IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/bushst/v56y2014i7p1169-1195.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Robust strategies: lessons from GKN 1759-2013

Author

Listed:
  • Chris Carr
  • Andrew Lorenz

Abstract

GKN is Britain's surviving top 50 company from 1905, a flourishing world top-player in automotive and aero components. This article traces 254 years of its development, domestically and internationally, drawing on corporate access and the author's worldwide field research since 1974, and three in-depth business histories including one by the co-author. Lessons confirm just some traits expected of successful 'Built To Last' (BTL) companies. However, GKN's 'robust' sustained strategy also reflects financial conservatism; constant adaptation to its historical and competitive context; highly proactive internationalisation and, from 1902 onwards, a determination to develop always at least 'three major business legs' to survive evolutionary processes as sectors mature and consolidate globally.

Suggested Citation

  • Chris Carr & Andrew Lorenz, 2014. "Robust strategies: lessons from GKN 1759-2013," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(7), pages 1169-1195, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:bushst:v:56:y:2014:i:7:p:1169-1195
    DOI: 10.1080/00076791.2013.876531
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00076791.2013.876531
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00076791.2013.876531?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Owen, Geoffrey, 2010. "The Rise and Fall of Great Companies: Courtaulds and the Reshaping of the Man-Made Fibres Industry," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199592890.
    2. Harold James, 2012. "Krupp: A History of the Legendary German Firm," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 9680.
    3. Edgar Jones, 1987. "A History of GKN," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-06629-2, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Valerio Cerretano, 2012. "European cartels, European multinationals and economic de-globalisation: Insights from the rayon industry, c. 1900--1939," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(4), pages 594-622, January.
    2. Geraghty, Thomas M., 2007. "The factory system in the British industrial revolution: A complementarity thesis," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(6), pages 1329-1350, August.
    3. Richard Hayman, 2008. "Charcoal ironmaking in nineteenth‐century Shropshire," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 61(1), pages 80-98, February.
    4. Alex Faria & Marcus Hemais, 2021. "Transmodernizing Management Historiographies of Consumerism for the Majority," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(3), pages 447-465, October.
    5. Ordónez, Roberto Vinicio Posso, 2016. "Historia de la creación de la banca central latinoamericana -El pretérito es la base de un presente prominente-," Revista Tendencias, Universidad de Narino, vol. 17(2), pages 166-187, July.
    6. Owen, Geoffrey, 2011. "Corporate strategy and national institutions: the case of the man-made fibres industry," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 38627, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Janusz Rybiński, 2021. "Wynalazki wykorzystywane w zarządzaniu przedsiębiorstwem w XIX i XX wieku," Nowoczesne Systemy Zarządzania. Modern Management Systems, Military University of Technology, Faculty of Security, Logistics and Management, Institute of Organization and Management, issue 3, pages 31-44.
    8. Owen Geoffrey, 2011. "Corporate Strategy and National Institutions: The Case of the Man-Made Fibres Industry," Capitalism and Society, De Gruyter, vol. 6(1), pages 1-59, August.
    9. Srinivasan, Sunderasan & Reddy, Vamshi Krishna, 2016. "Towards a better understanding of renewable energy YieldCos," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 154-163.
    10. Christos Tsakas, 2021. "Growth Models and Core–Periphery Interactions in European Integration: The German–Greek Special Relationship in Historical Perspective," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(4), pages 945-962, July.
    11. Mark Billings & Lynne Oats, 2014. "Innovation and pragmatism in tax design: Excess Profits Duty in the UK during the First World War," Accounting History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(2-3), pages 83-101, November.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:bushst:v:56:y:2014:i:7:p:1169-1195. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/FBSH20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.