Weetman Pearson in Mexico and the Emergence of a British Oil Major, 1901-1919

British overseas investment was one of the most powerful forces contributing to rapid global integration before World War 1. Approaching half of this total was in the form of foreign direct investment, as British entrepreneurs increasingly located their activities away from the mature domestic economy to faster growing, less-developed regions. Weetman Pearson was one of the most successful of all Britain’s overseasbased entrepreneurs of the period. Using original financial records, the paper shows how the Pearson group of companies became one of Britain’s most valuable industrial enterprises by 1919 having diversified from international contracting into the Mexican oil industry from 1901. The Pearson group highlights how British entrepreneurs were technically competent in managing large, complex infrastructure projects, able to navigate their way through various political systems, and adept at turning to whichever organisational form best suited their business interests; characteristics far removed from the outdated stereotype of the incompetent Late Victorian entrepreneur

The changing activities of British trading companies in Black Africa.

Wale Judith. The changing activities of British trading companies in Black Africa.. In: Négoce blanc en Afrique noire. L'évolution du commerce à longue distance en Afrique noire du 18e au 20e siècles. Actes du colloque du Centre d’étude d’Afrique Noire (Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Bordeaux), 23-25 septembre 1999. Paris : Société française d'histoire d'outre-mer, 2001. pp. 119-144. (Publications de la Société française d'histoire d'outre-mer, 2

Diversification Strategies of British Trading Companies: Harrisons & Crosfield, c.1900-c.1980

This article examines the diversification strategies and organisational competencies of Harrisons & Crosfield between 1900 and 1980. This firm was of the largest 'agency houses' in Southeast Asia and one which had played a prominent role in the development of the Malayan rubber industry. By the 1970s Harrisons & Crosfield resembled a sogo shosha in terms of its product and geographical diversification. This diversification was incremental, and often driven by risk reduction as well as by a culture open to new opportunities. Competencies were tacit and evolutionary. Diversification strategies were also sustained by learning from other firms, either by acquisition or joint ventures.