Erfolg und Mißerfolg der österreichischen Großunternehmen im 20. Jahrhundert

1. Only the lesser part of the 187 Austrian companies employing -between 1900 and 1979 -at least once more than 1.000 people succeeded in maintaining this size for a longer period of time, although on the other hand most of them still existed as independent companies in 1979. 2. The develoment of Austria's large companies was strongly influenced by the economic development in general: while the years before World War I and after World War II were highly favourable to the growth of firms, the interwar period as well as the sixties and the seventies were characterized by signs of stagnation, which made it much more difficult for the large Austrian companies to maintain their size. 3. Initial growth was generally achieved by way of internal expansion; only in later phases of company growth did the taking over of other firms play a major role and contribute to the consolidation of the size achieved. There was a certain correlation between company growth and vertical integration, which conditioned each other, whereas the strategies of diversification and foreign investment had hardly any impact on the growth of Austria's large companies. 4. Initial and very often continued growth took mainly place within owner enterprises, whereas managerial enterprises -in Austria mainly those controlled by the large banks and the government -were slightly more successful in surviving such critical periods as the Great Depression. There was little difference between the large domestic companies and the subsidiaries of foreign corporations. Although -especially in the decades after 1945 -relatively more new jobs were created by the latter.