Predictions from dominant strands of the management strategy and business history literature suggest that the adoption of the multi-divisional form is associated with corporate success. There is theoretical support for this contention and, in certain non-British contexts and historical periods,...

Using accounting records and financial data for a sample of cotton companies, their individual and collective business histories between 1870 and 1914 are presented. The process of capital accumulation is advanced as a crucial ingredient of the history of Lancashire textiles. A rising class of...

This article extends Chandler's scale and scope perspective using a synthesis with accountability and governance perspectives. The article also explains how various paradigms of political economy might be accommodated within the proposed business history synthesis. Accordingly, the intended...

Debates about the role of capitalist corporations depend ultimately on their response to the enduring question of 'who controls the large modern corporation'. This article aims to identify various competing schools of thought that can be classified as 'managerialist' and 'anti-managerialist',...

This article introduces and assesses a conceptual model of institutional and corporate change. In particular it seeks to integrate strategic choice and associated corporate structure with the role of the market for corporate control (MCC) as a governance mechanism. The model is illustrated using...