![]() ![]() Toward this end, he had acquired a number of textile firms. Beginning as early as 1943, he had moved Textron (the company took that name in 1944) toward full vertical integration in textiles, and he envisioned a company that would weave textiles for production into garments carrying a Textron brand label. In the case of Textron, however, it was not the fear of antitrust activities that motivated Royal Little. There was also some concern about avoiding the cyclical nature of single-industry firms diversification was seen as a means of maintaining a stable balance sheet. Public resistance to growth that suggested monopoly power encouraged those companies and entrepreneurs that were determined to grow to seek another means of expansion. The threat of this legislation and of government intervention may have dampened same-industry mergers in the late 1940’s. In 1948, the Federal Trade Commission Federal Trade Commission, reacting to an increased level of merger activity, undertook a study to consider the advisability of passing additional antitrust legislation. The move toward conglomeration was precipitated by a number of factors. There were some indications of this trend in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, with the movement reaching the rampant stage in the 1960’s. The third phase-growth by acquisition, the phase of conglomeration-came after World War II. In most cases, the new products and processes had some relationship to the original product line firms grew internally and by acquiring emerging firms in the new product fields. The second phase in the evolution of American corporations developed in the period following World War I and was prompted primarily by technological changes and the development of new products and manufacturing processes. They also resulted in the passage of legislation to regulate such growth. ![]() Mergers involved both horizontal (within a product category) and vertical (relations between manufacturers, suppliers of raw materials, and distributors of commodities) growth and produced a significant number of trusts and near-monopolies by the end of the nineteenth century. The first merger phase, beginning in the post-Civil War period, led to concentrations in single industries (trusts and monopolies) and was prompted by efficiencies resulting from large-scale manufacturing and the marketing of a limited product line. Conglomeration was the latest development in a merger-and-acquisition trend that began in the late nineteenth century. Textron Conglomeration in business Textron-Cleveland Pneumatic merger Cleveland Pneumatic Tool Company Mergers, business Textron Initiates the Trend Toward Conglomeration (July 8, 1948) Conglomeration, Textron Initiates the Trend Toward (July 8, 1948) Textron Conglomeration in business Textron-Cleveland Pneumatic merger Cleveland Pneumatic Tool Company Mergers, business North America July 8, 1948: Textron Initiates the Trend Toward Conglomeration United States July 8, 1948: Textron Initiates the Trend Toward Conglomeration Manufacturing and industry July 8, 1948: Textron Initiates the Trend Toward Conglomeration Business and labor July 8, 1948: Textron Initiates the Trend Toward Conglomeration Economics July 8, 1948: Textron Initiates the Trend Toward Conglomeration Little, Royal Farley, Eliot Green, Lawrence E.Ī “conglomerate” in business is defined as a large corporation formed by the merger or acquisition of a number of companies in unrelated and widely diversified industries. Although he relished the title and basked in the glory that accompanied it, he freely acknowledged that the description was not entirely accurate. ![]() Royal Little, the founder and directing force at Textron until his retirement in July, 1961, has been described as the “father” of the conglomeration movement. The purchase meant that Textron was now a conglomerate, a participant in several disparate industries. The conglomeration era is considered to have begun on July 8, 1948, when Textron, a major producer of synthetic fabrics, acquired a firm that was not in the textile industry. It was a short-lived business movement of questionable consequences, but it did change the composition of and rankings within the list of the largest U.S. The conglomeration era of the 1950’s and 1960’s was initiated in the late 1940’s. Textron acquired its first nontextile firm, Cleveland Pneumatic Tool Company, initiating a trend toward conglomeration that would help define American corporate activity in the next few decades. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |