Business History Research Articles

The Development of Wind Farm Businesses and the Central Control of the Smart Grid in Spain: Making a Virtue of Necessity

This paper lays out the role of the first centre in the world for the integration into the electrical grid of electricity coming from renewable energy (the Spanish acronym for which is CECRE (Centro de Control de Energías Renovables; Control Centre for Renewable Energies)) and the industrial development of large energy suppliers and wind turbine manufacturers in Spain. These two initiatives enabled the development of one of the first integrated markets for this type of energy source. The key contributions were the development of two software programs (wind management and management of solar light incidence), their visual implementation, and centralized digital control. An economic and business history approach is used to show the rise and relative failure of the Spanish wind industry during the period 2004–2015, when Spain became the fourth country after China, the US, and Germany in terms of installed capacity of renewable energy and, in relative terms, the second country after Denmark. This study is unique in that it provides an integrated vision of the reasons for the relative fall of Spain in the world ranking of wind energy producers. The methodology of the economic analysis of industrial policies makes it possible to explain the fall in the relative importance of Spain in the international panorama of wind farms.

‘We have a prodigious amount in common’. Reappraising Americanisation and circulation of knowledge in the interwar Nordic advertising industry

This article discusses the interwar collaboration in the Nordic advertising industry in relation to the literature on ‘Americanisation’ in advertising and business history. We argue that the focus on Americanisation has caused research to overlook other important arenas for sharing knowledge in the development of advertising and commercial practices in twentieth-century Europe. We show the importance of the systematic collaboration between advertising communities in the Nordic countries through which Anglo-Saxon ideas, as well as domestic experiences, were shared. The collaboration was a crucial platform for the advertising industry to achieve increased societal clout. We also find that the Nordic advertising industry, as a collective, clearly distanced themselves from continental Europe based on a perception that Anglo-Saxon and Nordic advertising shared the same foundations. The results raise questions concerning assumptions about Americanisation and the role of alternative sources of inspiration and transnational collaboration in advertising history.

Surviving in a declining industry: a new entrepreneurial history of Nihonsakari since the 1970s

The longevity of enterprises has long been an important area of research for business historians and management scholars. Nevertheless, little research has been directed towards what enables some firms to survive in a declining industry. In this article, following the new entrepreneurial history approach, we focus on Nihonsakari, a Japanese sake brewer founded in 1889, in order to analyse the concrete processes that enabled it to survive as the sake industry declined since the 1970s. We argue that the core feature propelling its longevity was the persistent co-creation processes among stakeholders that made diversification possible.

Feminist Business Praxis and Spare Rib Magazine

This article analyses the ‘business praxis’ of the feminist magazine Spare Rib, one of UK feminism’s most enduring cultural institutions. It discusses the diverse ways Spare Rib sustained itself financially (or not), with reference to the role of advertising, distribution, revenue and wages. I explore how Spare Rib developed ethical approaches to business through supporting other women-led business endeavours and attempting to balance profitability with accountability to its readership and the wider women’s movement. The provision of grant funding by the Greater London Council transformed Spare Rib’s fortunes in the early 1980s and demonstrates the ways in which the magazine operated in a market ecology comprising commercial, publicly funded and philanthropic elements. Tracing the history of radical political movements as enterprises and employers expands the existing field of business history and connects it to the history of social movements. The concept of ‘business praxis’, extending across public, private and philanthropic sectors, helps nuance simplistic talk of ‘the market’ or ‘enterprise culture’ in late twentieth-century Britain. It also expands social movement analysis, demonstrating that making money and creating employment were important though often controversial principles of radical activism.

