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International audience; Background and objectives The fact that metabolism and immune function are regulated by an endogenous molecular clock that generates circadian rhythms suggests that the magnitude of ischemia reperfusion, and subsequent inflammation on kidney transplantation, could be affected by the time of the day. Design, setting, participants, & measurements We evaluated 5026 individuals who received their first kidney transplant from deceased heart-beating donors. In a cause-specific multivariable analysis, we compared delayed graft function and graft survival according to the time of kidney clamping and declamping. Participants were divided into those clamped between midnight and noon ( ante meridiem [ am ] clamping group; 65%) or clamped between noon and midnight ( post meridiem [ pm ] clamping group; 35%), and, similarly, those who underwent am declamping (25%) or pm declamping (75%). Results Delayed graft function occurred among 550 participants (27%) with am clamping and 339 (34%) with pm clamping (adjusted odds ratio, 0.81; 95% confidence interval, 0.67 to 0.98; P =0.03). No significant association was observed between clamping time and overall death-censored graft survival (hazard ratio, 0.92; 95% confidence interval, 0.77 to 1.10; P =0.37). No significant association of declamping time with delayed graft function or graft survival was observed. Conclusions Clamping between midnight and noon was associated with a lower incidence of delayed graft function, whereas declamping time was not associated with kidney graft outcomes.

OBJECTIVES To assess the impact of expanded criteria donors (ECD) on urinary complications in kidney transplantation. PATIENTS AND METHODS The UriNary Complications Of Renal Transplant (UNyCORT) is a cohort study based on the French prospective Donnees Informatisees et VAlidees en Transplantation/Computerized and VAlidated Data in Transplantation (DIVAT) cohort. Data were extracted between 1 January 2002 and 1 January 2018 with 1-year minimum follow-up, in relation to 44 pre- and postoperative variables. ECD status was included according to United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) definition. The primary outcome of the UNyCORT study was the association between the donor's ECD/standard criteria donors (SCD) status and urinary complications at 1 year in uni- and multivariate analysis. Sub-group analysis, stratified analysis on ECD/SCD donor's status and transplant failure analysis were then conducted. RESULTS Between 1 January 2002 and 1 January 2018, 10 279 kidney transplants in adult recipients were recorded within the DIVAT network. A total of 8559 (83.4%) donors were deceased donors and 1699 (16.6%) were living donors (LD). Among donation after circulatory death (DCD) donors, 224 (2.85%) were uncontrolled DCD and 93 (1.09%) were controlled DCD donors. A total of 3617 (43.9%) deceased donors were ECD. The overall urological complication rate was 16.26%. The donor's ECD status was significantly associated with an increased risk of urological complications at 1 year in multivariate analysis (odds ratio: 1.50, 95% CI 1.31-1.71; P

Resume Introduction La penurie de transplants renaux incite au quotidien a repousser les limites d’eligibilite au don. De nombreux donneurs en etat de mort encephalique presentent une insuffisance renale aigue lors de leur deces. Est-ce une reelle contre-indication au prelevement et a une transplantation renale ? Cette etude a pour objectif d’evaluer la survie des transplants issus de donneurs en mort encephalique ayant une mauvaise fonction renale lors du prelevement. Materiels et methodes L’ensemble des 2385 transplantations realisees sur deux centres hospitaliers universitaires entre 2010 et 2017, ont ete analyses de facon retrospective. L’ensemble des patients ayant eu une mono transplantation renale issue d’un donneur en etat de mort encephalique presentant une insuffisance renale aigue (IRA) ont ete inclus dans l’analyse. L’IRA a ete definie ici par une modification de plus de 50 % du debit de filtration glomerulaire (DFG) entre l’entree en reanimation et le prelevement, jusqu’a un seuil inferieur a 45 mL/min/1,73m2 au moment du prelevement. La survie des transplants a 12 mois, la reprise retardee de la fonction (RRF) des transplants et le DFG a 12 mois ont ete analyses. Une analyse de la survie en fonction des resultats de la biopsie preimplantatoire a egalement ete realisee lorsque celle-ci etait disponible. Resultats Un total de164 patients ont ete inclus ainsi durant cette periode. A l’arrivee en reanimation le DFG moyen etait 67,7 ± 19 mL/min/1,73m2. Lors du prelevement l’âge moyen des donneurs etait de 56,4 ± 17,7 ans, le DFG etait de 33,7 ± 8,0 mL/min, 16 %(n = 26) des donneurs etaient anuriques. L’ischemie froide (IF) etait de 16,8 ± 5,0 heures. L’âge moyen des receveurs etait de 55,6 ± 14,1 ans. Il s’agissait d’une premiere transplantation dans 81 % des cas. La reprise de la fonction renale a eu lieu dans les 7,8 ± 9,4 jours apres transplantation. Il y a eu deux non fonctions primaires « primary non function » (PNF). 152 patients (93 %) avaient un transplant fonctionnel a 12 mois. Le DFG moyen a 12 mois etait de 46,8 ± 20,1 mL/min/1,73 m2 et 122 patients (73 %) avaient un DFG superieur a 30 mL/min1,73 m2. Soixante et onze pour cent des biopsies preimplantatoires objectivaient de la necrose tubulaire aigue (NTA), la survie de ces transplants etait de 85 %, comparable a la population totale (p = 0,21). Aucune necrose corticale n’a ete observee. Conclusion L’insuffisance renale aigue du donneur en etat de mort encephalique ne doit pas a elle seule etre une contre-indication au prelevement renal.

