Christina Lubinski

Path Dependency and Governance in German Family Firms

Dynastic family businesses pursue a double aim. They strive for economic success and attempt to shield the familys longterm influence against outsiders. As a consequence, their choice of governance reflects an idiosyncratic balance between remaining independent and tapping into the opportunities of the market. Autonomy-oriented “closed” governance can lead to problems in integrating external capital and knowledge. More market-oriented “open” governance can make a firm more vulnerable to outside influence. German family firms have struck a balance between the two models since the mid-nineteenth century. Their choice of governance is a response to the challenges and opportunities of the environment, and at various times they are influenced by corporate law, alternative finance options, and inheritance law.

Making ‘Green Giants’: Environment sustainability in the German chemical industry, 1950s–1980s

This article examines the evolution of corporate environmentalism in the West German chemical industry between the 1950s and the 1980s. It focuses on two companies, Bayer and Henkel, and traces the evolution of their environmental strategies in response to growing evidence of pollution and resulting political pressures. Although German business has been regarded as pioneering corporate environmentalism, this study reveals major commonalities between the German and American chemical industries until the 1970s, when the two German firms diverged from their American counterparts in using public relations strategies not only to contain fallout from criticism, but also as opportunities for changes in corporate culture. The article finds no evidence for variety of capitalism explanations why German firms should have been early in their sustainability strategies, partly because of the importance of regional as opposed to national influences, but the study is supportive of organisational sociology theory about the importance of visibility in corporate green strategies.

Global Trade and Indian Politics: The German Dye Business in India before 1947

This article analyzes the German dye business in India before 1947 as an example of expanding German-Indian commercial relationships. German dye manufacturers showed great interest in Indias economic potential in the absence of discriminatory tariffs, while Indian elites were interested in non-British Western partners, which could support their struggle for industrial self-reliance. This particular alignment of interests facilitated cooperation and shows that the so-called European experience is more diverse than research has shown so far. The analysis highlights global trading networks beyond the political boundaries of formal empire and offers an alternative perspective on Indian business history, which reveals more competition between multinationals of different origins and more strategic choices available to Indians.

Local responsiveness in distant markets: Western gramophone companies in India before World War I

Multinational corporations face the challenge of balancing global integration and local responsiveness. Localization strategies have been much debated in the literature, and scholars have suggested the 1980s as a watershed moment leading to the development of distinctly transnational companies sensitive to both global and local demands. The gramophone industry before WWI is one of the earliest examples of a trade balancing global integration and local responsiveness, already facing many of the challenges typically attributed to the global business of the late twentieth century. In focusing on the Indian market before WWI, this article traces the competition between different Western gramophone companies and their business strategies for this economically attractive market with institutional voids and rising Indian nationalism. It addresses the specificity of the gramophone and music industry, the political context, and the flow of information between headquarters and subsidiaries showing how and why these companies developed into transnational entities.

Business beyond Empire: German Multinationals in Pre- and Post-Independence India (1890s–1960s)

ABSTRACT The activities of multinationals in India have so far been described as a British–Indian story. However, the British Empire was never an impenetrable economic area, but, rather, a contact zone for firms of many different origins. This article diversifies the historiography of Indian business history by tracing the commercial interactions between Germany and India from the 1890s to the 1960s as one example of non-British multinationals. It shows continuities in actors, debates and strategies and across major political turning points. In particular, it highlights the alignment of aspirations between Germans and nationalistic Indians as a coalition against British dominance.

From ‘History as Told’ to ‘History as Experienced’: Contextualizing the Uses of the Past

Research has made great strides in understanding how and why organizational actors use the past. So far, scholars have largely focused the level of analysis on the organization, without exploring the intertwined nature of historical claim-making with the organizational field or society at large. This article extends the status quo by conceptualizing the role of context for organizational uses-of-the-past. It identifies three key aspects of context that shape how history contributes to the social construction of reality: the existence of multiple audiences, the landscape of pre-existing historical narratives and the experience of social practices giving credibility to historical claims. By analysing the historical case of German business in colonial India, the paper makes three broader claims that could move research toward a more contextualized conception of the uses-of-the-past: (i) historical claims are validated in a continuous dialogue with multiple audiences; (ii) they revise previously existing narratives by critiquing or ‘outpasting’, i.e. invoking earlier origins; (iii) they often result in ‘rhetorical frictions’ that require continuous and skilful history revisions to mitigate emerging conflicts in their reception. By contextualizing the uses-of-the-past in this way, the paper moves beyond ‘hypermuscular’ organizational actors bending history to their will and foregrounds the situated nature of historical rhetoric.

