Keiei Shigaku (Japan Business History Review)

Increasing employment of engineers who had graduated universities or technical colleges founded since 1880's meant for the private firms in the early phase of industrialization organizational growth, from relying upon a single all-round engineer through diversification of jobs to the hierarchy of engineers. Examining the statistical data concerning the distribution of engineers among industries as well as companies for the year 1900 and 1910, those three stages of organization are discernible in the firms which belonged to such industries as railroad, mining, cotton and electricity supply.

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French railway industry had the first boom years in the Monarchie de Juillet. But it is worthy to mention that in this period english capitalists also were interested in french railway construction and its exploitation. Their capital invested in french railway companies amounted to one-third of the total stock capital. Sometimes the french co-operated with the english and sometimes the french intended to exclude the english from the management of railway company.
The object of this paper is to analize this english impact-french response relation.
Firstly, the author extracts five main 'groups' which existed among french interests and english interests; the Laffitte & Blount group, the London Merchant Bankers group, the Haute banquiers group, the Talabot group and the Paris-Orléans group.
Secondly, the author intends to clear the characteristics and behavior-pattern of each group.
Thirdly, the author analizes which group acquired the predominant position in the board of directors. In the beginning, the board of directors ordinarily was composed of members of many different groups. But later, among directors, the comté de direction was formed, which include just a few members who belonged to the same group. And actually it took charge of management. Other director consequently were resigned to the feeble position. In this process, the english directors were often eliminated from the center of management.

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