Conclusion

The aim of this book has been to examine the management of technical change in postwar Britain, a period when the British economy was technologically dependent upon the USA. That technological dependence sprang from differences between the countries in relative factor supplies and costs, the relative abundance of raw materials and the vast research and development expenditure available to those American firms engaged in defence-related projects. This is not to suggest that, during the classic automation period, the flow of technology was a one-way street; British firms were active in registering patents in the USA and with Germany dominated foreign patenting in the USA until the early 1960s. However, “in technology, as in so much else, this has been the American century” (Edgerton 1996b: 63–5, quote p. 65). For the health of the British economy, it was essential that British firms should keep abreast of American (and subsequently Japanese) technology and adopt or adapt promising innovations as rapidly as possible.