Since the beginning of our pancreas transplant programme, plasma C-peptide was routinely measured daily during the postoperative period. We aimed to evaluate the clinical interest of the C-peptide in the follow-up of pancreas transplantation with a particular look on early graft failure. From 2000 to 2016, 384 pancreas transplantations were evaluated. We collected and compared C-peptide, glycaemia and adjusted C-peptide (aCP; calculated based on C-peptide, glycaemia and creatininaemia) in patients with and without pancreas failure within 30 days after surgery. Variations of glycaemia, C-peptide and aCP between the day before and the day of failure were also recorded. The difference of aCP was significant during the first week after transplantation between patients with thrombosis and those with functional allograft: 63.2 vs. 26.7 on day 1, P = 0.0003; 61.4 vs. 26.7 on day 3, P

Cooperative corporate behavior has often been explained through the social anatomy of business leaders and structural ties among firms. Our alternative approach investigates how quotidian interactions built trust and routines among a group of major firms in the Australian wool trade—a sector that required regular interaction to be effective. Deploying extensive archives of their meetings, we use social network analysis to examine interactions among the key group of firms and individuals. Through content analysis we infer the behavior and atmosphere of meetings. Finally, an evaluation of meeting agendas and outcomes demonstrates cooperation and a shared commitment to improving the operation of the wool trade in the 1920s.

The optimal duration of eculizumab treatment in patients with atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) remains poorly defined. We conducted a prospective national multicenter open-label study to assess eculizumab discontinuation in children and adults with aHUS. Fifty-five patients (including 19 children) discontinued eculizumab (mean treatment duration, 16.5 months). Twenty-eight patients (51%) had rare variants in complement genes, mostly in MCP (n = 12; 22%), CFH (n = 6; 11%), and CFI (n = 6; 10%). At eculizumab discontinuation, 17 (30%) and 4 patients (7%) had stage 3 and 4 chronic kidney disease, respectively. During follow-up, 13 patients (23%; 6 children and 7 adults) experienced aHUS relapse. In multivariable analysis, female sex and presence of a rare variant in a complement gene were associated with an increased risk of aHUS relapse, whereas requirement for dialysis during a previous episode of acute aHUS was not. In addition, increased sC5b-9 plasma level at eculizumab discontinuation was associated with a higher risk of aHUS relapse in all patients and in the subset of carriers with a complement gene rare variant, both by log-rank test and in multivariable analysis. Of the 13 relapsing patients, all of whom restarted eculizumab, 11 regained their baseline renal function and 2 had a worsening of their preexisting chronic kidney disease, including 1 patient who progressed to end-stage renal disease. A strategy of eculizumab discontinuation in aHUS patients based on complement genetics is reasonable and safe. It improves the management and quality of life of a sizeable proportion of aHUS patients while reducing the cost of treatment. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT02574403.

