development of Australia in the nineteenth as well as the twentieth centuries. This book will be of interest to students and researchers in Australian and international economic and business history, the history of economic growth and scholars of international business.

Inter-organisational activity, whether public and private sector collaborations, university and industry partnerships or joint ventures between businesses, has benefits that range from increased market efficiency to innovative product development. Yet too often such activity can founder under the weight of differing expectations and divergent interests. How Organisations Connect shows how to avoid the pitfalls and make partnerships work. The contributors, experts from a range of disciplines, demonstrate the importance of developing strategies and establishing infrastructures that enable organisations to connect, and communicate, effectively. Their insights are backed up by case studies that include an investigation of three government and community sector partnerships in Australia, Canada and New Zealand; analysis of what makes a university-industry collaboration successful; an exploration of the changing relations between central banks and governments in Australia and New Zealand throughout the twentieth century; and a study of recent innovative developments in the supply chain networks of some British consumer industries. Through economic and business theory, historical perspectives and contemporary evidence How Organisations Connect presents both fascinating research findings and practical advice.

This richly illustrated book is a detailed history of a uniquely Australasian institution, the stock and station agency. The stock and station agent was a respected and influential figure, coordinating farmers and connecting them to the outside world of banks, wool buyers and government agencies in Australasia and overseas, whose impact on export-led growth cannot be underestimated. Simon Ville examines the ways in which stock and station agents grew from their beginnings in the 1840s as pastoral finance companies to offer a wide range of support services to remote and inexperienced farming communities. In the twentieth century, the leading agents expanded their range of activities and became some of Australasia's earliest nationwide firms and biggest businesses. The Rural Entrepreneurs provides essential insights into understanding Australasia's rural history and economic development up until the end of the twentieth century.

Never before had a book been published which provides such a comprehensive study of Australian corporate leadership over the past 100 years. Written by a team of economic historians The Big End of Town, first published in 2004, is a proper business history of twentieth-century Australia. This book traces the evolution of large business enterprises in Australia, from the giants of the nineteenth century - such as Dalgety's, CSR and BHP - to the contemporary leaders in Newscorp and Qantas. It delves into why the market leaders became the major players, examines what was crucial to their success, and their roles in leading the Australian economy. By investigating their evolution this book provides a useful evaluation of the factors that have led to their competitive success and provides an essential guide for all businesses in Australia and beyond.

Never before has a book been published which provides such a comprehensive study of Australian corporate life over the past 150 years. Written by a team of economic historians Corporate Leadership in Australia is the first proper business history of Australia. This book traces the evolution of large business enterprises in Australia, from the giants of the nineteenth century – such as Dalgety’s, CSR and BHP – to the contemporary leaders in Newscorp and Telstra. It delves into why the market leaders became the major players, examines what was crucial to their success, and their roles in leading the Australian economy. By investigating their evolution this book provides a useful evaluation of the factors that have led to their competitive success and provides an essential guide for all businesses in Australia and beyond.

Australia's economic history is the story of the transformation of an indigenous economy and a small convict settlement into a nation of nearly 23 million people with advanced economic, social and political structures. It is a history of vast lands with rich, exploitable resources, of adversity in war, and of prosperity and nation building. It is also a history of human behaviour and the institutions created to harness and govern human endeavour. This account provides a systematic and comprehensive treatment of the nation's economic foundations, growth, resilience and future, in an engaging, contemporary narrative. It examines key themes such as the centrality of land and its usage, the role of migrant human capital, the tension between development and the environment, and Australia's interaction with the international economy. Written by a team of eminent economic historians, The Cambridge Economic History of Australia is the definitive study of Australia's economic past and present.