Course 2005-2006 a.y.

8248 - COMPARATIVE BUSINESS HISTORY


GM-LS - MM-LS - OSI-LS - AFC-LS - CLAPI-LS - CLEFIN-LS - CLELI-LS - CLEACC-LS - DES-LS - CLEMIT-LS - CLG-LS

Department of Social and Political Sciences

Course taught in English

Go to class group/s: 31
GM-LS (6 credits - I sem. - AI) - MM-LS (6 credits - I sem. - AI) - OSI-LS (6 credits - I sem. - AI) - AFC-LS (6 credits - I sem. - AI) - CLAPI-LS (6 credits - I sem. - AI) - CLEFIN-LS (6 credits - I sem. - AI) - CLELI-LS (6 credits - I sem. - AI) - CLEACC-LS (6 credits - I sem. - AI) - DES-LS (6 credits - I sem. - AI) - CLEMIT-LS (6 credits - I sem. - AI) - CLG-LS (6 credits - I sem. - AI)
Course Director:
FRANCO AMATORI

Classes: 31 (I sem.)
Instructors:
Class 31: FRANCO AMATORI


Course Objectives

The course focuses on the origins and evolution of the modern industrial corporation from the last decades of the 19th century until today, in a long term perspective, stressing continuities and changes, technological evolution and socio-institutional transformations - all elements which effect corporations' strategies and structures. The modern industrial corporation is studied in a comparative framework, considering the three macro-regions at the head of the world economy: the United States, Europe and Japan. A part of the course features monographic lectures, which analyse and compare in detail the different organizational models adopted by companies active in the increasingly more globalized economy.

Course Content Summary

  • The firm between the First and Second Industrial Revolution
  • The Second Industrial Revolution and the birth of the modern industrial corporation
  • Managerial capitalism: the USA
  • The "European relative": Great Britain
  • Cooperative capitalism: Germany
  • The country of the "noyeaux durs": France
  • Squaring the circle: Japan
  • Between State and families: Italian corporations

Detailed Description of Assessment Methods

Student evaluation consists of an oral exam covering the course contents and also a paper that can be the result of individual effort or group work (maximum 4 people).


Textbooks

  • J. MICKLETHWAIT, A. WOOLRIDGE, The company. A short history of a revolutionary idea, London, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2003.
  • Additional readings will be indicated during the course.
Exam textbooks & Online Articles (check availability at the Library)
Last change 31/03/2005 00:00