Introduction

The concept of the Routledge Focus on Industrial History series was motivated by the desire of the editors to provide an outlet for articles originally published in the defunct Journal of Industrial History. By using an extensive repository of top-quality publications, the series will ensure that the authors’ findings contribute to recent debates in the field of management and industrial history. Indeed, the articles contained in these volumes will appeal to a wide audience, including business historians, economic historians and social scientists interested in longitudinal studies of the development of key industries and themes. The Routledge Focus on Industrial History series will reframe highly original material that illustrates a wide variety of themes in management and organization studies, including entrepreneurship, strategy, family business, trust, networks and international business, focusing on topics such as the growth of the firm, crisis management, governance, management and leadership. This introduction also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.