Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #businesshistory, aggregated by home.social.
Before KIND Snacks, Daniel Lubetzky spent nearly a decade going door to door in Manhattan selling spread for a company (PeaceWorks) that never found a hit.
Fact-checked, source-linked deep dive into the founder behind a $5B brand, what he got wrong before he got it right.
https://startuporigins.xyz/daniel-lubetzky-the-founder-behind-kind-snacks/
https://www.europesays.com/people/209854/ Tim Cook Is Out As Apple CEO, Showed Us How to Succeed a Legend #AppleCEO #BusinessHistory #BusinessInsider #company #decade #iphone #legend #magic #PrematureDeath #product #service #SteveJobs #TimCook #TrippMickle #world
Hagley Museum: Hagley Acquires Business Records of New York City Tailor. “Hagley Library recently acquired the Kozinn + Sons Merchant Tailors records, now open for research thanks to archival processing intern Darby Ronning. For over a century, Kozinn + Sons was a New York City–based tailored clothing company led by three generations of the Kozinn family. Kozinn FamilyFounded in 1913 as the […]
https://rbfirehose.com/2026/08/31/hagley-museum-hagley-acquires-business-records-of-new-york-city-tailor/
World Congress of Business History Closes the Market https://www.byteseu.com/2233352/ #business #BusinessHistory #LouiAnastasopoulos #TheCongress #Toronto #TorontoStockExchange #UniversityOfToronto #WorldCongress
The Architect of an Empire, Or an Empire's Shadow?
Ray Kroc bought McDonald's from the founders. The brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald can no longer use the McDonald's name.
#RayKroc, #McDonaldsFounders, #BusinessHistory, #Franchise, #FastFood
https://newsletter.tf/ray-kroc-founders-lose-mcdonalds-name-rights/
Ray Kroc took over McDonald's in 1961. The original founders, the McDonald brothers, lost the rights to their own name and business.
#RayKroc, #McDonaldsFounders, #BusinessHistory, #Franchise, #FastFood
https://newsletter.tf/ray-kroc-founders-lose-mcdonalds-name-rights/
Pixar almost failed. Jobs wanted to sell it multiple times. Persistence changed everything. Read about his wilderness years.
#Books #Pixar #NeverGiveUp #BusinessHistory #ReadingList
https://thisgrandpablogs.com/steve-jobs-second-act/
Was the personal computer revolution always destined to succeed? Our review discusses the market pressures and corporate battles that nearly killed it.
#TechReads #BusinessHistory #Books
https://thisgrandpablogs.com/personal-computer-history-fire-valley-review/
Find out about Alex Gillett and I's new book about the British influence on the Olympic movement in this week's
University of York School for Business and Society
spotlight research blog!
Passend zum Internationalen Tag der #Schönheit, der 1995 von einer Organisation der #Schönheitsindustrie erfunden wurde, empfehlen wir heute einen Beitrag zur #Kosmetik-Vermarktung bei #Beiersdorf & #Mouson (1920er–1960er):
▶ Uta G. Poiger, #Beauty, Business and German International Relations, #WerkstattGeschichte 45/2007, https://werkstattgeschichte.de/abstracts/nr-45-uta-g-poiger/
#histodons #Cosmetics #BeautyIndustry #BusinessHistory #MarketingGeschichte #Unternehmensgeschichte #WorldBeautyDay
University of Cambridge: Family fortunes founded on slavery. “More than 600 letters, photos and papers – pieced together over 20 years from auction sites such as eBay – paint a vivid picture of a British dynasty who profited from enslaving people during the 18th and 19th centuries and indenturing people into the 20th century. The first tranche of the collection is now open to researchers […]
https://rbfirehose.com/2025/08/29/university-of-cambridge-family-fortunes-founded-on-slavery/
Dangerous news for people like me that like staring at old maps - new one inch to the mile maps added to NLS maps.
#businesshistory #managementhistory #mbh #orghis #histodons
maps.nls.uk/additions/#169
I read this account of the rise and fall of Victoria's Secret over the weekend. If you're looking for a cultural studies text on this once iconic lingerie business, this book is not for you. The authors are fashion business journalists and "Selling Sexy" is a well sourced rag trade business history. I enjoyed learning more about the rise of specialty retail in the USA, outsourcing to Asia, and similar apparel industry topics, but others might find this material dry.
Yet the very nature of the business requires the authors to discuss marketing and image, which they do with a good grasp of race, ethnicity, and physique in the development of the various Victoria's Secret fantasy worlds. The narrative also describes, without pretending to explain completely, the still mysterious spell that Jeffrey Epstein cast over VS boss Leslie Wexner. In the final chapters of the book, the authors give a good account of how Victoria's Secret failed to adapt to the new age of #MeToo, the shaming of fatshamers, and Instagram influencers.
Although the book is not supposed to be a coffee table volume, I was disappointed by the paucity and limited range of illustrations, as a larger selection would have more clearly shown the changes in VS marketing over the years.
A rewarding read overall that made me think more about the pressures and desires women face when choosing, combining, or rejecting the pretty, the sexy, and the comfy.
