While retailing a great variety of goods under one roof and single management already existed in China by the late nineteenth century, modern style department stores on the China coast began only in 1900. Organized by Chinese entrepreneurs who had started their careers in Australia, they consciously borrowed managerial techniques from abroad. Sincere and Wing On, the two premier Chinese department stores, expanded rapidly during diese years and, in the process, developed new forms of organization and strategy based on western models as well as on traditional Chinese business practices and cultural values. When political and economic turmoil during the 1920s and 1930s slowed the growth of these companies, Wing On emerged more successfully tban Sincere. Wing On's path diverged from that of its competitor because its stronger management team was better at blending individual personality, western organization and Chinese cultural values.

During the 1950's, Fiat, one of Italy's most important manufacturing companies, grew at enormous speed. Two factors helped the car maker achieve this impressive performance: For one, a set of import barriers virtually denied foreign producers access to the Italian market until the founding of the European Economic Community (EEC). Moreover, Fiat managed to remain at the cutting edge of car manufacturing technology, enabling it to expand production, foreign sales and profits. Combining a reliance on trade barriers with technological change as well as an aggressive export strategy, Vittorio Valletta, Fiat's post-World War II general manager, bet on serving the more dynamic foreign markets from modern plants built with the help of Marshall Plan funds. From this basis he later sold into a growing domestic market, where Fiat was without serious competition.

This article presents a new database on U.S. multinationals active in British manufacturing between 1907 and 1962. Britain was the largest European host economy for U.S. direct investment in manufacturing and the second largest host worldwide. This article identifies the industrial distribution and mode of entry of U.S. investors, and offers explanations for the time trends which are shown. It goes on to trace the evolution of U.S. subsidiaries, and shows that rates of divestment were substantial. An examination of the characteristics of U.S. subsidiaries, including the substantial investments in R & D and high export propensity, is followed by a survey of British public policy, which made Britain an attractive host but did little to shape the form of U.S. investment.