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Informationen zum Autor Harold James is the Claude and Lore Kelly Professor in European Studies and Professor of History and International Affairs at Princeton University. Klappentext This history of three powerful family firms located in different European countries takes place over a period of more than two hundred years. The interplay and the changing social and legal arrangements of the families shaped the development of a European capitalism quite different from the Anglo-American variety. Qualifying claims by Alfred Chandler and David Landes that family firms tend to be dysfunctional, Harold James shows how and why these steel and engineering firms were successful over long periods of time. Indeed, he sees the family enterprise as particularly conducive to managing risk during periods of upheaval and uncertainty when both states and markets are disturbed. He also identifies the key roles played by women executives during such times. In "Family Capitalism," James tells how "iron masters" of a classical industrial cast were succeeded by new generations who wanted to shift to information-age systems technologies, and how families and firms wrestled with social and economic changes that occasionally tore them apart. Finally, the author shows how the trajectories of the firms were influenced by political, military, economic, and social events and how these firms illuminate a European model of "relationship capitalism." Zusammenfassung James tells how “iron masters“ of a classical industrial cast were succeeded by generations who wanted to shift to information-age systems technologies, and how families and firms wrestled with social and economic changes that occasionally tore them apart. The author shows how these firms illuminate a European model of “relationship capitalism.“
List of contents
Contents Figures Maps Abbreviation Introduction: The Familiarity of Capitalism Part I. The Age of the Individual 1. The Wendels and the French State 2. The Pioneer in German History 3. The Industrial Origins of the Falcks Part II. The Age of the Corporation 4. The Gutehoffnungshütte as a Joint-Stock Company 5. French Companies in Two Countries 6. An Italian Joint-Stock Company Part III. The Age of Organizationalism 7. The Politician as Businessman 8. A Family Concern 9. Models of Italian Industrial Development Part IV. The Age of the Postwar Miracle 10. A Costly Miracle in Italy 11. A New Kind of Family Togetherness 12. Postwar Reconstruction in France Part V. The Age of Globalization 13. Wendel Becomes a Conglomerate, French Style 14. The Crisis of Italian Steel 15. German Diversification and Internationalization 16. Family Capitalism and the Exit from Steel Conclusion: Family Entrepreneurship Appendix: Family Trees Notes Acknowledgments Index
