The Colonial Transition and the Decline of the East India Company, C. 1746–1784

This chapter describes the unusual transformation: the Company's loss of its commercial character. It explores the process of organizational change within the East India Company. The transformation of the East India Company underscores the dynamic, adaptive nature of global firms. After 1773, little of the Company's commercial ethos survived in India. The three breaks in the firm's internal management were irreparable. According to veteran director Laurence Sulivan in 1773, the newly appointed Governor-General, Warren Hastings, was expected to do what was biblically impossible: serve two masters - the minister and the chairman. The civilian service continued to devote greater attention to revenue administration than to acquiring piece goods, raw silk, or saltpetre. The Company continued to ferry passengers and cargoes to and from the subcontinent. India's wrenching transition to British colonial rule had many casualties. A student of business history would be right to include the for-profit East India Company among them

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