Abstract

"Board Games: Cooperation and Collusion Amongst Large Australian Corporations, 1910 – 1952"

Claire E. F. Wright, Macquarie University (Claire.Wright@uts.edu.au)

Networks have been an enduring feature of the Australian corporate sector. Connections between large firms have provided crucial access to resources for Australia’s small and isolated community of business leaders, and yet have also encouraged collusion and exploitation. This paper examines networks among board members of large Australian corporations at a series of benchmarks across the twentieth century. Trade journals and company data have been used to visualise the director network, allowing for the identification of key individuals and firms. Company records such as annual reports, meeting minutes and correspondence then provide insights into the way these board connections were utilised by the corporate sector. Australia was host to a heavily interlocked business sector across the twentieth century. While connections were present across the economy, there was some clustering of ties amongst firms in key growth industries. In some cases, such as the mining industry, interlocking directorates were used by dominant companies to exploit smaller firms, control prices, and ensure their preferential treatment in the supply chain. In cases such as the wool industry, however, board networks were vehicles of cooperation that allowed for the democratic resolution of inter-firm issues and the efficient conduct of the complex commodity trade. By exploring these case studies in detail, this paper highlights the role of context for the way in which corporate networks are enacted. The nature of the industry, the structure of connected firms, and the personalities of directors determine the effectiveness of connections between companies, and the actors that those connections benefit. It reveals the distinctive elements of Australian economic life, and the historical, geographic, and industrial specificity of networks in business history.