European Business Systems
Firms and Markets in Their National Contexts
Edited by:
- Richard Whitley - Manchester Business School, UK
April 1994 | 302 pages | SAGE Publications Ltd
As Europe moves towards greater integration there is increasing recognition of national differences in European business - because of significant diversity in national cultures and social institutions affecting business systems. This book explores key characteristics of firms and markets in eight European countries - Denmark, Finland, The Netherlands and Germany compared with Britain, Sweden, Italy and France. Some contributors focus on overall business patterns in the countries concerned while others examine particular industries and sectors to consider the relationship between national influences and cross-national sector developments. To provide a European/East Asian comparison one contribution looks at firms and strategies in Japan and Hong Kong.
Richard Whitley
Introduction
PART ONE: THE COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF BUSINESS SYSTEMS
Richard Whitley
Societies, Firms and Markets
Keijo R[um]as[um]anen and Richard Whipp
National Business Recipes
PART TWO: NATIONAL BUSINESS SYSTEMS IN EUROPE
Richard Whitley
Introduction
Christel Lane
European Business Systems
Ad van Iterson and Ren[ac]e Olie
European Business Systems
Peer Hull Kristensen
Strategies Against Structure
Kari Lilja, Keijo R[um]as[um]anen and Risto Tainio
A Dominant Business Recipe
Jane Marceau
Small Country Business Systems
PART THREE: BUSINESS SYSTEMS, INDUSTRIAL SECTORS AND STRATEGIC CHOICES
Richard Whitley
Introduction
Bo Hellgren and Leif Melin
Business Systems, Industrial Wisdom and Corporate Strategies
David Knights, Glenn Morgan and Fergus Murray
Business Systems, Consumption and Change
Jacqueline O'Reilly
The Societal Construction of Labour Flexibility
J M Nishida and S G Redding
Firm Development and Diversification Strategies as Products of Economic Cultures
PART FOUR: CONCLUSION
Richard Whitley
The Comparative Study of Business Systems in Europe
`There is much to commend in this book and in Whitley's careful lexical comparisons' - Contemporary Sociology