Curating Women’s Business: A Feminist Publishing Perspective

This article takes the form of an interview with Polly Russell, the Lead Curator for Contemporary Politics and Public Life in the Manuscripts and Archives department at the British Library 2015–20, who is also British Library partner to the Business of Women’s Words project, led by interviewer Margaretta Jolly. Russell discusses if and how archival practices capture radical business histories and how they could be developed to further connect and communicate them. This includes debates over enhancing collection records, privacy, law and reputation management, and links with professional and social movement networks. She points to the creative use of archival materials from Virago, Spare Rib and other feminist publishing businesses in a digital map, radio programmes, schools and professional training workshops, and a major public exhibition at The British Library. We conclude by considering the future of the radical business archive in an age of digital technology.

Italian Migration and Entrepreneurship’s Origins in the United States of America: A Business History Analysis from the Post Second World War Period to the Present Day

Abstract The opening of international markets following World War II highlighted the differences between territories at regional and national level in terms of the attractiveness of economic activities, investment and human resources. In this context, an important aspect concerned the entrepreneurial process: businesses and entrepreneurs have played a leading role in the activation of the paths of economic growth on the product value, employment and international competitiveness. From this perspective, the study of entrepreneurial dynamics - who the entrepreneurs are, their formation, the path followed for the creation of the enterprise, socio-economic and institutional context in which they acted - becomes crucial to understand the influence of economic and social conditions in the countries of origin as well as the employment and market opportunities, infrastructures and attractiveness of the destination countries. From this point of view, the entrepreneurial path is linked to the migration process and requires a study to highlight the relationship between these two phenomena and their impacts on the development and territorial competitiveness. Starting from the analysis of the literature and researches available at national and international level, in this paper we present the first results of a quantitative and qualitative research at the Archives of the American Chamber of Commerce in Italy, as well as in other American economic institutions. The study aims to highlight the scale of the phenomenon in the Italian-Americans economic relations after World War II, the characteristics of firms with immigrant entrepreneurs, as well as the relationship between immigrant entrepreneurship and entrepreneur training. Even though the two authors share the article’s setting, please note that introduction and paragraph 1 are by Vittoria Ferrandino and paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 are by Valentina Sgro. Both of the authors wrote the conclusions.

“Feudal Barons Extracting Tribute”: Narratives of Market Power in the Australian Retail Property Sector during the 1980s

This article analyzes the ways that shopping center tenants deployed narratives to encourage government intervention in the Australian retail property sector during the 1980s. Tenants claimed that landlords were abusing their market power through a range of egregious and exploitative practices. Landlords responded with stories of their own, claiming that amateurish retailers were using isolated cases to make broad generalizations about the industry as a whole. Politicians retold retailers’ stories in Parliament, championed small business enterprise as a driver of economic growth, and produced retail leasing legislation aimed at protecting shopping center tenants. In the process, established conceptions of shopping centers were inverted. In the 1960s and 1970s they were seen as bastions of capitalist enterprise constructed by nation-building visionaries. Through stories, retailers captured the cultural legitimacy of entrepreneurship from their landlords, who were characterized as feudal barons blocking the free operation of markets they controlled. Exploring these developments offers new insights into the relational dynamics of preplanned retail environments, expands our understanding of postwar Australian retail history, and contributes to a growing historiography on the role of narrative in business history.

Corporate capers, group accounting reforms

ABSTRACT Histories of business firms, mergers and takeovers, disputes, frauds and failures have proven fruitful in observing whether accounting generally produces serviceable information in applied commercial settings. We contribute to this literature by drawing on John Preston’s 2021 biography of Robert Maxwell, and earlier biographies of the media baron, juxtaposed with evidence in Frank Partnoy’s account of the 1920s larger-than-life Swedish engineer, businessman and financier Ivar Kreuger. Cameos of other business histories are interposed to suggest these cases are not outliers. Both oversaw what was referred to as an unexpected company failure. While their founder manager actions suggest that there is nothing new under the sun, there are enduring deficiencies in the group information disclosed to interested parties using malleable standards-based accounting, especially conventional consolidation accounting. These weaknesses are known to regulators and accounting standard setters but remain effectively unaddressed. The wheeling and dealing of Maxwell and Kreuger provide the commercial equivalent of a laboratory setting, with evidence suggesting circumvention of the separate legal entity notion within corporate groups, impeding effective regulatory and governance controls. Using a hypothetical, worked example, an alternative group accounting system illustrates how disclosure of additional, more serviceable group information to interested parties would likely provide a check on the actions of a dominant manager, and further, provide a greater likelihood of identification of a company failure trajectory.

