Introduction: business groups re-examined

Abstract

While business groups are a dominant and critical business organization in contemporary emerging economies and have lately attracted much attention in academic circles and business presses, interestingly their counterparts in developed economies have not been systematically examined. This chapter serves as an introduction to this volume that examines the origins, evolution, and resilience of business groups in the developed economies of Western Europe, North America and Oceania. First, it describes the major aims of the volume and argues why it focuses on business groups in developed economies. Second, it examines the categorical classifications of various types of business groups, as conceptual clarification is necessary to distinguish different varieties of this organizational model at the outset of the volume. Third, the chapter explores the varieties of diversified business groups and their comparable organizational models under the category of "multi-unit enterprises." It concludes by giving an outline of the entire volume.