East India Company

1. Business History -
An Introduction

2. Why study Business History
• Knowledge of history can help make better sense of
present.
• Study of business history can help expand perspective
on the evolution of business in the Indian subcontinent
and outside.
• A historical perspective on entrepreneurship, ethics,
business communities and multinationals can enhance
knowledge of how things have evolved, what worked
and what did not work, how leaders made decisions,
how public policy affected business, how business
coped with business cycles, etc.

3. Why study Business History
• A historical perspective can make a better
manager by helping make better decisions.
• Study of business history helps understand the
values and visions on which organizations
were built.
• Business history gives a perspective on how
leaders shaped organizations.

4. Why study BH
• A rich exploratory tool that executives can use
to make a case for change. Leaders with no
patience for history are missing a vital truth.
A sophisticated understanding of the past is
one of the most powerful tools we have for
shaping the future.
• A potent problem solving tool that offers
pragmatic insights, valid generalizations and
meaningful perspectives

5. Kraft Foods integration with British
confectionery Cadbury

6. Kraft Foods integration with British
confectionery Cadbury
• Cadbury’s management had mounted fierce
resistance to the acquisition
• Feared loss of their values and end of their
product quality
• Many observers predicted that this would
prove to be yet another value-destroying deal,
a nightmare of post-merger failure to
integrate

7. Kraft Foods integration with British
confectionery Cadbury
• Kraft’s archivists quickly launched an intranet site
titled, “Coming Together” that honoured the
parallel paths Kraft and Cadbury had taken
• Pouring over historical materials, they had found
shared values and the presentation reinforced
those common themes.
• For instance, the founders James Kraft and John
Cadbury were both religious men whose faith
had deeply influenced their business dealing.

8. Kraft Foods integration with British
confectionery Cadbury
• Both had demonstrated a commitment to creating
quality products for their customers.
• Both valued their employees at a time when workers
were often seen as a commodity
• Both believed in giving back to their communities.
• In addition to founder’s stories, the intranet included
dozens of detailed history of brands such as Oreo
cookies, Maxwell House coffee, and now Cadbury
chocolates and Halls candies.
• Kraft ended up integrating Cadbury more smoothly
than any of its previous acquisitions.

14. 7 tips for getting History on your side
1. Visit your corporate archives or begin compiling
them. Any effort to understand or leverage your
company history is only as good as the raw
materials – documents, images, and artefacts –
you have at your disposal.
2. Enrich your archives with interviews of
departing executives and long-tenured
employees.
3. Survey what is known and understood about the
company’s history and values. This will help you
separate facts from fiction.

15. 7 tips for getting History on your side
4. Make the history – of people, products, and
brands – accessible. Use today’s rich media not
only to capture stories about the company’s
past, but also to engage audiences inside and
outside in an ongoing dialogue about the
meaning of the past for the company’s work.
5. Conduct post-mortems on major projects and
initiatives – successful or otherwise. Recognize
that you can learn as much from failure as from
success.

16. 7 tips for getting History on your side
6. Seek historical perspective before every major
decision, whether it involves a new strategy, a
major acquisition or investment, or a new
marketing campaign or communication
initiative.
7. Talk at every opportunity about the history –
charismatic leaders, breakthrough innovations,
decisive impacts – and what it says about the
company you are today or want to become.