Selling Sexy
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250850966/sellingsexy/
#VictoriasSecret #BusinessHistory #HistoryOfDress #FashionHistory #Lingerie #LeslieWexner #Books
Excited to unveil this
#CfP for
Business History
- Business History and Imperialism.
All submissions related to business and empire welcome - including those with an interest in historical project studies.
#bizhis #mgthis #mbh #orghis #businesshistory #managementhistory #management #histodons
https://think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issues/business-history-and-imperialism/
OUT NOW:
Explicating archival ethnography: Helmut Käser’s business trip in #MOH
- SI on microhistory.
Its a microhistorical narrative of Helmut Käser’s trip to an IFAB meeting in Newcastle, County Down in 1967.
It includes windows into the worlds of air travel, contemporary Northern Ireland, and swinging London, based on a scrapbook kept by the man himself, and demonstrates the potential of scrapbooks for archival ethnography.
#openaccess #histodons #businesshistory
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17449359.2024.2423092#abstract
Just published a review essay and reflection of Harvard Business School's recent conference "Oral History of Business in the Global South" in the April Interfaces.
#globalsouth #businesshistory #laborhistory #HarvardBusinessSchool #HBS #oralhistory #CreatingEmergingMarkets
@histodons
@commodon
@management
Article at https://cse.umn.edu/cbi/interfaces
Just finished this little volume, which in France has seen substantial sales well beyond academia and translation into a number of languages.
Chapoutot uses the career of sometime SS officer turned postwar business school leader Reinhard Höhn to make connections between the social darwinism of the Nazis, "classical liberalism", and modern management.
I'm not qualified to pronounce on the soundness of the business history, but I found the discussion of Nazi hostility to the state and the corporate jargon of "empowerment" illuminating.
Free to Obey - Johann Chapoutot
https://www.europaeditions.com/book/9781609458041/free-to-obey
#JohannChapoutot #GermanHistory #BusinessHistory #Management #ReinhardHöhn #History
Please see CBI Sr. Res. Fellow Jim Cortada 's insightful essay on IBM Corporate Culture in Interfaces! Drawn in part from his impressive recent book Inside IBM: Lessons from a Corporate Culture in Action (Columbia Business School Press, 2023).
I've written a guest post on the world famous Ladybird Books on 'Lynne about Loughborough', the wonderful blog curated by local historian Lynne Dyer. The post tells the unusual history of how a local jobbing printer in an Eastmidlands market town became a global publisher.
https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2023/12/ladybird-books-from-jobbing-printers-to.html
#loughborough #loughboroughheritage #ladybirdbooks #publishinghistory #businesshistory #bookstodon
CFP: We at the School for Business and Society, University of York will be hosting the
Economic and Business History Society and Association of Business Historians
joint conference in York next year!
This promises to be a big event so don't miss out! #businesshistory #managementhistory #histodons #history #business
Reading "SAP: Inside the Secret Software Power" by Gerd Meissner – a rare gem about SAP's history pre-Internet era. There's scarce literature on SAP's history. Seeking a more recent deep dive into SAP's rise as a software company in recent days & I'm fluent in German. #BusinessHistory #TechReads
Last week we visited the @FootballMuseum exhibition on football games, before doing some research at their archive in Preston on Tuesday. #histodons #businesshistory #managementhistory #sporthistory
Read about the visit here - https://soccermadboffins.blogspot.com/2023/11/soccer-mad-boffins-autumn-games.html
Rupert Murdoch, the media mogul often likened to a modern-day Citizen Kane, has a life story that mirrors the twists and turns of a classic rags-to-riches tale. Born in 1931, Murdoch inherited a crumbling media empire at the age of 22 after his father’s death. His early career was marked by a hands-on approach to reviving failing newspapers in Australia, using sensationalism to boost circulation. This controversial strategy laid the foundation for his media empire, News Corp.
Murdoch’s rise wasn’t without challenges. He faced legal battles, such as a libel case involving the defense of an Aboriginal man accused of murder. However, his business acumen and willingness to pivot towards scandal-driven content helped him expand rapidly. By 1965, he had launched Australia’s first national daily paper, The Australian, overcoming the logistical challenges of distributing news across the vast country.
His ambitions soon extended beyond Australia. In 1968, Murdoch entered the UK market, transforming The Sun and News of the World into highly profitable tabloids through sensationalist journalism. By 1973, he had set his sights on the United States, acquiring various newspapers and founding new ones, including the New York Post.
Murdoch’s influence grew exponentially with the advent of television. In 1985, he launched Fox News, a 24-hour news channel that revolutionised the media landscape with its right-wing commentary and sensationalist approach. Fox News became a powerful political force, influencing election cycles and public opinion. However, Murdoch’s own political leanings remain ambiguous; despite Fox News’ pro-Trump stance, Murdoch has been openly critical of the former president.
Murdoch’s personal life has been as tumultuous as his career. He has been married four times and has six children, some of whom are deeply involved in his media empire. His marriages and divorces have often made headlines, adding another layer of intrigue to his public persona.
