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Turning Adversity into Opportunity: Philips in Australia, 1945-1980

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2017

PIERRE VAN DER ENG
PIERRE VAN DER ENG*
Affiliation:
Pierre van der Eng is Associate Professor and Reader in International Business at the Research School of Management, ANU College of Business and Economics, The Australian National University, 26 Kingsley Street, Acton ACT 2601, Australia. E-mail: pierre.vandereng@anu.edu.au
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Abstract

Philips Australia, the Australian subsidiary of Dutch MNE Philips Electronics, experienced difficulties during 1942–1943, when it came close to being nationalized as enemy property. In response, the company set out to improve its reputation in the local radio parts and electronics industry and in Australian markets. Its strategy of embedding itself in Australian society served the purpose of improving company performance and influencing the government policies that guided the rapid development of Australia’s postwar electronics industry. With this strategy, Philips Australia minimized the risks and maximized the commercial opportunities it faced. The firm localized senior management, maximized local procurement and local manufacturing, took a leading role in industry associations, engaged politically influential board members, and used marketing tools to build a strong brand and a positive public profile in Australia. However, the company became aware of the limitations of this strategy in 1973, when a new Labor government reduced trade protection. Increasing competition from Japanese electronics firms forced Philips Australia to restructure and downsize its production operations. Despite increasing reliance on imports from the parent company’s regional supply centers and efforts to specialize production on high-value added products, the firm saw its profitability and market share in Australia decrease.

Type
Articles
Information
Enterprise & Society , Volume 19 , Issue 1 , March 2018 , pp. 179 - 207
Copyright
Copyright © The Author 2017. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Business History Conference. All rights reserved. 

