Scottish heavy industry declined in c.1950-1970, suffering inter alia from severe shortages of fuel, raw materials and skilled labour. Among a great number of heavy engineering firms closed in the 1980s was 114-year old A. F. Craig & Co. Ltd. of Paisley, a manufacturer of textile machinery, oil refinery equipment and sugar machinery. The firm survived economic recessions and two World Wars but not the period c.1950-1970. To understand how A. F. Craig reacted to its difficulties strategically, we explored its last years to investigate whether new strategies emerged in the firm and, if they did, their influence on the firm. Investigating archival data for the firm, we found that it adopted exploitative strategies without including explorative strategies in technological search and international diversification. The impact of these strategies was not effective enough to lead the firm out of its increasing difficulties.
Su, PeiranShyamol, Marandy
Oxford Brookes Business School
Year of publication: 2019Date of RADAR deposit: 2019-09-30