Australia s leading corporations today are household names — Telstra, Qantas, BHP-Billiton, AMP, Commonwealth Bank — to name but a few. They have contributed to and had influence over our economic progress throughout the twentieth century, and their broad spread of shareholders helps to keep them in the public consciousness. Few Australians, however, would know much about how our leading corporations came into being or which firms were our corporate leaders 100 or even 50 years ago. The history of Australian enterprise has not been well served by academic scholarship (the exceptions are few), which has focused largely upon the evolution of the broad macroeconomy. We lack the rich tradition of business history scholarship available in nations such as the United Kingdom or the United States.

This book begins the process of redressing these omissions. It brings to light our corporate leaders and analyses the course of their progress over the twentieth century, locating their experience within the broader Australian economy and the comparative experience of enterprise in other developed nations. We are less concerned with the operational detail of these firms and more with their broad and long-run strategic directions. In particular, we focus upon the common (or unique) features of their corporate strategies and structures.