Solvay : history of a multinational family firm / Kenneth Bertrams, Nicolas Coupain, Ernst Homburg ; coordinated by Ginette Kurgan-van Hentenryk, with the partnership of Philippe Mioche.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bertrams, Kenneth, author.

Coupain, Nicolas, 1978- author.

Homburg, Ernst, 1952- author.

Kurgan-van Hentenryk, G., author.

Mioche, Philippe, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Solvay, Ernest, 1838-1922.

Solvay, Ernest.

Solvay S.A--History.

Solvay S.A.

Chemical industry--Belgium--History.

Chemical industry.

International business enterprises--Belgium.

International business enterprises.

Philanthropists--Belgium.

Philanthropists.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvii, 630 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Ernest Solvay, philanthropist and organizer of the world-famous Solvay conferences on physics, discovered a profitable way of making soda ash in 1861. Together with a handful of associates, he laid the foundations of the Solvay company, which successfully branched out into other chemicals, plastics and pharmaceuticals. Since its emergence in 1863, Solvay has maintained world leadership in the production of soda ash. This is the first scholarly book on the history of the Solvay company, which was one of the earliest chemical multinationals and today is among the world's twenty largest chemical companies. It is also one of the largest companies in the field to preserve its family character. The authors analyze the company's 150-year history (1863-2013) from economic, political and social perspectives, showing the enormous impact geopolitical events had on the company and the recent consequences of global competition.

Contents:

First steps: when vision and reality meet

A multinational pioneer

Reaching a dominant position

Labor organization, social policy, and societal vision

The consolidation of power

The multiple fronts of World War I

From the ashes, 1918-1922

The making of international alliances

Family and finance through the crisis

The electrolytic industry

Facing war again

Solvay's second postwar period

Growth through diversification: the successful entry into plastics and peroxides

Enlarging scale and scope: backward and forward integration in the 1960s and 1970s

Solvay goes public: financial and organizational limits of a family firm

The long and winding road to Deer Park: Solvay's return to the United States

From bulk to brains: Solvay's entry into pharmacy and the life sciences

Solvay in the age of globalization

Towards sustainable product leadership

Chemical and plastics of the future: major turning points at the start of a new century.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-107-30154-8

1-107-23621-5

1-107-30573-X

1-107-30663-9

1-107-31218-3

1-299-00903-4

1-107-31438-0

1-107-30883-6

1-139-17605-6

OCLC:

827210333