Big Business The European Experience in the Twentieth Century [Paperback]

Youssef Cassis presents a major comparative study of big business in the three leading European nations over the course of the 20th century. Drawing on a carefully constructed sample of leading companies from the UK, France, and Germany, the author analyzes the relationship between corporate and national economic performance, the impact of national difference on business performance and practice, and the composition and influence of the business elites in each country.Big Businessis essential reading for anyone interested in the development of European business and the links between business practice and its wider social and political environment.

Part I: Big Business
1. The World of Big Business before 1914
2. From the 1920s to the 1950s
3. Recent Developments
Part II: Performances
4. Profits and Profitability
5. Survival
Part III: Business Leadership
6. Competences
7. Decision-making
Part IV: Business, Society, and Politics
8. Wealth, Status, and Power before 1914
9. Business Elites in Contemporary Europe
Conclusion
Appendix
References

This provocative book is one to be reckoned with; even scholars who hold views at odds with those Cassis puts forward will find much to ponder in this synthesizing study. --Choice