Merchants to Multinationals

Merchants to Multinationals provides the first study of the evolution of British-owned international trading companies worldwide from the eighteenth century through to the present day. Geoffrey Jones analyses the complex multinational business groups which emerged, and considers the ways in which the trading companies were forced to 're-invent' themselves in order to compete in evolving political and business environments. Based on many confidential business records, this book provides a new dimension to the literature on international business.