Firms, Networks and Business Values The British and American Cotton Industries since 1750

Development of the cotton industries in Britain and America in the eighteenth to twentieth centuries.

This book explores the long-term forces shaping business attitudes in the British and American cotton industries from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. Mary Rose traces social, political and developmental differences from the early stages of industrialization. She demonstrates how firms become embedded in networks, and evolve according to business values and strategies. The book examines local and regional networks, the changing competitive environment, community characteristics and national differences. Rose's findings challenge traditional views with new evidence that the character and achievements of each industry uniquely reflect local circumstances and historical experience. This is a critical synthesis of the multidisciplinary literature on the cotton textile industries of two major industrial nations and a study of the changing forces influencing decision making. An important contribution to comparative business history, this book will be of interest to graduates and scholars in all areas of business and economic history.

Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction: the evolution of two industries; Part I. The Culture of Business Networks 1750–1860: 2. Industrialisation and the cotton industry in Britain and the United States; 3. Family firms, networks and institutions to 1860; 4. The management of labour to 1860; 5. Networks and the evolution of government-industry relations to 1860; Part II. Continuity and Change: 6. Consolidation and change, 1860–1914; 7. Prosperity and decay in war and peace, 1914–39; 8. The turbulent years, 1939–80: the politics of decline; 9. Conclusion; References; Index.

This book explores the long-term forces shaping business attitudes in the British and American cotton industries from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. Mary Rose traces social, political and developmental differences to demonstrate how firms become embedded in networks, and evolve according to business values and strategies.

Mary B. Rose is Senior Lecturer in Business History in the Management School at the University of Lancaster. She is the author of The Gregs of Quarry Bank Mill (1986) and received the 1996 Alan Ball prize for her edited volumeThe Lancashire Cotton Industry: A History since 1700. She is past president of the Association of Business Historians and currently Director of the Pasold Research Fund.