On a role

The combining of the efforts of a number of persons for the accomplishment of a particular purpose results in the organization of effort.' Such an organization may receive its direction either from the will of an individual or from the will of a group. The process by which a group will is arrived at may be termed the organization of will. In the organization of effort, he movement is from the one toward the many, i.e., from the controlling purpose to the coordinated efforts of the various persons who contribute to its accomplishment. In the organization of will, the movement is from the many toward the one, i.e., from the wills of individual members to the single purpose which comes to direct and unify the activities of the group. Organizations may be represented graphically by the cone, the base of the cone representing the individuals organized, the apex their unifying purpose. The organizing of will may be thought of as a movement from base toward apex; the organizing of effort as a movement from apex toward base. These two types of organization may exist separately or combined. In an army, a railroad, a government department, and a x See paper on this topic in the July number of this Journal.

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The Organization of Will

economic effects of FDI flows to countries in the global South. Though the book alludes to Southern unionists and other laymen criticizing Northern FDI for crowding out domestic investment and fostering unemployment and inequality, no reference whatsoever is made to the empirical work of scholars such as Jeffrey Kentor, William Dixon, and Terry Boswell, whose articles in the American Journal of Sociology and the American Sociological Review corroborate these criticisms. Southern fears of growth-reducing FDI effects are reduced in Guillén’s study to a simple image problem, to be solved by more efficient public relations efforts on the part of the multinationals. In fact, Guillén claims, “Spanish multinationals .|.|. are moving in the right direction, namely .|.|. beefing up their public-relations image throughout the region as long-term investors and philanthropists committed to the host country’s development” (p. 173).

An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial Models Shape Markets:

The upswing of regional income inequality in Spain (1860–1930)

This paper studies the evolution of Spanish regional inequality from 1860 to 1930. The results point to the coexistence of two basic forces behind changes in regional economic inequality: industrial specialization and labor productivity differentials. The initial expansion of industrialization, in a context of growing economic integration of regions, promoted the spatial concentration of manufacturing in certain regions, which also benefited from the greatest advances in terms of labor productivity. Since 1900, the diffusion of manufacturing production to a greater number of locations generated the emulation of production structures and a process of catching-up in labor productivity and wages.

The upswing of regional income inequality in Spain (1860-1930)

This paper deals with the changes brought about in the organisation and internal management of resources and investments of the main Scottish savings banks, within the context of the British mutual banking sector at the turn of the century. A study of the archival evidence allows us to analyse the reforms introduced by some savings banks, and the impact of changes in regulations on some of the savings institutions for the working class. In addition, from an internal perspective, an analysis of accounting demonstrates the extent to which the philanthropic nature of savings banks led to the development of entrepreneurial initiatives and therefore greater flexibility in lending decisions.

Enterprise and philanthropy: the dilemma of Scottish savings banks in the late nineteenth century

In this chapter we explore organisational changes associated with the automation of non-bank financial intermediaries the UK while making a running comparison with developments in Spain. This international comparison helps to ascertain the evolution of the same organisational form in two distinct competitive environments. Changes in regulation and technological developments (particularly applications of information technology) are said to be responsible for enhancing competitiveness of retail finance. Archival research on the evolution of savings banks helps to ascertain how, prior to competitive changes taking place, participants in bank markets had to develop capabilities to compete. Moreover, assess the response of collaborative agreements to opportunities opened by technological change (in particular resolve apparent scale disadvantages to contest bank markets). Of particular interest are choices made between applications of computer technology to redefine the relation between head office and retail branches as well as between staff at retail branches and customers.

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Organisational Change and the Computerisation of British and Spanish Savings Banks, Circa 1950-1985

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how Spanish savings banks have come to compete directly with commercial banks. It also looks at how regulatory changes and corporate strategies have affected the nature of competition between the two types of bank in Spain.Design/methodology/approach – There is a re‐examination of the existing bibliography as a basis prior to the analysis of new data as identified in surviving records from the Bank of Spain and the Spanish Confederation of savings banks (Confederacion Espanola de Cajas de Ahorro (CECA)).Findings – The work adopts a novel approach to explaining the current status quo in the Spanish banking industry and refocuses the performance of Spanish savings banks. The analysis highlights the role of the diverse institutional agents, i.e. the banks, savings banks, cooperative banks and mutual banks and the role these play in the evolution of competition. The effectiveness of the managers, of both the CECA and the savings banks, is also placed under the...

Competition and choice: banks and savings banks in Spain

This work is a contribution to the study of the adoption and use of computers in the savings bank industry in western Europe before the arrival of the Internet. It documents the presence of a pan-European network of IT users and analyzes the role of their industry associations in the processes of adopting and disseminating technology. It describes and analyzes their situation as late technology users, indicating certain specific and original patterns in the adoption of computers. Special attention is given to the implementation of shared computer centers throughout Europe and the results in the area of online accounting systems and teleprocessing systems as steps before the development of savings bank electronic funds transfer networks. It documents that in the savings banks industry, a reciprocal influence between technology and its uses was in play over long period of time and throughout the technological changes.

J. Carles Maixé-Altés

Papers

Enterprise and philanthropy: the dilemma of Scottish savings banks in the late nineteenth century

Organisational Change and the Computerisation of British and Spanish Savings Banks, Circa 1950-1985

Competition and choice: banks and savings banks in Spain

The Digitalization of Banking: A New Perspective from the European Savings Banks Industry before the Internet

Domestic monetary transfers and the inland bill of exchange markets in Spain (1775–1885)