Abstract

"Can Insights into Co-Creation be Gained by Examining Victorian Cotton Brokers in Liverpool?"

Valerie Mock, Centre for Port and Maritime History, Liverpool John Moores University (docmock@hotmail.com), Mitch Larson, Southwestern Oklahoma State University (mitchlarson@yahoo.com)

Much of the current co-creation literature revolves around interactive technology and the added value achieved when stakeholders, especially customers, are involved in the process. However, during the Industrial Revolution when communication technologies were new, merchants in the developing cotton industry were successfully finding ways to involve their stakeholders in decision-making, which supports the universality concept of co-creation in business entities. Aldous and Coyle (2021) provided an example when they described the creation and activities of the Liverpool Cotton Brokers’ Association (CBA). Founded in 1841, the CBA, “facilitated the growth of the largest raw cotton market in the world” and established industry standards, rules, and bylaws to regulate its purchase and sales. It was a global industry with suppliers in cotton-growing countries like India and manufacturing customers primarily in the nearby Manchester cotton mills. Its growth is reflected by the dramatic increase of cotton brokers in Liverpool from 45 in 1829 to 111 in 1841 (when the association was formed) to 322 by 1860.

Our paper uses sources such as corporate documents, diaries and correspondence, Town Council meeting minutes, and public and church records to examine the potential universality of co-creation in business entities by elaborating first on CBA’s stakeholders and then on its first president, George Holt, who entered the industry in 1807. Holt was a serial entrepreneur who was heavily invested in not only the industry, but also in the community of Liverpool. He founded five successful enterprises, prominently served on the Town Council, invested in family’s and friends’ railroad and shipping interests, helped establish educational institutions, was active in his church and its philanthropic activities, and often entertained local and foreign guests in his home. Thus, this paper contributes to the literature by illustrating the value created both fiscally and socially that an entrepreneur can make when working with others.