The Big End of Town

Simon Ville is Professor and Head of the School of Economics and Information Systems at the University of Wollongong. He is editor of the Australian Economic History Review and author of several publications on business in Australia, including The Rural Entrepreneurs. David Merrett is an Associate Professor in the Department of Management at the University of Melbourne. He is a consultant to the ANZ Banking Group and has written extensively on business in Australia. Grant Fleming is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Finance and Applied Statistics at the Australian National University.

'… a very readable account of the development of big business in Australia … the subject is engaging and topical. … The writing is clear with an acceptable mix of theory to set the scene combined with case examples to show the success or otherwise of its application. … The book provides interesting case study material for business students, but it may also be useful background for public scholars or strategists … useful and scholarly …'. Public Administration Today

• 1. Introduction; 2. The development of large scale enterprise; 3. Identifying the corporate leaders; 4. Directions of corporate expansion; 5. Methods of corporate expansion; 6. Financing corporate strategies; 7. Corporate governance and organizational design; 8. Big business and corporate leadership in the Australian economy.