Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 November 2019
Explanations of why firms exist and evolve and how intellectual property—including trademarks—contributes to their growth, survival, and impact on globalization and deglobalization have been widely studied in business history and in other fields. Drawing on the study of firms with multinational activity, this article argues that ownership of strong brands can have multiple impacts on the nature of the firm, on the dynamics of industries, on processes of globalization and deglobalization, and on shifts of power and wealth. In the process of doing so, this paper also argues that business history has great potential to have an impact beyond the field, serving as a “hub” for dialogue between disciplines. To achieve that, business historians need to remain truthful to their core competences, which include conducting well-grounded archival-based research, taking into account the uniqueness of the firm and the complexity of the environment, and conducting research that is comparative and international. This article is based my presidential address presented at the Business History Conference on March 16, 2019, in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia.
I would like to thank Geoffrey Jones for his introduction of my presidential address at the Hilton Hotel—Cartagena de Indias, March 16, 2019. My program committee, co-chaired by Andrea Lluch and Marcelo Bucheli and also including Takafumi Kurosawa, Laura Philips Sawyer, and Espen Storli, did a stellar job in helping me to bring together the conference program on “Globalization and De-globalization: Shifts of Power and Wealth.” I would also like to thank Mira Wilkins for her keynote speech on “Multinationals” and Mary Yeager for her welcome and introduction to the keynote speech. Richard John, Meg Graham, and Pam Laird provided important advice about the role of president of the BHC and the organization of the conference. Several people and institutions were involved in the sponsorship and organization of the conference, and I would like to express my gratitude to them: Carlos Dávila, Manuel Rodríguez, Carlos Caballero, and Luis Fernando Molina from University of Los Andes and Adolfo Meisel from Banco de la Republica were central to obtaining local sponsorship from Colombian institutions. Andrea Schneider and her team at Gesellschaft für Unternehmensgeschichte (GUG) e.V. and Roger Horowitz, Andrew Popp, and Shane Hamilton with the team at Hagley Museum and Library all contributed to the conference organization, coordination, and logistics. Ben Wubs chaired the Music Committee. Laura Linard and Christine Riggle from Harvard Business School provided images from the Baker Library to be used on the conference program cover. Maria Teresa Ramírez-Giraldo, Maria Teresa Ripoll, Patricia Gerlado, and Miguel Angelo all suggested possible venues for the keynote speech and drinks reception in the historical center of Cartagena de Indias. The services provided by the Hilton Hotel—Cartagena de Indias, led by Jairo Manzur and including Stephania Martinez and Moisés Patiño, among others, contributed to making this conference memorable. The following institutions provided important sponsorship of various activities of the conference program: Banco de la República—Colombia; BBVA—Colombia; Cambridge University Press; the Canadian Business History Association; Kyoto University; the Norwegian University of Science and Technology; the Paul Bairoch Institute of Economic History; the Winthrop Group Inc.; Centro de Formación de la Cooperación Espanõla—Cartagena de Indias; Universidad de Los Andes—School of Management; Universidad de Cartagena; University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign; and University of York. I would also like to thank the following colleagues for their sponsorship of the Chris Kobrak Drinks Reception and other conference events and activities: Franco Amatori, Mark S. Bonham, Ludovic Cailluet, Andrea Colli, Joost Dankers, Jeff Fear, Patrick Friedenson, Eric Godelier, Per Hansen, Will Haussman, Richard John, Geoffrey Jones, Matthias Kipping, Takafumi Kurosawa, Andrea Lluch, Joe Martin, Chris McKenna, Rowena Olegario, Neil Rollings, Duncan Ross, Jannette Rutterford, Laura Philips Sawyer, Andrea H. Schneider, Espen Storli, Mira Wilkins, Ben Wubs, and Mary Yeager.