70014IronDuke
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- 13 Jun 2015
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And many think the DfT are bad!!!!
Fascinating thesis written on the history of the LSWR from 1870-1911. I have only skimmed it, but the conclusions are damning! How did Britain ever manage itself, let alone an empire?
Managing the “Royal Road”: The London & South Western
Railway 1870 - 1911
David Anthony Turner
It includes some wonderful stuff about how Waterloo came to take over the Somerset & Dorset with the Midland in a bid to keep the GWR in its (proper) place.
http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/4941/1/Thesis - David Tuner - PhD - For binders.pdf
Abstract
There has been considerable scholarship over the last fifty years on the causes o f the late - nineteenth and early - twentieth century British railway industry’s declining profitability. Nonetheless , scholars have largely avoided studying how individual companie s ’ were managed, instead making general conclusions about the challenges industry leaders faced and the quality of their responses.
This thesis examines the management of one of the British railway industry’s large st companies, the Lo ndon and South Western Railway (LSWR) , during the tenures of three of its G eneral Managers: A rchibald Scott, who was in the post between 1870 and 1884, Charles Scotter, who succeeded him from 1885 to 1897, and Charles Owens , who held th e position between 1898 and 1911.
Compared with other major British railways the LSWR ’s profitability ranged from being poor under Scott, to excellent under Scotter and then average under Owens. This thesis will explore what internal and external factors c aused these changes . Furthermore, it considers how the business’ organisational form, senior managers’ career paths and directors’ external business interests all played a role in shaping the company’ s operational efficiency and financial performance.
Ultimately, the thesis will argue that while external factors were a n influence on the LSWR ’s profitability between 1870 and 1911 , primarily its financial performance was determined by the quality of the strategies and policies enacted by its directors and man agers. Ultimately, t his thesis brings clarity to the existing debates and, by using the LSWR as a case study, provides important suggestions as to what actually caused the British railway industry’s declining pro fitability between 1870 and 1911 .
Fascinating thesis written on the history of the LSWR from 1870-1911. I have only skimmed it, but the conclusions are damning! How did Britain ever manage itself, let alone an empire?
Managing the “Royal Road”: The London & South Western
Railway 1870 - 1911
David Anthony Turner
It includes some wonderful stuff about how Waterloo came to take over the Somerset & Dorset with the Midland in a bid to keep the GWR in its (proper) place.
http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/4941/1/Thesis - David Tuner - PhD - For binders.pdf
Abstract
There has been considerable scholarship over the last fifty years on the causes o f the late - nineteenth and early - twentieth century British railway industry’s declining profitability. Nonetheless , scholars have largely avoided studying how individual companie s ’ were managed, instead making general conclusions about the challenges industry leaders faced and the quality of their responses.
This thesis examines the management of one of the British railway industry’s large st companies, the Lo ndon and South Western Railway (LSWR) , during the tenures of three of its G eneral Managers: A rchibald Scott, who was in the post between 1870 and 1884, Charles Scotter, who succeeded him from 1885 to 1897, and Charles Owens , who held th e position between 1898 and 1911.
Compared with other major British railways the LSWR ’s profitability ranged from being poor under Scott, to excellent under Scotter and then average under Owens. This thesis will explore what internal and external factors c aused these changes . Furthermore, it considers how the business’ organisational form, senior managers’ career paths and directors’ external business interests all played a role in shaping the company’ s operational efficiency and financial performance.
Ultimately, the thesis will argue that while external factors were a n influence on the LSWR ’s profitability between 1870 and 1911 , primarily its financial performance was determined by the quality of the strategies and policies enacted by its directors and man agers. Ultimately, t his thesis brings clarity to the existing debates and, by using the LSWR as a case study, provides important suggestions as to what actually caused the British railway industry’s declining pro fitability between 1870 and 1911 .