Struggling with Destiny: The Cotton Industry,Overseas Trade Policy and the Cotton Board, 1940–1959

This essay provides an institutional approach to the analysis of the Norwegian state's effort to promote industrial development between 1950 and 1980. It explores the extent to which national financial systems influence the ability of governments to intervene in industrial policy. It also explores the extent to which both the governance structures and investment strategies of Norwegian firms have been influenced by government policy. It demonstrates that the financial system is indeed a critical factor in the effective implementation of industrial policy in the period in question.     

Marketing Organisation and Policy in the Cotton Trade: M'connel & Kennedy of Manchester 1795–1835

The Japanese financial system is regarded as a key factor behind Japan's remarkable post-war growth. The main bank arrangements, linking companies with a principal source of funds, and complementary institutional networks were complex and intricate, and underpinned industrial investment and expansion. In the 1950s, the city banks, as the main banks of manufactures, were asked to supply large amounts of funds to their clients, acting as substitutes of the stock market. As their liquidity decreased, post-war reconstruction policies reduced their risk-bearing capabilities. In order to stabilise the system and to sustain the funds needed for strategic industries, the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Japan began actively to regulate the financial markets, while the Ministry of International Trade and Industry co-ordinated policy with the industrial sector. It was this system of complementary institutions, including the main banks, long-term financial institutions, and government agencies, which enabled Japan's high-speed growth.     

The Politics of Protection: An Institutional Approach to Government–Industry Relations in the British and United States Cotton Industries, 1945–73

Internationally, the establishment of the GATT marked the beginning of a shift to greater trade liberalism. Against this background the governments of developed economies have generally treated textiles as a special case. This essay focuses on the differing level of political bargaining power exerted by the cotton industry interest groups in Britain and the United States, in their quest for protection, since 1945. It demonstrates that, to understand why pressure groups in the United States gained more concessions than those in Britain, it is necessary to consider the differing institutional and political environments in which they operated and the historical forces which shaped them.     

Public Subsidy and Private Divestment: The Lancashire Cotton Textile Industry,c.1950–c.1965

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 legacy of over-capacity and a market situation that individual decisions could do little to later. Political constraints, especially in the form of taxation and regulation of overseas trade, had important influences on investment behaviour. Divisions within the Lancashire lobby weakened its political influence prior to 1959. Dividend policy and the constraint on corporate cash flow imposed by the capital markets also helped to limit the effectiveness of restructuring investments. Partial solutions from the British government could not prevent the total demise of what remained of an important regional industry.     

Cartel success and institutions. The Finnish Cotton Cartel, 1903–1939

This article uses institutional theory to interpret collusive behaviour in the pre-World War II cotton cartel in Finland. The findings do not support the optimistic view of the institutionalists about the efficiency of economic institutions in boosting cooperation. Only one (the conciliation mechanism) of the four institutions identified in the cotton cartel could check opportunism to a certain degree, although it too lacked effective enforcement characteristics. This article argues that, in cartels, the motivation to follow institutions is fundamentally different from other environments, particularly trade. Besides institutions, organisational solutions, such as a sales agency that removes individual firms' discretion over pricing decisions, are needed to enhance cartel stability.     

Banking Consolidation in Nigeria, 2000–2010

The Nigerian banking consolidation process is examined using a dynamic panel for the period 2000–2010. The Arellano and Bond (1991 Arellano , M. , & Bond , S. ( 1991 ). Some tests of specification for panel data: Monte Carlo evidence and an application to employment equations . The Review of Economic Studies , 58 , 277 – 297 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) dynamic general method of moment approach is adopted to estimate a cost function taking into account the possible endogeneity of the covariates. The main finding is that the Nigerian banking sector has benefited from the consolidation process, and specifically that foreign ownership, mergers and acquisitions, and bank size decrease costs. Directions for future research are also discussed.     

Exploring manager’s perspective of service quality strategies in Malaysian Banking Industry

In service industry, the subject of service quality remains crucial as business strive to maintain a comparative advantage in the marketplace. In aftermath of globalization, the operating environment for banking industry has become more dynamic and competitive. Banks have evolved to become diversified financial providers instead of traditional banking-only service providers. With bank placing emphasis on a mutually beneficial bank–customer relationship, customer loyalty must be pursued through repeat purchases. Central to achieving this is often the quality of services offered by the bank should satisfy the customer’s needs. This article attempts to identify any service gaps in Malaysian banking industry and to recommend effective strategies to close these service gaps from bank mangers’ and executives perspectives based on GAPs Model of Service Quality (GAPs Model). Using qualitative data collected from interviews with 30 bank managers and executives, this article provides effectives strategies to close each of the gaps in GAPs Model. It is hoped that the empirical evidences and recommendations provided in this article shed some light to management of banks to improve upon their customer service quality in order to benefit from customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and other behavioural outcomes which will lead to greater competitive advantage and profitability to the banks concerned.     

