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Chandlerian image or mirror image? managerial and accounting control in the chemical industry: the case of Albright & Wilson, c.1892 to c.1923

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  • Mark Matthews
  • Trevor Boyns
  • John Richard Edwards

Abstract

Using archival evidence relating to Albright & Wilson (A&W), this article challenges the validity of Chandler's view, based mainly on the study of secondary sources, that personal capitalism retarded the development of more advanced forms of managerial organisation in Britain in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. While Chandler has criticised A&W for abrogating control of its North American subsidiaries to American managers, the archival evidence reveals an effective control mechanism based around an accounting information system in which there is evidence of the use of standards for purposes of monitoring and control, and a recognition of the relevance of marginal costs for purposes of decision making. The article also throws light on the relationship between family ownership, firm size, strategy, investment and innovation.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark Matthews & Trevor Boyns & John Richard Edwards, 2003. "Chandlerian image or mirror image? managerial and accounting control in the chemical industry: the case of Albright & Wilson, c.1892 to c.1923," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(4), pages 24-52.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:bushst:v:45:y:2003:i:4:p:24-52
    DOI: 10.1080/00076790312331270209
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    Cited by:

    1. McLean, Tom & McGovern, Tom, 2017. "Costing for strategy development and analysis in an emerging industry: The Newcastle Upon Tyne Electric Supply Company, 1889–1914," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 294-315.
    2. Trevor Boyns & Mark Matthews & John Edwards, 2004. "The development of costing in the British chemical industry, c.1870-c.1940," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(1), pages 3-24.

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