Two major debates in the literature, productivity performance and the decline of the cotton industry, are joined in the analysis presented in this article on the attempts to raise productivity through the introduction of the more looms per weaver system in cotton weaving in the inter-war years....

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,...

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...

This article extends current scholarship on the role of branding and trade marking in establishing competitive advantage. Using a case study of Danish butter exports to the British market, 1880-1914, we demonstrate that many of the technological and organisational innovations in this industry...

The investment and divestment policies of Lancashire cotton companies are examined by reference to historical financial and other archival data. Capital/product market and political/institutional constraints on entrepreneurial behaviour are evaluated. Lancashire entrepreneurs were faced with a...

This article applies accounting rates of return (ROCE) to the debate on the post-war consensus. Using a sample which contains over 39,000 company years divided between 15 manufacturing industries, we examine the speed and extent of convergence in ROCE through time, between industries, and...

In the Lancashire cotton textile industry, mule spinners were prone to a chronic and sometimes fatal skin cancer (often affecting the groin). The disease had reached epidemic proportions by the 1920s, which necessitated action by the government, employers, and trade unions. In contrast to...