Free-Standing Companies in the Oil Sector in Romania and Poland Before 1948: Typologies and Competencies

Recent research on free-standing companies has focused predominantly on pre-1914 British-registered businesses. The prevailing view suggests that the post-1918 business environment no longer favoured such institutional forms and were replaced over time by tighter managerial hierarchies. In this article it is argued that free-standing companies of British and non-British origin were still active participants in the inter-war period, particularly in the oil industry of Poland and Romania. Two case studies are developed to illustrate this observation: the British Phoenix Oil & Transport Co. and the French Crédit Générale des Pétroles. This article shows how these free-standing companies integrated horizontally and vertically and evolved into new organisational structures resembling the so-called ‘classic’ multinational entities. Their viability and success over the long run depended on their ability to withstand the unfavourable financial conditions of the early 1930s, which in turn was largely shaped by country-specific conditions affecting their field of operation.