Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti was one of the most gifted and intuitive electrical engineers of his time, making important contributions to a wide range of related fields, from electricity supply to radio components. His career spanned the period between the emergence of the electrical industry in 1882 and the momentous 1926 Act creating a national electricity supply network. Over those forty-nine years he fought vigorously against the technological, commercial and legal problems this vital sector had to overcome in its struggle for recognition as a component of the modern economy. He also insisted on investing a high proportion of his company's turnover in ambitious development projects, ensuring that the product range remained competitive in an industry dominated by powerful American and German multinationals. This analysis of Ferranti's remarkable career provides the reader with a fascinating insight into the endeavours of an individual driven by his passion for engineering excellence and the application of technology. It also highlights the problems to be overcome by individual entrepreneurs in this formative period of the electrical industry's development. The book should appeal to business historians and general readers interested in the history of British industry.

Ferranti and the British Electrical Industry, 1864-1930 (Business and Society)

Engineering & Transportation

Wilson, J. F.

Engineering

Manchester Univ Pr

<p>This textbook covers over three centuries of British business history from 1720 to the present day. Wilson argues that company culture has been the most important component in the evolution of business organisations and management practices. The influence of business culture on firms' structure, sources of finance, and the background and training of senior managers are investigated to show its pivotal importance in determining business performance. The book also examines how British business adapted to changing economic, institutional and socio-cultural environments yet failed to develop the kind of managerial hierarchies typified by American and German corporations. Wilson uses an extensive number of case studies to support his conclusions. The book covers the subject chronologically with an extra chapter comparing Britain's experience with the USA, Germany and Japan.</p>

British Business History, 1720–1994 (Pseudepigrapha Series; 13)

Business & Money

Economics

Manchester University Press

Management education has developed rapidly in the UK over the past twenty-five years. It was, however, only in November 1963 that the Franks Report recommended the establishment of two  graduate business schools, one in London and one in Manchester.  The Manchester Experiment describes the creation of Manchester Business School in 1965. It explains how the staff devised and altered  strategy and structure, and analyses how the broad mission of improving management performance was tackled.  Chapter 1 describes the attitudes to management education with which MBS had to contend. These attitudes influenced the kind of courses MBS provided. Chapter 2 relates how the "founding fathers" were instrumental in developing the approach, which they labelled the "Manchester Experiment". The following three chapters discuss the three main activities of MBS - post-graduate, post-experience and research - and assesses how the outside world accepted these ideas.  The "Manchester Experiment" can be defined as a highly practical, learning-by-doing approach to management education, undertaken in a democratic, non-departmental organization which is only  loosely co-ordinated from the top. Opinions differ on the effectiveness of this approach. Chapter 6 shows how during the 1980s this internal structure was substantially modified. The last ten years have seen an extensive reassessment of the MBS mission, though much remains of the attitudes to course design, staff development and management style established by the "founding fathers".  Chapter 7 discusses whether this residualism has blunted the effectiveness of MBS and seeks to establish what role MBS has played since 1965 in changing the attitudes and practices of British business.

Manchester Experiment: History of Manchester Business School, 1965-90

Paul Chapman Publishing

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Books by Wilson, J. F.