Rights statement: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Management and Organizational HIstory on 31/10/2019, available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17449359.2019.1683036
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Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Religion, Organization and Company Law
T2 - A Case Study of a Quaker Business
AU - Burton, Nicholas
AU - Kavanagh, Donncha
AU - Brigham, Martin
N1 - This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Management and Organizational HIstory on 31/10/2019, available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17449359.2019.1683036
PY - 2019/12/31
Y1 - 2019/12/31
N2 - This paper examines the effect of changes in corporate law in the mid-nineteenth century – incorporation and limited liability – on the ownership, control and socio-economic objectives of a Quaker family firm between 1841 and 1972. The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) were wellknown for adhering to internalized quasi-legal rules and self-governance, and had a strongreputation, which persists today, for trust, integrity and honesty in all business dealings. We read existing archival research on Quaker firm Huntley & Palmer (the biscuit manufacturer) against the grain to trace how incorporation and limited liability fundamentally changed its capital structure and the family’s control of the firm and which, in turn, led to a gradual weakening of its social ambitions.We argue that changes to the law are akin to changing the rules of the game within which players’ play, and we show how Quaker quasi-legal rules became subordinate to corporate law resulting in unexpected and non-trivial impacts that play out over long, longitudinal periods of time.
AB - This paper examines the effect of changes in corporate law in the mid-nineteenth century – incorporation and limited liability – on the ownership, control and socio-economic objectives of a Quaker family firm between 1841 and 1972. The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) were wellknown for adhering to internalized quasi-legal rules and self-governance, and had a strongreputation, which persists today, for trust, integrity and honesty in all business dealings. We read existing archival research on Quaker firm Huntley & Palmer (the biscuit manufacturer) against the grain to trace how incorporation and limited liability fundamentally changed its capital structure and the family’s control of the firm and which, in turn, led to a gradual weakening of its social ambitions.We argue that changes to the law are akin to changing the rules of the game within which players’ play, and we show how Quaker quasi-legal rules became subordinate to corporate law resulting in unexpected and non-trivial impacts that play out over long, longitudinal periods of time.
KW - Quakers: Religion
KW - Corporate law
KW - Socio-economic wealth
KW - Family business
U2 - 10.1080/17449359.2019.1683036
DO - 10.1080/17449359.2019.1683036
M3 - Journal article
VL - 14
SP - 317
EP - 336
JO - Management and Organizational History
JF - Management and Organizational History
SN - 1744-9359
IS - 4
ER -