"It is impossible in a bare outline to do anything like justice to thesubtlety (if also, sometimes, the prolixity) of the argument and to thewealth of telling instances with which it is illustrated. The argumentis not dogmatic or rigid and allows plenty of room for deviations,variants, and exceptions.... There is no doubt that this is a book offirst-class importance...significant, not only for its substantiveconclusions, original though these are, but as an example of the way inwhich fruitful relations can be established between economic andbusiness history." -- Journal of Economic History

This book shows how the seventy largest corporations in America havedealt with a single economic problem: the effective administration of anexpanding business. The author summarizes the history of the expansionof the nation's largest industries during the past hundred years andthen examines in depth the modern decentralized corporate structure asit was developed independently by four companies--du Pont, GeneralMotors, Standard Oil (New Jersey), and Sears, Roebuck.

This 1990 reprint includes a new introduction by the author.