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References

Bibliography of Works Cited

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Stutchbury, Michael. “The Playford Legend and the Industrialization of South Australia.” Australian Economic History Review 24, (1984): 1–19.Google Scholar
Tisdell, Clem. “The Australian Research Subsidy to Overseas Firms and Other Aspects of the Distribution of Research Grants.” Economic Record 49, (1973): 194–214.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van der Eng, Pierre. “European Integration and Australian Manufacturing Industry: The Case of Philips Electronics, 1960s–1970s.” Australian Economic History Review 57, no. 2 (2017): 217–238.Google Scholar
Van der Eng, Pierre. “Managing Political Imperatives in War Time: Strategic Responses of Philips in Australia, 1939–1945.” Business History 59, no. 5 (2017): 645–666. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00076791.2016.1259311 Google Scholar
Van der Eng, Pierre. “Trade Liberalisation, Japanese Competition and Structural Adjustment in Australia’s Electronics Industry, 1960s–1980s.” Unpublished paper, 2010.Google Scholar
White, Nicholas J. “Surviving Sukarno: British Business in Post-Colonial Indonesia, 1850–1967.” Modern Asian Studies 46, no. 5 (2012): 1277–1315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
National Archives of Australia (NAA), Canberra, Australia.Google Scholar
Philips Australia company records (PA), North Ryde, Australia.Google Scholar
Philips Company Archives (PCA), Eindhoven, the Netherlands.Google Scholar
State Records of South Australia (SRSA), Adelaide, Australia.Google Scholar
Australian Financial Review (1972–1974)Google Scholar
Het Vaderland (1936)Google Scholar
Mingay’s (1938–1993), comprising Radio & Electrical Retailer (1938–1947); Radio Electrical Weekly (1947–1953); Electrical Weekly (1953–1959); Mingay’s Weekly (1959–1960); Mingay’s Electrical Weekly (1960–1968), continued as Mingay’s Electrical Retail Weekly (1968–1969); Mingay’s News (1969–1974), Mingay’s (1974); Mingay’s Retailer and Merchandiser (1975–1993).Google Scholar
Philips Australia annual reports (1951, 1955–1993), comprising Philips Electrical Industries of Australia Pty Ltd. (1951), Philips Electrical Industries Pty Ltd. (1955–1964), Philips Industries Pty Ltd. (1965), and Philips Industries Holdings Pty Ltd. (1966–1993).Google Scholar
Philips Reporter (1961–1982)Google Scholar
Philips Sales Bulletin (1958–1959)Google Scholar
Sydney Morning Herald (1936–1974)Google Scholar
The Advertiser (1946–1954)Google Scholar
The Age (1960–1973)Google Scholar
The Argus (1944–1954)Google Scholar
The Canberra Times (1953–1975)Google Scholar
The Mail (1954)Google Scholar
The Straits Times (1968–1969)Google Scholar
Blanken, Ivo. De Geschiedenis van Philips Electronics N.V.: Deel 5, Een Industriële Wereldfederatie [The history of Philips Electronics NV: Volume 5: A global industrial federation]. Zaltbommel: Europese Bibliotheek, 2002.Google Scholar
Blanken, Ivo. The History of Philips Electronics N.V.: Volume 3, The Development of NV Philips Gloeilampenfabieken into a Major Electrical Group. Zaltbommel: Europese Bibliotheek, 1999.Google Scholar
Butlin, Noel G. “Australian National Accounts 1788–1983.” Source Papers in Economic History No. 6 . Canberra: Department of Economic History, 1984.Google Scholar
Department of Trade and Industry. A Study of the Rate of Diffusion of New Technology within Australian Industry. Canberra: Department of Trade and Industry, 1972.Google Scholar
Department of Trade and Industry. Survey of Industry Research and Development Expenditure in Australia, 1968-69. Canberra: Department of Trade and Industry, 1972.Google Scholar
Electronic Industries. The Vast Resources of Electronic Industries Limited: Manufacture, Wholesale, Retail, Finance, Service, Import, Export. Melbourne: Electronic Industries Ltd., 1969.Google Scholar
Franko, Lawrence G. The European Multinationals: A Renewed Challenge for American and British Big Business. London: Harper and Row, 1976.Google Scholar
Glezer, Leon. Tariff Politics: Australian Policy-Making 1960–1980. Carlton: Melbourne UP, 1982.Google Scholar
Industry Commission. Australian Manufacturing Industry and International Trade Data 1968–69 to 1992–93. Canberra: Industry Commission, 1995.Google Scholar
Karmel, Peter H., and Brunt, Maureen. The Structure of the Australian Economy. Melbourne: Cheshire, 1963.Google Scholar
Meredith, David, and Dyster, Barrie. Australia in the Global Economy: Continuity and Change. Cambridge: CUP, 1999.Google Scholar
Philips Electrical Industries. Philips in Australia. Sydney: Philips Electrical Industries Pty Ltd., 1964.Google Scholar
Rattigan, Alf. Industry Assistance: The Inside Story. Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 1986.Google Scholar
Reitsma, Alexander Jan. Trade Protection in Australia. St. Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1960.Google Scholar
Abdelrehim, Neveen, Maltby, Josephine, Toms, Steven. (2011) “Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Control: The Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, 1933–1951.” Enterprise & Society 12, no. 4: 824–862.Google Scholar
Amalgamated Wireless Australia Chairman’s Address. Sydney: Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia) Ltd., 1974.Google Scholar