Atoms for feeding: radioisotopes from the laboratory to the market, 1946–1960

ABSTRACT The Second World War was followed by the development of the atom economy. There is no research on radioisotopes in economic and business history. This nuclear commodity stemmed from a related diversification process whose origin lay first in nuclear technology and then in reactors. This paper introduces the first stage of a technological innovation and the emergence phase of the agrarian and agro-industrial side of the businesses arising from the development of nuclear technology. The whole process highlights the early diffusion stage of product and process innovations (radioisotopes or radionuclides) and technology transfer.

Latin america school of business taught (LASBT): an initial reflexion

Enough. Is it time for the constitution of a Latin American School of Business Taught? To found it. To have our position. What contributions has Latin America made theoretically and empirically in Business, in the academic literature of Creativity, Management, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Family Business, Business History, and other related disciplines? Where are we positioned in the history of global research and academic debates?

The history of the watch business in Iraq

This a socio-historical article about the watch business in Iraq, the families that were involved in it and their contribution to the society. It discusses the introduction of clocks and watches to Iraq, as well as life and behaviour of an important segment of the Iraqi society. It also explains some of the habits, customs and traditions that characterized the Iraqi society during the end of the nineteenth century and the twentieth century, as well as some indicative political events that took place in that country.

(mis)Management of multiple tensions and coexisting conflicting dualities during restructuring: a paradox theory perspective from an emerging economy

PurposeOrganizational scholars are intrigued about stakeholders who propose multiple and conflicting ideas about what is good for their organization. Such contradictions are called paradoxical tensions. Although researchers have singled these out for analysis, focusing only on individual tensions prevents scrutiny of multiple paradoxical tensions that simultaneously emerge and how effectively organizations can manage them. In complex environments – especially during an organizational restructuring – multiple and interrelated tensions occur. Therefore, the objective in this paper is to investigate how organizations create multiple paradoxical tensions and how the combined effect of such tensions can constrain organizations during restructuring. The authors thus aim to help managers think reflectively and to plan interventions to deal with issues arising from restructuring through the lens of paradox theory.Design/methodology/approachThe authors adopted purposive sampling for an archival research-based case study of a major restructuring of a leading IT firm in India in the decade 2009–2019. This study focused on the types of paradoxes created and the response of the organization to these during the restructure. The authors identified key events using public documents and news reports from that decade. They drew on two sources of data: mainstream media coverage and third-party documents about the company. The latter included monographs and academic publications written by critics, business historians and design and management scholars.FindingsThe findings address the gaps in the literature about how reorganizing during a restructure shapes the contradictions that lead to tensions and coexisting conflicting dualities, creating paradoxes. This study provides the reader with deeper insights into belonging, organizing, learning and performing tensions – core to paradox theory – along with their short- and long-term implications for organizational restructuring. The study demonstrates organizational responses to paradox and its practical implications for managers. The paradoxical nature of cultural–structural tensions in Indian organizations continues to be researched but, by focusing on paradox theory, the authors have opened doors for future research.Originality/valueAlthough there is no dispute that effective management of tensions can facilitate organizational performance, contradictory demands that lead to tensions have only intensified as organizational environments become more global, dynamic and competitive. Paradox theory is thus valuable for understanding tensions between equally valid principles, inferences and insights. Although this paper is based on a case study, the framework proposed here can form the basis for theoretical generalizability within certain limitations. Because organizations face similar paradoxical situations under competing demands during restructuring and because paradoxes are becoming increasingly prevalent in organizations, the authors expect their propositions to apply in other cases of restructuring. However, the authors would like to caution that the model developed here should be tested and refined in other contexts to more fully establish its validity and generalizability.

