Internationalisation and Strategic Control

<p>This book is a study of the emergence of international business. It immerses itself in the topic of how companies can control income-generating assets in foreign countries, the key element often used to define a multinational enterprise, and propounds the notion that control of crucial dispositions by foreign companies can be achieved by other means than direct foreign investment – cash flow and portfolio ownership. </p><p>Internationalisation and Strategic Control analyses the extent to which a firm can control the investments of foreign companies in the field of supply and maintenance of production machinery. It achieves this through a case study of how F.L. Smidth & Co., global leaders in providing technology for the cement industry since the 1890s, managed to achieve a vital influence over, and control of, cement-producing companies in Asia in the period 1890-1938. The study examines how this strategy was promoted by some internal and external factors and circumstances, and hindered by others. </p><p>In highlighting strategic tools and initiatives other than cash flow and portfolio ownership, the book applies concepts taken from a broad range of research fields covering social science, cultural analysis, micro history, Actor-Network-Theory and industrial archaeology. It will be of interest to researchers, academics, and students in the fields of international business, business history and globalisation.</p> <p>1. The Emergence of International Business: Concepts and Approach 2. The Modern Cement Industry: its Emergence and the Role of F.L. Smidth & Co. 3. <i>Like Living on an Island… </i>Siam and Southeast Asia 1913-1925 4. <i>When China Awakens… </i>China 1890-1938 5. Samurai and Cement Factories. Japan 1922-1938 6. A Strategic Goal of Independence. India 1904-1938 7. A Robust Non-FDI Strategy</p>