This selection of readings demonstrates the use of both descriptive analysis and quantitative methods in the study of business records. The emphasis, however, is on the role of various quantitative approaches. Part I contains articles that consider a number of questions about the methods to be used and the aims of business history research. How is the subject to be defined? What types of analysis are most useful in research? In what ways can the findings of any research he used? Part II provides a number of examples of business history writing that demonstrate the results of a quantitative approach using both Primary and secondary source material. Some of the papers concentrate on the growth and performance of firms from various sectors of the economy. Some consider features of industrial structure. Others concentrate on techniques of marketing, personnel management and the assessment of profitability. Part III focuses on the techniques of manage meat that have been used to motivate or control the development of business activity. The studies include an analysis of the role of accounting data and other types of information, aids to forecasting, market analysis and the problems of risk and uncertainty in business decision making within various contexts. The editor has not only provided an introduction to the reprinted articles but he has also included, in Part IV, several special appendices useful for future research in business history. There is a section on allowing for changes in the unit of account. Another appendix deals with the merits and limitations of financial ratio analysis. An extensive bibliography is also provided. This authoritative text was first published in 1977.

Business History and International Business are cognate subjects. There are few, if any, studies of international business that do not require a proper study of context. International business decision making must be made relevant by a considered evaluation of the circumstances surrounding that decision. This often means putting it into its historical context. The contributions that the study of international business can make to business history are the input of appropriate theory and appropriate research methods. The best international business theory can illuminate the seemingly disparate strategies of firms in given historical circumstances and can provide an integrated, overarching conceptual structure of the study of business history. The research methods used in international business are also worthy of scrutiny by business historians. The proposition of this book is that international business theory and method can complement business history. This cross-fertilization has been occurring with increasing regularity over the past few decades and this book brings together some of the fruits of this conjunction of two important intellectual domains. This book was published as a special issue of Business History.

This is the first textbook that comprehensively covers the three centuries of British business history from 1720 to the present day. Wilson argues that company culture has been the most important component in the evolution of business organisations and management practices. The influence of business culture on firms' structure, sources of finance, and the background and training of senior managers is investigated to show its pivotal importance in determining business performance.

First published in 1998, The European Yearbook of Business History publishes research and review articles in English on the history of private enterprises based in individual European countries as well as studies of transnational corporations. It also includes work on public and state corporations. Its scope is all of Europe, not merely the countries of the European Union, and its prime, but not exclusive, period of interest is the 19th and 20th centuries. The first issue includes reviews of the present state and future prospects of business history in most European countries, together with articles summarising current Japanese and American perspectives on the history of European industrial and commercial enterprises.

A new edition of a book first published in Bogotá, this English edition is a crucial addition to the literature on Latin American business history for a wider English-speaking audience, and it will be of interest to business and economic historians generally. Essays are included by leading economic historians of Latin America from the UK and from other countries. Each contributor has managed to relate the business history of a selected country to the main trends in its economic development.

This study focuses on how Chinese business organization, practice, and success have been interpreted in the historical literature. By introducing various interpretations of China's economic development (including the impact of the West, modernization, and Marxist, Weberian, and revisionist approaches), as well as Western business history theory, the book establishes a basis for constructing an appropriate framework for future research.

First published in 1999, this volume aims to reflect on the changing structure, experience and aspirations of European business as it approaches the Millennium, including chapters in issues including business scandals in the Weimar Republic, the evolution of management consultancies in Portugal and Spain and the British Public Sector. The yearbook exploits these changes by serving as a forum for debate in Europe and aims to bring work on individual countries to a wider, European audience. Responding to the challenge of globalization, cooperation within a single European market and an increasing interest in corporate governance and environmental issues, the yearbook broadens to include socio-political issues along with stimulating new types of scholarship among European business historians and new preservation strategies by business archivists.

Introduction -- Approaches and debates -- Forms of business organization -- Functions of enterprise -- Enterprise and society.

Presents an alphabetically-arranged reference to the history of business and industry in the United States. Includes selected primary source documents.