From Empire to Europe: The Decline and Revival of British Industry Since the Second World War

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Geoffrey Owen. From Empire to Europe: The Decline and Revival of British Industry Since the Second World War

FROM EMPIRE TO EUROPE

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Contents

ONE. Falling Behind and Catching Up

TWO. The Consequences of Coming First

The Growth of British Industry from 1750 to 1870

The Rise of American Industry

The Rise of German Industry

The British Response to Competition

Britain, Germany and the US in the Inter-war Years

THREE. Britain, Germany and France after the Second World War

The Social Market Economy in Germany

Modernisation in France

Britain’s post-war Consensus

Continuity and Change

FOUR. Textiles: Misdirected Modernisation

1750–1914: Lancashire’s Triumph

The Inter-war Years: Lancashire in Crisis

1945–1960: A Short-Lived Boom

The 1960s: Merger Mania

The 1970s: The Grand Design Unravels

The 1980s and 1990s: Adjustment to International Competition

Missing Out on Europe

FIVE. Shipbuilding: Imprisoned by History

The Sources of British Supremacy before 1914

The Inter-war Years

The Post-war Boom in World Shipping

State-directed Modernisation

The Government Opts Out

Could the Decline Have been Halted?

SIX. Steel: The Thatcher Effect

1870–1914: An Entrepreneurial Failure?

The Inter-war Years

1945–60: The Post-war Boom

The 1960s and 1970s: Slowdown and Crisis

The 1980s and 1990s: The Rehabilitation of British Steel

Delayed Convergence

SEVEN. The Globalisation of the Paper Industry

Paper-making in Britain before the Second World War

Post-war Protection

The EFTA Shock

The 1980s and 1990s: Transformation

Comparisons with Germany

EIGHT. Engineering: From World Leader to Niche Player

Competition in Engineering before 1914

The Inter-war Years

1945–60: Retreat from Europe

1960–80: The Search for an International Dimension

The 1980s and 1990s: Looking for Niches

A Restructured Industry

NINE. The Motor Industry: An Avoidable Disaster

The British Motor Industry before 1939

1945–60: Continuity

1960–80: Decline

The 1980s and 1990s: Rehabilitation

The Search for Culprits

TEN. Electronics: A Shared European Failure

Origins

US Leadership after the Second World War

The European Response

Computers

Semiconductors

Consumer Electronics

Telecommunications Equipment

The Performance of the British Electronics Industry

ELEVEN. Aerospace: Partnership with Government

The Aircraft Industry before 1939

The Impact of the Second World War

1945–64: Britain Tries to Keep Up

1964–79: A Choice of Partners – Europe or the US?

The British Aerospace Industry in the 1980s and 1990s

Could the Industry Have Done Better?

TWELVE. Chemicals: The Birth, Growth and Break-up of a National Champion

1870–1926: Germany Takes the Lead

1926–45: The New Company Takes Shape

1945–75: The Golden Age

The Maturing of the Chemical Industry

ICI and the British Environment

THIRTEEN. Pharmaceuticals: A Winning Formula

The World Pharmaceutical Industry before 1939

1939–60: The Therapeutic Revolution

1960–1980: Consolidation

The 1980s and 1990s: The Restructuring of the Pharmaceutical Industry

How Special a Case?

FOURTEEN. The Financial System

Finance and Industry before 1939

The Post-War Years: A Shortage of Capital?

Too Many Take-overs?

Banks Versus Stock Markets

The City and Industry

FIFTEEN. Training, Education and Culture

Shop Floor Skills

Engineers and Scientists

The Making of Managers

SIXTEEN. Trade Unions and Labour Relations

The Distinctiveness of British Labour Relations

The Post-war Deterioration in Labour Relations

Comparisons with Germany and France

How Much Damage was Done?

Labour Relations in the 1980s and 1990s

SEVENTEEN. The Role of Government: From Consensus to Competition

1945–60: A Missed Opportunity?

1960–79: The Failure of Industrial Policy

The Industrial Consequences of Margaret Thatcher

Were Governments to Blame?

EIGHTEEN. Conclusion

AFTERWORD. British Industry in the New Economy. July 2000

Notes

Select Bibliography

Index

Acknowledgements

About the Author

About the Publisher

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The Decline and Revival of British Industry

Since the Second World War

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One of the consequences of the First World War was to consolidate the position of the US as the world’s leading industrial power. American manufacturers were well placed to profit from the booming domestic demand of the 1920s and to exploit internationally the managerial advances which they had made before the war. Their most spectacular success was in the mass-production industries; US manufacturers accounted for three-quarters of the world’s car exports in the inter-war years. But there was also a push forward in science-based industries as large American firms began to adopt the German approach to company-financed research. The discovery of nylon by Du Pont in 1930 was the direct result of this company’s decision to build up a team of first-class scientists and engineers and give them the same facilities which they would have enjoyed in an academic environment.40 American Telephone and Telegraph created in Bell Laboratories what was to become America’s foremost industrial research institution.41

The broadening of American industrial capabilities was reinforced by new managerial techniques. Alfred Sloan at General Motors, which overtook Ford as America’s largest car manufacturer during the 1920s, showed how economies of scale in large, multi-product companies could be combined with efficient central coordination. The General Motors multi-divisional structure, which separated the day-to-day management of the car businesses – Chevrolet, Pontiac, Cadillac and so on – from the supervisory role of the head office, was widely imitated in the US and later in Europe. Sloan was an example of the kind of professional manager who filled many of the top executive posts in American industry. The separation of ownership and control, which had been a distinctive feature of American capitalism before the war, was taken further as companies increased in size through mergers and acquisitions.

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