Armstrong, the engineers, armament makers and naval shipbuilders was set up in 1847 by William Armstrong at Elswick, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. This book analyzes Armstrong's 80 years rise, decline and reorganization, treating it, in some ways, as a case study of British industrial malaise.
Introduction: British industrial decline and the armament trade. Part 1 The establishment, expansion and diversification of Armstrongs, 1847-85: the foundation of Elswick works and its entry to the armament business; a managerial team; beginnings in shipbuilding; integration to the mid-1880s; the organization of the Armstrong Company - the role of Andrew Noble. Part 2 Integration, organizational problems and new competitors, 1885-1905: the emergence of Vickers; acquisition and integration - the transformation of the armament trade, 1896-1904; Elswick leadership, 1895-1903; problems of an early multinational - the origins of Armstrong's Italian venture; Pozzuoli 1890-1905. Part 3 Difficulties and adjustments, 1905-14: organization and efficiency in complex and multiplant operations; managerial skills, Armstrongs and Vickers; a new, "complete" armament firm, Beardmores of Parkhead; Armstrongs and Beardmores; Italian business 1905-14; accommodating increases in the scale of naval shipbuilding - the question of a new yard; the completion of integration - marine engine manufacture; company and regional diversification, the case of automobile manufacture; new blood and the "Succession" to 1909; the salaries crisis and the "concordat" of 1910-12. Part 4 The First World War and the transformation of the firm 1914-28: Armstrong Whitworth in the Great War; early stages of reconstruction and diversification in the postwar era; the problems of diversifying into commercial lines - the instance of Scotswood locomotives; Italian business in the twenties; the Newfoundland Project; the crisis at Armstrongs to late 1925; into the depths - the threat of collapse; the reconstruction of Armstrongs and the rationalization of the heavy armament business in 1927 and 1928; Armstrong Whitworth and Vickers Armstrong after the merger. Appendices: Sir W.G.Armstrong and successor companies 1867 to 1928, a commercial and financial record; members of the board of directors of Armstrong, Mitchell and successor companies, 1883 to 1929; warship and other armed vessels built by Armstrong Whitworth and predecessor companies to 1912.
