Over the past century, Alcoa has developed from a small entrepreneurial venture to a giant corporation; from a one-dimensional, owner-managed firm to a complex managerial bureaucracy; from a domestic company to a multinational enterprise. In the process, Alcoa survived a difficult transition from its long-held position as a monopolist (of aluminum production) to its current status as a firm operating in highly competitive international markets. This book presents Alcoa's history, from its beginnings as a speculative venture seeking to exploit an untested technology, through its rise to become the most successful monopoly in American history. By World War II, no other American corporation had developed its industry's markets more dramatically and then dominated them more completely. The book analyzes the undoing of Alcoa's monopoly by war and antitrust, as well as how Alcoa adapted to evolving forms of competition.
FREE Two-Day Shipping for students on millions of items. Learn more |
| |||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"Having access to countless documents dating back to the company's origins, George David Smith provides an engaging account of Alcoa's ingenious development of a market for aluminum as well as its internal organization and management of style. Smith relates an exciting story of the research and development that led to so many aluminum products we take for granted today. Smith's book is captivating and well worth reading." Science
"...brilliantly organized and uncommonly well written...From Monopoly to Competition is thus one of those rare books that can be read with profit by corporate executives (within the aluminum business and beyond) and academics. It also crosses disciplinary lines; economic historians as well as contemporary business consultants will find enlightenment here and not just in the concluding contemporary chapters. Intended mainly as a contribution to corporate self-consciousness, this history of Alcoa necessarily sheds light on many of the major concerns of academic historians: antitrust, foreign investment, research, development and the management of technology, the state and business in wartime, labor relations, and, above all, the structure of enterprise." Journal of Economic History
"...splendid history of Alcoa....Yet this is no mere book by recipe. In addition to many conventional virtues, the author provides some delightful bonuses: a deft capsule history of the rise of big business and its regulation; a primer on the economies of oligopoly; an informed assessment of recent American industrial decline; and a substantial analysis of Alcoa's workforce and labor relations -- a feature usually absent even from some excellent company histories. Overall, Smith's book invites comparison with the very best institutional studies." Thomas K. McCraw, American Historical Review
"...brilliantly organized and uncommonly well written...From Monopoly to Competition is thus one of those rare books that can be read with profit by corporate executives (within the aluminum business and beyond) and academics. It also crosses disciplinary lines; economic historians as well as contemporary business consultants will find enlightenment here and not just in the concluding contemporary chapters. Intended mainly as a contribution to corporate self-consciousness, this history of Alcoa necessarily sheds light on many of the major concerns of academic historians: antitrust, foreign investment, research, development and the management of technology, the state and business in wartime, labor relations, and, above all, the structure of enterprise." Journal of Economic History
"...splendid history of Alcoa....Yet this is no mere book by recipe. In addition to many conventional virtues, the author provides some delightful bonuses: a deft capsule history of the rise of big business and its regulation; a primer on the economies of oligopoly; an informed assessment of recent American industrial decline; and a substantial analysis of Alcoa's workforce and labor relations -- a feature usually absent even from some excellent company histories. Overall, Smith's book invites comparison with the very best institutional studies." Thomas K. McCraw, American Historical Review
Book Description
This is a history of the aluminium giant Alcoa, from its beginnings through its development into one of the most successful monopolies in American history, to its postwar adaptation to evolving forms of oligopolistic and global competition.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
distinguished global history,
By
This review is from: From Monopoly to Competition: The Transformations of Alcoa, 1888-1986 (Paperback)
Alcoa has a long, distinguished history, as detailed here. Its rise paralleled the rise of the United States as a world power. The use of aluminium grew mightily in a hundred years. Especially for aviation, where steel has simply proved too heavy for many airplane parts.
The book describes the expansion of Alcoa into a global multinational, as it searched for more deposits of bauxite and cheap electricity to process it. Australian readers should note the prominent description of Alcoa's Australian operations. Culminating perhaps in its alumina refinery in Wagerup, Western Australia.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Inside This Book
(learn more)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence:
Few inventions are successfully commercialized. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
primary aluminum capacity, pig aluminum, aluminum unions, aluminum business, ingot prices, aluminum workers, subcommittee system, fabricating facilities, primary ingot, fabricating operations, smelting capacity, electric smelting, aluminum applications, primary aluminum production, aluminum technology, smelting business, aluminum operations, tariff hearings, controlling patents, aluminum industry, aluminum process, container sheet, alumina refinery, aluminum market, aluminum producers Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
World War, United States, New Kensington, New York, Roy Hunt, Frank Magee, Aluminium Limited, British Aluminium, Charles Martin Hall, Fritz Close, North American, Chief Wilson, John Harper, Federal Government, Krome George, Learned Hand, Sherman Act, Van Horn, Arthur Vining Davis, Great Depression, Niagara Falls, Sales Department, Alfred Hunt, George Gibbons, Justice Department New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Few inventions are successfully commercialized. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
primary aluminum capacity, pig aluminum, aluminum unions, aluminum business, ingot prices, aluminum workers, subcommittee system, fabricating facilities, primary ingot, fabricating operations, smelting capacity, electric smelting, aluminum applications, primary aluminum production, aluminum technology, smelting business, aluminum operations, tariff hearings, controlling patents, aluminum industry, aluminum process, container sheet, alumina refinery, aluminum market, aluminum producers Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
World War, United States, New Kensington, New York, Roy Hunt, Frank Magee, Aluminium Limited, British Aluminium, Charles Martin Hall, Fritz Close, North American, Chief Wilson, John Harper, Federal Government, Krome George, Learned Hand, Sherman Act, Van Horn, Arthur Vining Davis, Great Depression, Niagara Falls, Sales Department, Alfred Hunt, George Gibbons, Justice Department New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 40
books:
See all 40 books this book cites
13
books
cite this book:
See all 13 books citing this book
- Industrial Market Structure and Economic Performance by Frederic M. Scherer in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Prophets of Regulation by Thomas K. McCraw in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- The Spirit of St. Louis (Scribner Classic) by Charles A. Lindbergh in Front Matter, and page 172
- Strategy and Structure: Chapters in the History of the American Industrial Enterprise by Alfred D. Chandler in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- The Rise of the American Electrochemicals Industry, 1880-1910 (Contributions in Economics and Economic History) by Martha Moore Trescott in Back Matter
See all 40 books this book cites
- Regulating Big Business: Antitrust in Great Britain and America, 1880-1990 by Tony Freyer in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Cotton's Renaissance: A Study in Market Innovation by George David Smith in Front Matter, and Back Flap
- The Cambridge Economic History of the United States, Vol. 3: The Twentieth Century (Volume 3) by Stanley L. Engerman on page 942, and page 951
- Innovation as a Social Process: Elihu Thomson and the Rise of General Electric (Studies in Economic History and Policy: USA in the Twentieth Century) by W. Bernard Carlson on page 98
- Cold War Hothouses: Inventing Postwar Culture, from Cockpit to Playboy by AnnMarie Brennan in Back Matter
See all 13 books citing this book
Books on Related Topics
(learn more)
|
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
