Strategy and structure in large Italian and Spanish firms, 1950-2002

Taking as its starting point Alfred D. Chandler’s studies of big business, this investigation explores how the largest corporations in Italy and Spain transformed their strategies and structures during the second half of the twentieth century. Empirical evidence reveals that, in contrast to the more advanced nations of Europe, these two southern European countries did not adopt either product diversifi cation or the multidivisional structure until later in the century and, even then, did so only partially. By forming business groups and focused companies, the two nations came up with their own viable alternatives to the dominant paradigm that originated in the United States and spread among the bigger European economies