Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Boyce, G.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Enterprise and Society 2:543-575 (2001)
© 2001 Business History Conference

Article

Multilateral Contracting in Australian Mining: The Development of Hamersley Iron, 1961–1966

Gordon Boyce

School of Marketing and International Business, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, 6001, New Zealand. <Gordon.Boyce{at}vuw.ac.nz

Abstract

Management theory and transaction cost economics provide few insights into the dynamics of multilateral negotiations. A host of factors suggest that complex transactions—especially those that involve government agencies—face a high probability of failure. Yet history records many examples of successful multiple-party transactions. Using the records of a major Australian iron ore mining venture, Hamersley Iron, this article reveals a number of the tactics that are used to engineer an agreement when the parties concerned have conflicting objectives, different cultural affiliations, and distinctive institutional ties. The essay also exposes some of the devices that the Japanese steel industry—Hamersley's main customer—used to secure competitive advantages in raw material procurement during the industry's rise to international prominence.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.