Merchants to Multinationals

Merchants to Multinationals provides the first study of the evolution of British-owned international trading companies worldwide from the late eighteenth century through to the start of the twenty-first century. 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.