Indian Business in the Twentieth Century

This book uses a combination of business history and political economy to chart the development of Indian business organisation from independence in 1947 through to the twenty-first century.

The Indian economy has undergone a dramatic transformation to become one of the leading global economies of the twenty-first century. After ending colonialisation and gaining independence in 1947, the economy moved from a reliance on the export of raw materials to an era of state-promoted development, followed by an era of liberalisation and integration in the world economy by the close of the twentieth century. This book looks at traditional industries, such as textiles, to industries of the second and third industrial revolution, ranging from chemicals and oils to telecommunications.

This book highlights how Indian businesses proved capable of importing both new managerial ideas and organisational developments while adapting them to the specific domestic context. The case studies underline the use of human resource management in the post-colonial ‘indianisation’ of foreign-owned multinationals and the rise of new business organisation and management training in the development of Indian multinational organisations such as Tata Sons.

The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Business History.

Swapnesh K. Masrani is Assistant Professor at the Edinburgh Business School, Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh, UK. His research interest is in the area of Strategic Management and Management History, particularly the evolution of management practice in India during twentieth century, history of management education, and family business. He is also interested in using capability approach, path dependency, and institutional theory.

Carlo J. Morelli is Senior Lecturer in Business and Economic History at the University of Dundee. Carlo is interested in the generation of wealth in society and its re-distribution. His research examines industrial organisation and business/government relationships in the twentieth century. Current research in this area looks at our understanding of industrial decline, the jute and textile industries, and industrial transformation in Anglo-Indian economic relationships.

Amiya K. Bagchi is currently Emeritus Professor at the Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata, India and Adjunct Professor at Monash University, Australia. He has taught and researched in the areas of economics and economic and social history since 1958. He has been awarded honorary doctorates by three universities in India and by Roskilde University, Denmark. His latest edited volumes are (jointly with Anthony D’Costa) Transformation and Development: the political economy of development in India and China, (2012) and (jointly with Amita Chatterjee) is Marxism With and Beyond Marx (Routledge, 2014). He was the lead consultant for Asia and the Pacific: A Story of Transformation and Resurgence, Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 1947-2014 (United Nations, 2014).