Butler, Larry. “Mining, Nationalism and Decolonization in Zambia: Interpreting Business Responses to Political Change, 1945–1964.” Archiv für Sozialgeschichte 48 (2008): 317–332.Google Scholar
Decker, Stephanie. “Building Up Goodwill: British Business, Development and Economic Nationalism in Ghana and Nigeria, 1945–1977.” Enterprise & Society 9, no. 4 (2008): 602–613.Google Scholar
Decker, Stephanie. “Corporate Political Activity in Less Developed Countries: The Volta River Project in Ghana, 1958–66.” Business History 53, no. 7 (2010): 993–1017.Google Scholar
Dunn, J. N. “Journey to Antipodia.” The Announcer: Monthly Review of the Philips Industries (November 1959): 24–26.Google Scholar
Farquharson, John. “Westerman, Sir Wilfred Alan (1913-2001).” In Obituaries Australia. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. http://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/westerman-sir-wilfred-alan-1022/text1023.Google Scholar
Given, Jock. “Born Global, Made Local: Multinational Enterprise and Australia’s Early Wireless Industry.” Australian Economic History Review 57, no. 2 (2017): 158–193. doi:10.1111/aehr.12031 Google Scholar
Huyer, Herman D. As I Remember. Unpublished manuscript, August 1986.Google Scholar
Leigh, Andrew. “Trade Liberalisation and the Australian Labor Party.” Australian Journal of Politics and History 48, no. 4 (2002): 487–508.Google Scholar
Merrett, David T. “Big Business and Foreign Firms.” In Cambridge Economic History of Australia, edited by Ville, Simon and Withers, Glenn, 309–329. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 2015.Google Scholar
McCarthy, Dayton. “Macarthur-Onslow, Sir Denzil (1904–1984).” In Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Article published 18 (2012). http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/macarthur-onslow-sir-denzil-14853/text26038 Google Scholar
Myers, D. M. “Madsen, Sir John Percival Vaissing (Vissing) (1879–1969).” In Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Article published 10 (1986). http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/madsen-sir-john-percival-vaissing-vissing-7456/text12987 Google Scholar
Numan, S. W. “Philips ‘Down Under’: A Report on Our Activities in the Australian Continent.” The Announcer: Monthly Review of the Philips Industries, (September 1954): 227–244.Google Scholar
Overberg, Henk. “Leddy, Franciscus Nicolaas (1903–1964).” In Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Article published 15 (2000). http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/leddy-franciscus-nicolaas-10803/text19159 Google Scholar
Robertson, Paul, and Trace, Keith. “Government Involvement in the Development of Australian Manufacturing since 1945.” Business and Economic History 12, (1983): 109–123.Google Scholar
Stutchbury, Michael. “The Playford Legend and the Industrialization of South Australia.” Australian Economic History Review 24, (1984): 1–19.Google Scholar
Tisdell, Clem. “The Australian Research Subsidy to Overseas Firms and Other Aspects of the Distribution of Research Grants.” Economic Record 49, (1973): 194–214.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van der Eng, Pierre. “European Integration and Australian Manufacturing Industry: The Case of Philips Electronics, 1960s–1970s.” Australian Economic History Review 57, no. 2 (2017): 217–238.Google Scholar
Van der Eng, Pierre. “Managing Political Imperatives in War Time: Strategic Responses of Philips in Australia, 1939–1945.” Business History 59, no. 5 (2017): 645–666. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00076791.2016.1259311 Google Scholar
Van der Eng, Pierre. “Trade Liberalisation, Japanese Competition and Structural Adjustment in Australia’s Electronics Industry, 1960s–1980s.” Unpublished paper, 2010.Google Scholar
White, Nicholas J. “Surviving Sukarno: British Business in Post-Colonial Indonesia, 1850–1967.” Modern Asian Studies 46, no. 5 (2012): 1277–1315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
National Archives of Australia (NAA), Canberra, Australia.Google Scholar
Philips Australia company records (PA), North Ryde, Australia.Google Scholar
Philips Company Archives (PCA), Eindhoven, the Netherlands.Google Scholar
State Records of South Australia (SRSA), Adelaide, Australia.Google Scholar
Australian Financial Review (1972–1974)Google Scholar
Het Vaderland (1936)Google Scholar
Mingay’s (1938–1993), comprising Radio & Electrical Retailer (1938–1947); Radio Electrical Weekly (1947–1953); Electrical Weekly (1953–1959); Mingay’s Weekly (1959–1960); Mingay’s Electrical Weekly (1960–1968), continued as Mingay’s Electrical Retail Weekly (1968–1969); Mingay’s News (1969–1974), Mingay’s (1974); Mingay’s Retailer and Merchandiser (1975–1993).Google Scholar
Philips Australia annual reports (1951, 1955–1993), comprising Philips Electrical Industries of Australia Pty Ltd. (1951), Philips Electrical Industries Pty Ltd. (1955–1964), Philips Industries Pty Ltd. (1965), and Philips Industries Holdings Pty Ltd. (1966–1993).Google Scholar
Philips Reporter (1961–1982)Google Scholar
Philips Sales Bulletin (1958–1959)Google Scholar
Sydney Morning Herald (1936–1974)Google Scholar
The Advertiser (1946–1954)Google Scholar
The Age (1960–1973)Google Scholar
The Argus (1944–1954)Google Scholar
The Canberra Times (1953–1975)Google Scholar
The Mail (1954)Google Scholar
The Straits Times (1968–1969)Google Scholar