The Alternative Business History: Business in Emerging Markets

Abstract

This article suggests that the business history of emerging markets should be seen as an alternative business history, rather than merely adding new settings to explore established core debates. The discipline of business history evolved around the corporate strategies and structures of developed economies. The growing literature on the business history of emerging markets addresses contexts that are different from those of developed markets. These regions had long eras of foreign domination, had extensive state intervention, faced institutional inefficiencies, and experienced extended turbulence. This article suggests that this context drove different business responses than are found in the developed world. Entrepreneurs counted more than managerial hierarchies; immigrants and diaspora were critical sources of entrepreneurship; illegal and informal forms of business were common; diversified business groups rather than the M-form became the major form of large-scale business; corporate strategies to deal with turbulence were essential; and radical corporate social-responsibility concepts were pursued by some firms.

Business, Governments and Political Risk in South Asia and Latin America since 1970

“…Again, much of this research has focused on Nazi Germany (Jones & Lubinski, ). The literature on responses to political risk in post‐war emerging markets is patchy, but the literature does suggest that local firms, as well as foreign MNEs, were affected by turbulence, albeit it in different ways (Austin et al ., ). In one case study, Colpan and Jones () examined the response of the Koç Group, the largest diversified business group in Turkey, to home country political risk.…”

Renewing Business History in the Era of the Anthropocene

“…This reflects an overall bias in the disciplines of business and economic history toward the developed West. 65 There is a big challenge and opportunity for business historians to fully incorporate the experiences of Africa, Asia, and Latin America into their work on business and the environment.…”

Organizational innovation in the multinational enterprise: Internalization theory and business history

“…Although legal headquarters may, in a physical assets sense, represent little more than 'brass name plates', deposit boxes, or empty rooms, they can be highly significant as risk management tools (Wubs, 2008). They can also be used for criminal purposes: for example, to disguise money transfers by drug traders and arms dealers (Austin et al, 2017).…”