Merchants to Multinationals: British Trading Companies in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

Merchants to Multinationals examines the evolution of multinational trading companies from the eighteenth century to the present day. During the Industrial Revolution, British merchants established overseas branches which became major trade intermediaries and subsequently engaged in foreign direct investment. Complex multinational business groups emerged controlling large investments in natural resources, processing, and services in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. While theories of the firm predict the demise over time of merchant firms, this book identifies the continued resilience of British trading companies despite the changing political and business environments of the twentieth century. Like Japanese trading companies, they 're-invented' themselves in successive generations. The competences of the trading companies resided in their information-gathering, relationship-building, human resource, and corporate governance systems. This book provides a new dimension to the literature on international business through the focus on multinational service firms and its evolutionary approach based on confidential business records.

Table of Contents:
1: Trading Companies in Theory and History 2: Foundations 3: From Trade to Investment 4: Trading in Crisis 5: Concentration and Diversification 6: Business Groups 7: Governance and Human Resources 8: External Relationships 9: Natural Resources 10: Traders as Manufacturers 11: End Game 12: Conclusion Appendix 1: Post-tax return on net capital employed of selected British trading companies, 1895-1998 Appendix 2: Pre-tax return on net capital employed of selected British trading companies, 1948-1998 Appendix 3: Sources for calculations on capital employed of British trading companies

About the Author :
Joseph C. Wilson Professor of Business Administration, Entrepreneurial Management Unit, Harvard Business School. He previously taught at the universities of Cambridge and Reading, and at the London School of Economics, in the U.K. He is the author and editor of many books and articles on the history of international business, including British Multinational Banking 1830-1990 (OUP 1993). He is a former President of both the European Business History Association and the Business History Conference of the United States, is co-editor of the journal Business History Review, and editor of the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of Business History.

Review :
`Review from previous edition new light on the vexed issues of the relationship between the City and the domestic economy, on the nature of overseas investment and imperialism, on the nature of British management and on the role of trust and knowledge in economic performance.' Martin Daunton, THES 19.01.01. `Jones is an authority on the history of multinational enterprise ... In the present volume, he turns his attention to British traders. And, what a rich subject this turns out to be. ... an archive-based work that provides information not available elsewhere.' Mira Wilkins, EH.NET `Jones is superb is showing the variety; he not only discusses the traders but also their long-standing and complex external business relationships. ... Jones is excellent in tracing the multiple problems British trading companies faced in the years of the First World War, the 1920s, the 1930s, and of the Second World War.' Mira Wilkins, EH.NET `This is a splendid book. It not only delineates the trading companies' expansion (and contraction) but also puts that story in the context of the evolving world economy.' Mira Wilkins, EH.NET `This book is original and subtle, careful to pick up nuances, and to delineate properly its topic. It is a major accomplishment. Jones is ready to generalize and to theorize, but he does not oversimplify. The book will set the reader reflecting on British economic development and the British role in the global economy. It is essential reading for every economic and business historian interested in the history of multinational enterprise, in British economic history, and also in where British business fits in the evolution of the world economy.' Mira Wilkins, EH.NET