American Enterprise in Foreign Markets


Book Description

In 1914 the two largest firms in Russia were subsidiaries of American companies. Remarkably, they were almost as large as their parent companies, striking testimony to the potential of the underdeveloped Russian market. Fred Carstensen provides detailed histories of the movement of International Harvester and Singer into this new, profitable, and somewhat forbidding territory. Describing how both sales organizations evolved in Russia, Carstensen relates their development to overall company histories, worldwide growth, changing sales strategies and structures, recruitment and training of employees, and corporate leadership in America and abroad. He finds that both firms entered the Russian market because they needed new outlets to sustain high levels of production and sales. Although there are parallels in their experiences, Carstensen identifies how the responses of the two corporations differed, reflecting the varying strategies and perceptions of company management. Together the case studies provide a test for many of the supposed qualities and patterns of Russian economic history. Contrary to accounts of the experiences of other companies, these firms found the Russian market remarkably rich, developing a level of sales that might have surpassed the American market if war had not erupted. In contrast to the standard view of foreign enterprise, neither company came to Russia because of government invitation or influence but rather because of the intrinsic attractiveness of the markets, and neither firm found the government bureaucracy graft-ridden or the customers dishonest. Carstensen shows that International Harvester and Singer Sewing Machine clearly influenced Russia in a positive way. Both trained large numbers of Russians in modern industrial and marketing procedures and both provided an extraordinary volume of credit on comparatively easy terms to encourage purchase of their products. Indeed, the success of their approach suggests that Russian economic development may have been limited not by weak aggregate demand but by the relative absence of sources of credit. Originally published in 1984. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.




American Enterprise


Book Description

What does it mean to be an American? What are American ideas and values? American Enterprise, the companion book to a major exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, aims to answer these questions about the American experience through an exploration of its economic and commercial history. It argues that by looking at the intersection of capitalism and democracy, we can see where we as a nation have come from and where we might be going in the future. Richly illustrated with images of objects from the museum’s collections, American Enterprise includes a 1794 dollar coin, Alexander Graham Bell’s 1876 telephone, a brass cash register from Marshall Fields, Sam Walton’s cap, and many other goods and services that have shaped American culture. Historical and contemporary advertisements are also featured, emphasizing the evolution of the relationship between producers and consumers over time. Interspersed in the historical narrative are essays from today’s industry leaders—including Sheila Bair, Adam Davidson, Bill Ford, Sally Greenberg, Fisk Johnson, Hank Paulson, Richard Trumka, and Pat Woertz—that pose provocative questions about the state of contemporary American business and society. American Enterprise is a multi-faceted survey of the nation’s business heritage and corresponding social effects that is fundamental to an understanding of the lives of the American people, the history of the United States, and the nation’s role in global affairs.




American Enterprise in Foreign Markets


Book Description

American Enterprise in Foreign Markets: Singer and International Harvester in Imperial Russia




Advocate for American Enterprise


Book Description

In 1865, William Buck Dana, working a bold new departure in American journalism, established the nation's first business weekly, the Commercial and Financial Chronicle, in the country's commercial nerve center, New York City. As its publisher and editor, he became the nation's most influential reporter and commentator on business and finance, playing a major role in creating a national and international economy. Unequaled as a comprehensive and reliable source of business news, Dana's Chronicle has become a critical source for studying 19th century business history. This book is a study of Dana the man, his ideas, and their importance. Divided into three sections, the book considers Dana's formative years, his career, and his later life. The book then turns to the main themes conveyed in the Chronicle's editorial content, allowing the reader to imaginatively reconstruct Dana's mental world. Comments on Dana's and his paper's importance and influence are also included. While enlarging our understanding of Dana, the Chronicle, and economic thought of the time, Advocate for American Enterprise will enhance our understanding of this critically important era.







American Enterprise in Japan


Book Description

This book describes how American and Japanese management ideologies meet, collide, and contend in the process of competitive cooperation during a joint venture in Japan. In a detailed case study, Hamada describes the very real problems when Japanese and American managers run a business operation, and analyzes them from a comparative, relativistic, and historical perspective. The author presents a novel and effective way of viewing organizational dynamics, seeing the ‘unfinished’ cultural process between different sub-groups who create and recreate the symbolic meanings of corporate phenomena. Her succinct analysis of Japanese and American behavioral modes makes both practical and theoretical contributions to the field of international management. Highlighting the interdependence between corporate culture and broader societal culture, Hamada looks closely at interactions between American and Japanese businessmen, analyzes their cultural differences, and proposes that these differences can be viewed not just as a source of continuing conflict but of dynamic cooperation.










American Enterprise


Book Description




The American Enterprise Manifesto


Book Description

The people of the United States of America, take back their sovereignty, and reclaim their right to have a say in the policies and conduct of the government. The Author offers a third party alternative for those enterprising Americans who pay for the public sector and do not currently have fair representation or input to the system that has caused many fiscal, social, and foreign-relation problems that face this nation of 313 million citizens. It is not entitlement reform that we need, but rather, government reform. Any tax reform should eliminate taxes on adjusted taxable income and replace it with a flat 5 percent annual capital assessment on individual and corporate net worth. The new entitlements are eroding the American work ethic and need to be replaced with real, private-sector jobs that create a true return on our gross national product. The American Dream is built on work ethic. The will to work in a free market is inherited from their forefathers but sustained by each of them. While our country is on the verge of bankruptcy Congress and State Legislatures enacted over 40,000 new laws in 2010 costing $250 billion borrowed dollars we dont have plus $700 billion in stimulus, $1.2 trillion for Obama Care and turned on the Federal Reserve printing presses for another $1 trillion for enforcement, unfunded public service pensions, salary raises for themselves and the bureaucrats. To make things worse the Federal and State Governments understate their deficits by using the cash basis of accounting. For example the Federal deficit is $123 trillion after factoring in accounts payable and pension debt. These pension systems are extraordinarily diverse in design, investment policy, and governance, and they face substantial challenges as the government-sector workforce ages and governments are asked to take on new and different tasks. The new entitlements need a major overhaul. To avoid depriving enterprise of much-needed capital to create jobs, we need to reduce American workers dependency on unemployment benefits, minimum wage, workers compensation, food stamps, welfare, and Obama Care. (Obama Care will use enforcement agencies for collecting taxes, and waste depleted tax revenues treating illness not pursuing wellness).