From Monopoly to Competition: The Transformations of Alcoa, 1888-1986

ISBN-13: 9780521352611 / Angielski / Twarda / 1988 / 592 str.

George D. Smith; George David Smith

Opis

Over the past century, Alcoa has developed from a small entrepreneurial venture to a giant corporation; from a one-dimensional, owner-managed firm to a complex managerial bureaucracy; from a domestic company to a multinational enterprise. In the process, Alcoa survived a difficult transition from its long-held position as a monopolist (of aluminum production) to its current status as a firm operating in highly competitive international markets. This book presents Alcoa's history, from its beginnings as a speculative venture seeking to exploit an untested technology, through its rise to become the most successful monopoly in American history. By World War II, no other American corporation had developed its industry's markets more dramatically and then dominated them more completely. The book analyzes the undoing of Alcoa's monopoly by war and antitrust, as well as how Alcoa adapted to evolving forms of competition.

Recenzje

'… Smith has written a fascinating and thorough history of a major US company …' Ambix

Spis treści

List of charts; List of tables; List of photographs; Editor's preface; Author's preface; Note on the corporate name; 1. Invention and entrepreneurship: the electrolytic process and the establishment of The Pittsburgh Reduction Company; 2. Alcoa in context: the rise of the complex corporation; 3. Building a big business: markets, strategy, and structure through the First World War; 4. Alcoa comes of age: organization, innovation, and labor from the Roaring 20s through the Great Depression; 5. Undoing the monopoly: the Second World War and Learned Hand; 6. Alcoa's 'splendid retreat': the rise of the aluminium oligopoly, 1947–1957; 7. Magee, Close, and Harper: covering the world in aluminium, 1958–1970; 8. Responses to a changing world; Appendices; Notes; Index.