Beyond the Firm Business Groups in International and Historical Perspective [Hardcover]

This book analyses business groups such as the Japanese keiretsu or Korean chaebol, their role in different business systems and their impact on business performance, management, and the wider society. It provides valuable historical detail, raises questions for conventional theories of the firm, offers insights into the resilient international competitiveness of Japanese companies and into the varying institutional characteristics of different business systems and cultures.

List of Contributors
List of Figures
List of Tables
Introduction,Masahiro Shimotani and Takao Shiba
1. The History and Structure of Business Groups in Japan,Masahiro Shimotani
Part I: The Corporate Complex
2. Diversification Process and the Ownership Structure of Samsung Chaebol,Chul-Kyu Kang
3. From Zaibatsu to Corporate Complexes,Kunio Suzuki
4. Structure and Strategy of Belgian Business Groups (1920-1990),Ginette Kurgan-Van Hentenryk
Part II: The Corporate Group
5. Growth via Politics: Business Groups Italian-Style,Franco Amatori
6. Business Groups in the German Electrical Industry,Wilfried Feldenkirchen
7. A Path to the Corporate Group in Japan: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and its Group Formation,Takao Shiba
Part III: Assembler-Supplier Relations
8. 'Japanese-Style' Supplier Relationships in the American Auto Industry, 1895-1920,Susan Helper and David Hochfelder
9. The Subcontracting System and Business Groups: The Case of the Japanese Automotive Industry,Hirofumi Ueda
Part IV: Japanese Business Groups
10. The Organizational Logic of Business Groups: Evidence from the Zaibatsu,Michael L. Gerlach
11. Learning to Work Together: Adaptation and the Japanese Firm,W. Mark Fruin
Afterword,Masahiro Shimotani and Takao Shiba
Index