Patent management and the globalization of firms: the case of Siemens (1890–1945)

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss how multinational enterprises have historically managed global patenting and to what extent the localization of patent management has supported the expansion of these enterprises. This study focuses on the electric appliance industry (one of the first industries to see the emergence of global companies) and consider the case of Siemens, a German multinational company, comparing it to General Electric (GE), an American company.Design/methodology/approachThe work adopts a global business history approach. Taking GE’s global patent-management model, described by Nishimura (2004, 2009, 2016), as the benchmark, this study analyzed Siemens’ worldwide control of its intellectual property rights between 1890 and Second World War, using German, Japanese and American primary sources.FindingsPatent management is a common means for firms to globalize and transfer technology internationally, but it can take various forms. While GE transferred patent management to its foreign subsidiaries (a process known as localization), Siemens kept worldwide patent management at its headquarters – except in Japan, where in time it transferred this activity to a joint venture. The transfer of production called for localization of patent management while focusing on exporting to other markets made it possible to keep patent management at headquarters.Originality/valuePatents are usually a source for quantitative surveys. This paper uses them to discuss how multinational companies manage property rights globally. It is the first paper to address this issue by comparing two major actors in a similar industry.

Only one way to raise capital? Colombian business groups and the dawn of internal markets

What was the relationship between the sources of capital and the creation of internal markets in business groups in Colombia? A detailed history of the evolution of ownership schemes and capital structure of the 25 largest Colombian business groups between 1950 and 1975 answers this question. The business history and varieties of capitalism literatures have identified this organisational structure as one of the key characteristics of Latin American business and economic development. Business groups in Colombia have been key players since the second half of the twentieth century, when they adopted a new organisational structure that allowed the internalisation of capital provided by new financial legislation promoted by the World Bank. Analysis of previously unknown historical evidence explains the capital structure of the group-affiliated firms. Examples of specific groups illustrate the analysis.

Block chain based agricultural supply chain-A review

The passage of a yield from the producer to the buyer is traced by a farming supply chain. A clear stage that permits organization members to farm together is a blockchain-based farming supply chain. This method eliminates the requirement for a centralized trusted authority, mediators, and business histories, growing production and security whereas sustaining extreme integrity, liability, and safety. According to the planned resolution, smart contracts are used to switch and handle all communications and dealings amongst all shareholders in the supply chain network. AgriBlockIoT is a block chain-based traceability key that comprises facts since IoT devices in the supply chain. It comprises an example of watching harvest from farmhouse to branch, as well as assessments of Ethereum and Hyperledger implementations.

Readiness for Graduate Social Work Education: Does an Undergraduate Social Work Major Make a Difference?

ABSTRACT This study assessed the extent that a large sample of MSW-level social workers perceived that their undergraduate programs prepared them for graduate social work education. A survey collected data using the Undergraduate Preparation Subscale of the Preparation for Graduate Social Work Education (PGSWE) Scale. The sample (N = 1,056) consisted of MSW graduates from CSWE-accredited social work programs in the United States. Females represented 83.6% of the sample. Most respondents (64.1%) were White, followed by Black/African American (32.5%), Latinx (1.9%), Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%), and Native American (0.5%). The remaining 0.1% of respondents were categorized as “other.” While 35.7% were undergraduate social work majors, followed by psychology (21.8%), sociology (11.7%), education (2.7%), and English (2.3%), an array of other majors was reported (25.8%), primarily business administration, liberal arts, history, political science, and criminal justice. The vast majority of respondents received their MSW degrees in the States of Tennessee (70.8%) and Florida (13.2%). The other 16% received MSW degrees in 28 other states. Most respondents (64.3%) had undergraduate degrees in majors other than social work. A surprising finding was that social work majors did not feel significantly more prepared for graduate social work education than non-social work majors. Implications are discussed regarding a need to strengthen the BSW/MSW continuum and seek evidence to guide curricular decisions in social work education.