Lessons Learned: 50 Years of Information Technology in the Banking Industry – The Example of Deutsche Bank AG

Based on the lessons learned from the last 50 years, statements are derived of which the authors claim that these will continue to be valid in future: Information technology in the banking industry supports business processes – selecting and designing processes will continue to decide about economic success in future. The necessity of handling a growing business volume will still be the major driver for using new information technology in the banking industry. It will be even more important than the aim of reducing costs by automation. Industrialization of IT will also change the use of technology in the banking industry. Hence, banks do not necessarily have to run their systems alone but may outsource services if required. The definition of the major business fields will significantly influence the banks’ IT strategy and, among other factors, will decide on the market success of a bank. Technological development will have an increasing effect on the banking business, will change it, and enable new business models. Successfully dealing with technology-induced changes predominantly depends on a company’s employees.

Electronic and Information Industry in China

According to the statistics of the Customs, China's electrical machinery export and import volume was US$312.68 billion in 2002, about 30.7% increasing, accounting for 50.4% of China's total import and export volume. Among which, electronic and information products achieved an annual export of US$92.04 billion, breaking a historic record.     

Person–place congruency in the Internet Banking context

This study proposes and empirically validates a model that incorporates the interaction effects of consumer's shopping orientation (utilitarian/recreational) and attitudes towards the online store atmospheric qualities (information related cues, navigation cues, aesthetic cues) on online shopping behavior. The use of an underutilized technique for detecting interaction effects unveils the superiority of interaction effects over direct effects in explaining online shopping behavior. Results reveal significant interaction effects during the information search stage but not during the purchase stage. Furthermore, the interaction effects were significant only for utilitarian shoppers but not for the recreational ones. The results signify the distinctive nature of online shopping compared to the offline one, and the need for retailers to distinguish online and offline store atmosphere management.     

Complexity,Community Structure and Competitive Advantage within the Yorkshire Woollen Industry,c.1700–1850

The Yorkshire wool textile area was a classic dynamic industrial district between 1700 and 1850. It played a full part in the development of the new technology associated with the industrial revolution, but this was only one element in the wresting of competitive advantage from the traditional leaders of the industry in England. The woollen sector in particular showed strong continuity with the past in its business structures and institutional framework, and this helped to get communities to push for change rather than fighting it. Moreover, West Yorkshire had an extremely complex economy which, in conjunction with an open and varied social structure, created the ideal landscape for evolutionary processes to work themselves out. It is also argued that this complexity allowed the links between clothiers and merchants to act as information processing systems analogous to neural networks, and that they were capable of generating apparently intelligent strategic action at the system level without requiring central control or deliberate co-ordination.     

The Australian Mining Industry Council, 1967–75

As the long boom that followed the Second World War ended in inflation, unemployment and exchange rate instability, business peak associations became more active on a range of policy issues. Industries that had not seen value in such forms of political organisation in the past established them. Australian mining companies created the Australian Mining Industry Council (AMIC) to lobby the government over changes in the exchange rate, wages and budgetary policy, foreign investment guidelines and tariffs on imports of machinery and raw materials. In this the AMIC was often drawn into conflicts with manufacturer organisations that represented industries catering for the domestic market, whereas mining companies relied heavily on foreign investment and export sales. The AMIC was also very active in opposing attempts by government to interfere in the contractual negotiations between mining companies and overseas buyers of minerals and metals. Apart from economic policy issues, the mining industry faced challenges from the environmental movement and indigenous Aboriginal claims for land rights that placed barriers in the way of easy access to deposits. These challenges required innovative and flexible industry-wide approaches to influence government legislation and public opinion.     

The Leisure Industry In Britain, 1818–39

Economic and social historians have shown that leisure underwent a process of commercialisation in the late nineteenth century. Although there are clear signs of commercial activity in the leisure field at this time, it is the claim of this article that important developments had to wait until the inter-war years. The article examines the leisure industry of the 1920s and 1930s, and provides an empirical analysis of the industry's growth record. It is shown that the expansion of the commercialised product rested on buoyant demand and elastic supply conditions, particularly an increase in factor inputs and productivity gains.