The phone-hacking scandal involving News of the World was a significant blemish on Murdoch’s career. The revelation that journalists had hacked the phones of celebrities and even a murdered schoolgirl led to public outrage and legal repercussions. Murdoch’s attempts to manage the fallout, including a staged PR-friendly speech, did little to salvage his reputation. The scandal heightened public distrust in the media and marked a turning point in Murdoch’s career.
As Murdoch approaches his 90s, questions arise about the future of his media empire. The rise of social media and alternative journalism platforms like YouTube and Twitter pose significant challenges to traditional media giants like News Corp. Murdoch’s legacy is under threat, not just from external competition but also from internal family dynamics, as his children vie for control of the empire.
Murdoch’s story is a complex one, marked by ambition, controversy, and undeniable influence. Whether his empire will adapt to the changing media landscape or crumble under its own weight remains to be seen. What is clear is that Rupert Murdoch’s impact on the media industry is profound and lasting, for better or worse.
https://teasmith.au/resource/how-one-man-made-billions-by-rebranding-information/
#businessDocumentary #businessHistory #historyDocumentary #howHistoryWorks #howMoneyWorks #isLoganRoyRupertMurdoch #murdochsVsRoysSuccession #newsCorpOwner #rupertMurdoch #rupertMurdochDocumentary #rupertMurdochHistory #rupertMurdochNetWorth #rupertMurdochRetirement #tech #TwitterX #whoOwnsFoxNews #whoWasSuccessionBasedOn #YouTube
Great to see this new paper from Neveen Abdelrehim & co on Robert Stephenson & Co, on the 198th anniversary of the Stockdon & Darlington opening! https://doi.org/10.1080/00076791.2023.2255140
Extremely proud of Alex Gillett and I's contribution to this exciting new volume - our chapter focuses on how to do research in an archive - and we hope it will be a valuable methodological guide to anyone interested in archival research in the management field but who isn't quite sure how to do it! #businesshistory #managementhistory #organizationalhistory #histodons
https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/handbook-of-historical-methods-for-management-9781800883734.html
I am currently attending the Slaven Doctoral Workshop at the Association of Business Historians. Last month, I attended the YSI-INET Doctoral Workshop at the Economic and Business History Society conference in Porto. At both I have been struck by the quality and breadth of research being undertaken by PhD students in economic history, business history, and related areas. Both workshops were oversubscribed. Implications for hiring and recruitment, IMHO.
Informal networks facilitating trust & co-operation among merchant groups in Republican China point to the economic importance of informal institutions & cultural identity New open access article by Lingyu Kong, Cheng Cheng & Wenxiao Wang in Asia-Pacific Economic History Review
https://doi.org/10.1111/aehr.12271 @econhist @devecon @economics @econtwitter.net @networks @ecosocio @organizationalecon @sociology @politicalscience @geography @anthropology #history #histodons #china #bizhis #BusinessHistory
Just a reminder folks that our deadline for this is coming up! #businesshistory #managementhistory #BAM #organizationalhistory
https://www.bam.ac.uk/events-landing/ems-event-calendar/the-origins-and-evolution-of-professional-football-clubs-from-a-business-management-and-organizational-history-perspective.html
The latest issue of Enterprise & Society has articles on the history of branding -- Ferrari's horse--and history of invention/patenting -- Halliburton v. Walker
#IPHistory #patent #Trademark #LegalHistory #BusinessHistory
Sadly, paywalled.
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/enterprise-and-society/issue/BE4DD48025D7F1749788DBAB925E31A5
Cool collection of essays on #BusinessHistory methods (not an edited volume but a special issue). No paywall!
https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/rmor20/collections/methods_and_madness
Four more days to the Workshop on Women & Business History, Feb 9 @ UTS, Sydney!
First-ever meeting for research on women in Australian business history. 12 exciting papers draw links btw research on women’s history, women in business & management & Aus business history - drawing connections among gender, corporate capitalism, race, sexuality, (dis)ability, age, class
https://claireefwright.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Women-and-business-history-program-23.01.23.pdf @claire_wright #BusinessHistory #Australia #gender #women #NZ #history #leadership #feminism #management
Workshop on Women & Business History, Feb 9 at UTS, Sydney
First-ever meeting for research on women in Australian business history. 12 exciting papers draw links btw research on women’s history, women in business & management & Aus business history - discussing connections among gender, corporate capitalism, race, sexuality, (dis)ability, age, class, etc
https://claireefwright.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Women-and-business-history-program-23.01.23.pdf Organized by @claire_wright
#BusinessHistory #Australia #gender #women #NZ #history #leadership #feminism #management
Workshop on Women & Business History, Feb 9 at UTS, Sydney, Aus
First-ever meeting for research on women in Australian business history. 12 exciting papers draw links between those working on women’s history, women in business & management & Aus business history - discussing connections among gender, corporate capitalism, race, sexuality, (dis)ability, age, class, etc
https://claireefwright.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Women-and-business-history-program-23.01.23.pdf @histodons #BusinessHistory #Australia #gender #women #NZ #history #leadership #feminism #management
Want to know what the Soccer-Mad Boffins have been doing the last few years?
Watch the video!
#soccer #football #history #histodons #managementhistory #businesshistory