Creating Modern Capitalism: How Entrepreneurs, Companies, and Countries Triumphed in Three Industrial Revolutions

by Thomas K. McCraw

What explains the national economic success of the United States, Britain, Germany, and Japan? What can be learned from the long-term championship performances of leading business firms in each country? How important were specific innovations by individual entrepreneurs? And in the end, what is the true nature of capitalist development? The Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Thomas K. McCraw and his coauthors present penetrating answers to these questions. Creating Modern Capitalism is the first book to explain for a broad audience the interconnections among technological innovation, management science, the power of entrepreneurship, and national economic growth. The authors approach each question from a comparative framework and with a unique triple focus on national economic systems, particular companies, and individual business leaders. Above all, the book focuses on how specific entrepreneurs influenced the economic success of their countries: Josiah Wedgwood and Henry Royce in Britain; August Thyssen and Georg von Siemens in Germany; Henry Ford, Alfred Sloan, and the two Thomas J. Watsons in the United States; Sakichi Toyoda, Masatoshi Ito, and Toshifumi Suzuki in Japan. The product of a three-year collaborative effort at the Harvard Business School, the book combines cutting-edge scholarship with a finely tuned sense of the art of management. It will engage general readers as well as those with a special interest in entrepreneurship and the evolution of national business systems.

Genres: Economics, History, Finance

760 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Thomas Kincaid McCraw was an American business historian and Isidor Straus Professor of Business History, Emeritus at Harvard Business School.

Reviews

[Draco3seven Crawdady · Rating 2 out of 5]

Apparently this book is used at Harvard business school... as an introduction to capitalism... I give this book two stars, because from an academic standpoint... this book offers a very light analysis at best of the capitalist system of production. For the most part the book emphasis the triumphs of entrepreneurialism... it reminds me of one of the first books I ever read, a home-schooler Christian... American history book ... Back when I first learned how to read!

According to Thomas McCraw capitalism is an economic system “that emphasizes private property, entrepreneurial opportunity, technological innovation, the sanctity of contacts, payment of wages in money, and the ready availability of credit." Although this definition maybe not the most telling it will sever the general function of analyzes (only if done verry superficially). He compares English, German, American and Japanese forms of capitalism, spanning through three “industrial revolutions,” and their generic sustaining institutions: production, finance, labor, innovation, and state. The important point he makes, is how these institutions sustain capitalism, but he forgets more importantly how these institutions are tide into the larger cultural dynamic within those perspective countries, so as to give you the magical hocus-pocus account.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is definitely an introductory text, and I can't say that it is going to blow anyone's mind, but the collection of case studies presented are well done and quite interesting. I think the best in the book is on 7-Eleven in Japan. You get a real sense of how 7-Eleven stores fit into the particular legal and social context of the Japanese city, and how the chain created systems to respond to the needs of local stores. Then you get to follow the story of how this Japanese group tried to export some of these systems to stores in the U.S. It goes to show that words like "global" and "multinational" are not as uncomplicated as one may think, and even a multinational chain like 7-Eleven must adapt in different environments.

[Hideki Kino · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in a Global Economy course I took in college at JHU. The class was actually based on the principals taught in the book such as Joseph Schumpeter's Fox & the Hedgehog Theory and Second Mover Advantage.

Many great case studies are presented discussing the corporate histories of companies such as Wedgewood, Thyssen, Ford, GM, Rolls Royce, Toyoda, IBM, and 7-Eleven. It is a must-read for those interested in Business History and those aspiring to learn more about Corporate Leadership and attaining an MBA!