Personal Capitalism and British Industrial Decline

Alfred D. Chandler, Jr., has maintained that the persistence of the personally managed firm in Britain may be a cause of that nation's long-run industrial decline. This article contributes to the debate over decline through a detailed exploration of the business role of personally managed firms in a strategic sector of the Second Industrial Revolution: the metal and metal-making trades of Sheffield. Our study shows that the business strategies of Sheffield firms, based on quality production and flexible technology, had close similarities to those of American companies described by scholars such as Philip Scranton. Many of the Sheffield firms were not lacking in enterprise; they demonstrated tenacity and, in certain key segments of the metal trades, enjoyed a high degree of business success. Our examination of personal capitalism in Sheffield suggests that the terms of the debate over Britain's industrial decline may require further refinement

Business · Capitalism · Economics · Industrial Revolution · Management · Market economy · Political science · Quality (philosophy · Strategic management · Tenacity (mineralogy · Art History and Market Analysis · Historical Economic and Social Studies · Law · Marketing · Scottish History and National Identity

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