Transmodernizing Imperial Business History

The rise of the radical right within the context of neoimperial neoliberal capitalism has been triggered by ultra-conservative revisionisms in both South and North which radicalize pasts of coloniality against the majority within and outside organizations and houses of knowledge. In this context we investigate the denial of Latin America by Unilever historiography (UH), an imperial Anglo-Dutch multinational corporation that operates in the region since 1926. We put forward a transmodern decolonial approach to foster a critical dialogue between the Euro-British and decolonial historical turns in Organizational Studies. Analysis shows that UH embodies an ambivalent pattern in Business History (BH) that has been rather ignored by both historic turns. Through this innovative/regenerative approach engaged with a majority excluded by history, we argue that the institutionalization of BH by the Anglo-American world as a post-imperial historical turn is informed by under-researched colonizing-decolonizing dynamics. With implications for research and teaching, we conclude that dynamics of appropriation-containment of “histories others” by the field of History informs the denial of Latin America by HU and global radicalization of modernity/coloniality that might be opposed by a history otherwise engaged with a growing population of Southern ‘peoples without history’ in both North and South which fosters reappropriations of the liberating side of pasts.

Migrating Family Owners and Strategic Change Performance: Unpacking the Imprinting Effects

The U.S. is an attractive melting pot for immigrants and has some of the highest domestic migration rates. A notable migration group is family business owners whose first-generation wealth makers business headquarters originated from other regions or countries. These businesses have migrated from their home headquarters, exposing their family businesses to the imprinting effects of the family migration history. This history represents an essential aspect of the family business that can influence how the family responds to environmental changes and informs their strategic performance. Using panel data from 3,369 family-firm-year observations to examine how the migration history of the family business influenced the firm’s strategic performance. Our results indicate that the family migration history of family blockholders influences a firm’s strategic performance through family governance characteristics and industry environmental uncertainty. These results illustrate how the family migration history influences the firm’s adaption and imprints onto the organization, influencing future strategic changes.

Towards a more inclusive business history: The erasure of Madeleine Parent (1918-2012).

This paper sets out to accomplish three things: introduce Madeleine Parent (1918-2012) as a key but neglected figure in the development of management thought and practice in Canada; offer a novel and highly digestible narrative which is persuasive and powerful and challenges conventional approaches to historical writing, and finally, to levy a critique on the field itself which saw fit to ignore a key player in management and organizational studies in Canada. This paper features a novel methodology called ficto-feminism, which combines aspects of collective biography, auto-ethnography and fictocriticism. Ficto-feminism is an onto-epistemological feminist approach to critical historiography which uses literary strategies and the political utility of polemics to create alternative historical account. This account challenges management history to be more inclusive of not only neglected figures, but also overlooked practices and novel approaches to research.

Bringing family firm history to light: A systematic review of history in family business research (WITHDRAWN)

Research on history-related issues in family businesses is an expanding, yet nascent field that is rife with widely dispersed, loosely connected studies about the role that the past plays in future courses of action. Integrating viewpoints from organizational history scholarship, this paper delineates the notion of rhetorical history to propose history as narratively reconstructed accounts which are used to motivate action toward a collective future-state. Based on this understanding we systematically review 52 history-related family business studies from 25 journals and 4 books. Findings from the review show that the past in family firms is embodied through a collection of intangible and tangible resources such as founders’ heritage and lega-cy, material artifacts and living memory. Our review reveals the strategies of invoking, modi-fying and inventing or selectively forgetting this embodied past and, additionally, the conse-quences history has for the future course of actions. Synthesized in an integrative framework, we unpack family firm history as an embodied and conscious resource which is malleable in use and is inseparably linked to and deeply embedded in family firm consequences. We offer four research directions particularly worthy of further exploration for developing and extend-ing theory in the field of family business history research.