A history of the first 100 years of Australia's largest general insurer

Traces the history and development of the international insurance and re-insurance business.

'This research project combines contemporary and historical analysis to trace the evolution of Australian multinationals. It provides unique insights into how firms from a small economy achieved global competitiveness in their niche markets, while examining the barriers that inhibited others. The evidence is presented in comparative, industry and firm-case studies, and tells the story of international business made in Australia. The longitudinal and multi-level analysis in this research provides new insights that challenge the predominance of cross-sectional analytical framework dominating strategic management. Any scholars sincerely interested how companies from small countries can succeed on the global stage ought to read this book.' - Klaus E. Meyer, University of Reading Business School, UK The international business literature often struggles to depict a universal experience of internationalisation from the perspective of large countries. This book seeks to enrich the literature by providing a nuanced overview of the little-known Australian experience, being an atypical case of a small- to medium-sized economy which liberalised rapidly from the 1980s outside any trading bloc. Six data-rich survey chapters explore Australia's mixed success in founding its own multinationals. The experience of Australian firms is set in historical and comparative perspective, including interactions with inward and specifically American FDI. Five industry studies next consider why firms in retail, wine and professional services were more successful than in financial services and shipping. Nine detailed case studies of firms then identify the elements of administrative heritage, strategy and learning that have been the key to success or failure. The book concludes by outlining what can be learned from Australia's example and presenting implications for future research. The Internationalisation Strategies of Small-Country Firms will appeal to scholars, researchers and postgraduate students in international business and international economics.

The insurance industry in Malaysia is a large and important sector of the economy in terms of capitalization, business turnover, assets, and the number of employees. Insurance companies played a crucial role in early Western economic expansion into Malaya, underwriting shipping, mining, and plantation ventures to protect entrepreneurs from excessive risk. The scope of the insurance business later broadened to cover fire risks, motor insurance, and workmen's compensation, while war risk coverage helped ensure that the economy continued to function during the 1940s and 1950s. After independence, the social and political environment of independent Malaysia offered new opportunities for the insurance industry. A Matter of Risk shows how insurance companies established themselves in an unfamiliar environment, marketed new products, responded to diverse demands and safeguarded market share and profit against competition. Local firms faced a major challenge as overseas insurance companies moved from running agency offices to setting up of branches, taking over or collaborating with existing companies, and eventually incorporating themselves as local companies. The study looks at the role of tariff associations and insurance trade organizations such as the Persatuan Insurans Am Malaysia (Malaysian General Insurance Association) in maintaining order in the industry through self-regulation.

Reconstructed from hundreds of hours of interviews and thousands of pages of documentation, this reference focuses on one of Austalia's oldest and proudest corporations, Hardie, retelling the story of one of the worst industrial poisons of the 20th century, asbestos. This compelling narrative relates the frantic financial engineering in 2001, during which Hardie cut adrift its liabilities to sufferers of asbestos-related disease, the public and political odium that followed, and the extraordinary deal that resulted.

"...excellent coverage...essential to worldwide bibliographic coverage."--AMERICAN REFERENCE BOOKS ANNUAL. This comprehensive reference provides current finding & ordering information on more than 75,000 in-print books published in or about Australia, or written by Australian authors, organized by title, author, & keyword. You'll also find brief profiles of more than 7,000 publishers & distributors whose titles are represented, as well as information on trade associations, local agents of overseas publishers, literary awards, & more. From D.W. Thorpe.