Mapping European Corporations - Strategy, Structure, Ownership and Performance

This book addresses the evolution of the strategies, structures, ownership patterns and performances of large European corporations since the early 1960s. The authors study large and small countries, in order to understand how the process of economic integration has affected the patterns of growth and the structural characteristics of the largest firms. Drawing both on extensive databases and on case studies, the contributions in this volume address the peculiar specificities of large firms in different national contexts, adopting a longitudinal, long term perspective. This volume delivers the first results of an international, collective research effort undertaken by several national teams. The 'Mapping Corporate Europe' project aims to provide a detailed account of the structural traits of the European Corporation in a framework which includes (i) a chronological analysis over 50 years, starting with the Rome treaty in 1957; (ii) geographical extension beyond previous analyses for France, Germany and the UK, by including smaller countries; (iii) firms from other industries in addition to manufacturing companies; and (iv) attention to internationalisation of European firms. These analyses form the basis of a rich description of the developments of large European corporations over the past five decades, using both qualitative and quantitative approaches.

1. Mapping strategy, structure, ownership and performance in European corporations: Introduction Andrea Colli, Abe de Jong and Martin Jes Iversen 2. Changing big business in Italy and Spain, 1973-2003: Strategic responses to a new context Veronica Binda and Andrea Colli 3. Strategic responses to global challenges: The case of European banking, 1973-2000 Mitchell Larson, Gerhard Schnyder, Gerarda Westerhuis and John Wilson 4. Strategic and structural responses to international dynamics in the open Dutch economy, 1963-2003 Abe de Jong, Keetie Sluyterman and Gerarda Westerhuis 5. Explaining corporate success: The structure and performance of British firms, 1950-84 David Higgins and Steven Toms 6. Strategic transformations in Danish and Swedish big business in an era of globalisation, 1973-2008 Martin Jes Iversen and Mats Larsson 7. The evolution of German industrial legends: The case of Baden-Wurttemberg, 1940-2007 Olaf Ehrhardt and Eric Nowak 8. Economic Orders and Formative Phases: a business historical journey through Danish capitalism 1850-2000 Martin Jes Iversen 9. More SSOP: Commentary Richard Whittington