Internment as a business challenge: Political risk management and German multinationals in Colonial India (1914–1947)

Abstract Internment in so-called ‘enemy countries’ was a frequent occurrence in the twentieth century and created significant obstacles for multinational enterprises (MNEs). This article focuses on German MNEs in India and shows how they addressed the formidable challenge of the internment of their employees in British camps during both the First and the Second World War. It finds that internment impacted business relationships in India well beyond its endpoint and that the First World War internment shaped the subsequent perception of and strategic response to the Second World War experience. It is shown that internment aggravated existing staffing challenges, impacted on the perception of racial lines of distinctions and re-cast the category ‘European business’. While internment was perceived and managed as a political risk, the case also shows that it created unexpected networking opportunities, generating a tight community of German businesspeople in India.

Traveling Entrepreneurs, Traveling Sounds: The Early Gramophone Business in India and China

During the first global economy, roughly from Western industrialization to World War I, the gramophone, much like other consumer goods, circulated relatively freely around the world. This paper compares the market in India and China asking how gramophone companies established themselves there and focuses on the interaction between Western businesspeople and local partners. The article first shows how agents started exploring strategies for “localizing” music and, second, how in both countries their interaction with local partners was first shaped by curiosity and commercial interest, and later by traditionalism and nationalism, the latter of which paradoxically both inhibited and enabled Western business. Based on diaries, corporate files, trade journals, and consular reports, the paper shows that the highly localized and politicized demand for music made access to local knowledge a crucial competitive advantage.

Die nationalistische Note. Westliche Grammophone und indischer Nationalismus vor dem Ersten Weltkrieg

etwa seit der industriellen revolution mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts bis zum Ausbruch des ersten Weltkrieges intensivierten sich internationale Verflechtungen wie nie zuvor. Dampfgetriebene transportmittel, neue Kommunikationsmedien wie der elektrische telegraph und günstige politisch-rechtliche rahmenbedingungen ließen Auslandsinvestitionen massiv ansteigen. globale Handelsströme umspannten und vernetzten die Welt. Zu den ersten mechanischen Konsumprodukten, die vom Westen in alle Welt exportiert wurden, zählte das grammophon. indien war hierbei keine Ausnahme und wurde von Herstellern und Händlern frühzeitig als vielversprechender markt identifiziert. Der prozess, durch den westliche technologien nach indien kamen, ist vielfach beschrieben worden, häufig als transfer oder Diffusion von West nach ost und in enger Verbindung mit dem britischen imperialismus. Die Funktion und die identität von gütern bleiben jedoch nicht über grenzen und räume hinweg stabil. Dies gilt insbesondere in sogenannten „creative industries“ (caves), wie beispielsweise dem geschäft mit musikalischen tonträgern, das in enger Verbindung mit dem grammophon-Handel stand. es ist vielfach darauf hingewiesen worden, dass Wirtschaftsgüter keine universelle Bedeutung besitzen, jenseits ihres sozialen, kulturel-

Introduction: Translating potential into profits: foreign multinationals in emerging markets since the nineteenth century

Emerging markets trigger great expectations. Many foreign multinationals are eager to exploit the entrepreneurial opportunities potentially related to less developed but fast growing markets. This is not a new phenomenon. Multinationals from more developed countries have for long searched for opportunities in less developed markets and have dealt with the related challenges. Foreign environments with different needs and capabilities, unstable institutions and policies, stark fluctuations in the macroeconomic environment and unrealistic expectations are just some of the obstacles for ‘turning potential into profits.’ The history of multinational enterprises (MNEs) knows many examples of economies with these characteristics similar to modern understandings of ‘emerging markets.’ This special issue analyzes foreign multinationals in emerging markets from a historical perspective. It seeks to understand changes and continuities in the opportunities and challenges less developed markets presented for MNEs, and in the various ways in which their managers responded to these. Rather than relying on the ‘emerging market’ label, we ask (1) why managers perceived certain markets as ‘emerging’ and which expectations they had when investing in these markets, (2) which challenges they faced there, and (3) how they subsequently addressed them. By tracing and comparing these investments and their consequences over time (and space), we hope to shed more light on managerial decisions and understand to what extent they were shaped by the specific context or, possibly, had more of a timeless nature – with the findings ultimately intended to help inform contemporary decision-making. This introduction to the special issue describes the framework for the following six papers on foreign multinationals in emerging markets since the nineteenth century.