Americanization and its Limits

The Historical Journal A major addition to [the] literature ... this book is a major enrichment of our understanding of 'Americanization', combining a rich array of new research with a rigorous attention to problems of conceptualization.

English Historical Review This book is essential reading for anyone interested in post-war international economic history and the development of an internationalized business culture. It also provides a salutary reminder about the limited prospects of a national business model being transferred wholesale even in the era of the new economy and revived American dominance.

English Historical Review This book will be of great value to economic as well as business historians, particularly those with an interest in the development of globalization ... the project is truly international in its scholarly dimensions.

History The detailed essays provide some fascinating examples of transatlantic interaction ... this is an important book bringing together for the first time a great deal of useful information.

Technology and Culture This book is the best by far of the recent spate of studies of Americanization, and it will be invaluable to scholars and students in a variety of fields.

Jonathan Zeitlin is Professor of History, Sociology, and Industrial Relations, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA; and Jean Monnet Fellow, European University Institute, Florence, Italy. Gary Herrigel is Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago, USA.

Chapter 1: Introduction: Americanization and Its Limits: Reworking US Technology and Management in Post-War Europe and Japan; PART I: EXPORTING THE AMERICAN MODEL?; Chapter 2: Americanization: Ideology or Process? The Case of the US Technical Assistance and Productivity Program; Chapter 3: Transplanting the American Model? US Automobile Companies and the Transfer of Technology and Management to Europe after the Second World War; PART II: REWORKING US TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT: NATIONAL, SECTORAL, AND FIRM-LEVEL VARIATIONS; A: BRITAIN AND SWEDEN; Chapter 4: Americanizing British Engineering? Strategic Debate, Selective Adaptation, and Hybrid Innovation in Post-War Reconstruction; Chapter 5: Failure to Communicate: British Telecommunications and the American Lesson; Chapter 6: Creative Cross-Fertilization and Uneven Americanization of Swedish Industry: Sources of Innovation in Post-War Motor Vehicles and Electrical Manufacturing; B: FRANCE AND ITALY; Chapter 7: A Slow and Difficult Process: The Americanization of the French Steel Producing and Using Industries after World War II; Chapter 8: Remodelling the Italian Steel Industry: Americanization, Modernization, and Mass Production; Chapter 9: Mass Production or 'Organized Craftsmanship'? The Post-War Italian Automobile Industry; C: GERMANY AND JAPAN; Chapter 10: The Long Shadow of Americanization: The German Rubber Industry and the Radial Tire Revolution; Chapter 11: The Evolution of the 'Japanese Production System': Indigenous Influences and American Impact; Chapter 12: American Occupation, Market Order, and Democracy: Reconfiguring the Japanese and German Steel Industries after World War II