Franco Amatori is Professor of Economic History and is also head of the Institute of Economic History, at Bocconi University, Italy. He specialized in business history during his time at Harvard Business School, USA and has written extensively on Italian and international business history.

Andrea Colli is Associate Professor in Economic History at Bocconi University, Italy. He has published several books in fields such as: the structure and evolution of SMEs, as well as the role of family firms in modern economic growth. In 2008 he was awarded the Harold Williamson prize for the most promising mid-career business historian by the Business History Conference.

Part 1: Relevant Issues 1. Introduction 2. Business History and Theories of the Firm 3. Entrepreneurship Part 2: The Company Between the Pre-Industrial Era and the First Industrial Revolution 4. Pre-Industrial Manufacturing 5. Enterprises and Entrepreneurs of the First Industrial Revolution 6. Technology, Society and the Factory System Part 3: The Birth and Consolidation of Big Business 7. Infrastructures 8. Technology and Organization 9. National Patterns Part 4: State and Market in the Period between the Two World Wars 10. The Multi-Divisional Corporation and Managerial Capitalism [...]ope between the Two Wars: Convergence and Divergence with the U.S. 12. At the Origins of the Japanese Miracle: Entrepreneurship, the State and Business Groups Part 5: From the Post-War Years to the Fall of the Wall: The Age of 'Shrinking' Space 13. From World War II to the Third Industrial Revolution 14. American Hegemony and its Aftermath 15. The Soviet Union: The Antagonist 16. Japan: The Challenger 17. Hybrid Europe 18. Different Strategies for 'Catching Up': South Korea and Argentina 19. Multinationals: Quid Novi? Part 6: The Globalization of Today 20. New Forms of Enterprise 21. The 'Roaring Nineties': America is Back 22. Slowing Down: Japan and Europe 23. New Protagonists: China and India 24. A Last Look