Business Structure, Business Culture and the Industrial District
Subtitle: The Potteries, C. 1850-1914 (Modern Social and Economic History)
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing
Published: January 2002
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 288
ISBN-13: 9780754601760
Subjects: Business strategy; Economic history; Manufacturing industries; c 1800 to c 1900; c 1900 - c 1914; History; Business / Economics / Finance; History: World; Industries - General; Europe - Great Britain - General; England; Industrial districts; Pottery industry; Pottery, English; Staffordshire
Description: "North Staffordshire has been synonymous with the manufacture of pottery for more than 200 years. This book is the first comprehensive business history of the North Staffordshire pottery industry during a critical period in its development, from the nineteenth century to the eve of World War I. Adopting an explicitly regional perspective, the work focuses on the interaction of business structure and business culture in the context of an intensely clustered industry. Major themes include personal capitalism, networks, business strategy and technological change, each explored in terms of the rapidly changing environment faced by the industry in this period.

A detailed reconstruction of the structure of the industry is augmented by several important firm case studies, from high-class manufacturers Mintons Ltd to the auxiliary firm of Jesse Shirley & Co. Making a significant contribution to our knowledge of the potteries, the book also provides insights into the nature of industrial districts."--Jacket.