Introduction Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are characterized by a high prevalence of associated autoimmune manifestations. Kidney involvement has been rarely reported in MDS patients. We report on the spectrum of kidney pathological findings in MDS patients. Methods We retrospectively identified MDS patients who had undergone a kidney biopsy between 2001 and 2019 in nine Swiss and French nephrology centres. Results Nineteen patients (median age 74 years [63-83]) were included. At the time of kidney biopsy, eleven (58%) patients had extra-renal auto-immune manifestations and sixteen (84%) presented with acute kidney injury. Median serum creatinine at diagnosis was 2.8 mg/dL [0.6-8.3] and median urinary protein to creatinine ratio was 1.2 g/g [0.2-11]. Acute tubulo-interstitial nephritis (TIN) was present in seven (37%) patients. Immunofluorescence study in one patient with acute TIN disclosed intense IgG deposits along the tubular basement membrane and Bowman’s capsule. Other kidney pathological features included ANCA-negative pauci-immune necrotizing and crescentic glomerulonephritis (n = 3), membranous nephropathy (n = 2), IgA nephropathy (n = 1), IgA vasculitis (n = 1), immunoglobulin-associated membrano-proliferative glomerulonephritis type I (n=1), crescentic C3 glomerulopathy (n = 1), fibrillary glomerulonephritis (n = 1) and minimal change disease (n = 1). Eleven (58%) patients received immunosuppressive treatments, among whom one developed a severe infectious complication. After a median follow-up of 7 month [1-96], nine (47%) patients had chronic kidney disease stage 3 (n = 6) or 4 (n = 3) and five (26%) progressed to end-stage kidney disease. Three patients died. Conclusions MDS are associated to several autoimmune kidney manifestations, predominantly acute TIN. MDS are to be listed among the potential causes of autoimmune TIN., Graphical abstract

Kidney transplant recipients have been supposed vulnerable to severe Covid-19 infection, due to their comorbidities and immunosuppressive therapies. Mild-term complications of Covid-19 are currently unknown, especially in this population. Herein, we report two cases of BKV replication after non-severe SARS-CoV-2 infection. The first case was a 59-year-old man, transplanted 3 months ago, with recent history of slight BKV viremia (3.3 log10 DNA copies/ml). Despite strong reduction of maintenance immunosuppression (interruption of mycophenolic acid and important decrease of calcineurin inhibitors), BKV replication largely increased after Covid-19 and viremia persisted at 4.5 log copy/ml few months later. The second case was a 53-year-old woman, transplanted 15 years ago. She had a recent history of BKV cystitis, which resolved with a decrease of MPA dosage. Few weeks after SARS-CoV-2 infection, she presented recurrence of lower urinary tract symptoms. Our reports highlight that SARS-CoV-2 infection, even without severity, could disrupt immune system and particularly lymphocytes, thus leading to viral replication. Monitoring of viral replications after Covid-19 in kidney transplant recipients could permit to confirm these preliminary observations.

International audience; Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have dramati-cally transformed the treatment of solid tumors. ICIsinduce an immune response against tumoral cells as aresult of the removal of T-cell inhibition [1]. The logicalcounterpart of turning off T-cell inhibitory mechanismsis the onset of immune-related adverse events (irAEs)that affect different organs. Although the most frequentrenal irAE is acute interstitial nephritis [2], we report afirst case of C3 glomerulonephritis (GN) associated withthe use of an antieProgrammed Cell Death 1 (PD-1)humanised antibody.

Infection due to species other than Candida albicans is increasing among solid organ transplant recipients. Candida utilis, commonly used in the food industry, is considered as a low-virulence yeast. We report the first case of C. utilis fungaemia involving a solid organ transplant recipient. The infection was triggered by the withdrawal of a ureteral stent and was successfully treated with intravenous micafungin. We also propose a review of all reported cases of infection caused by C. utilis.

Informal spaces encourage the meeting of minds and the sharing of ideas. They serve as an important counterpoint to the formal, silo-like structures of the modern organisation, encouraging social bonds and discussion across departmental lines. We address the role of one such institution – the university tea room – in Australia in the post-WWII decades. Drawing on a series of oral history interviews with economic historians, we examine the nature of the tea room space, demonstrate its effects on research within universities, and analyse the causes and implications of its decline in recent decades.

International audience; Post-transplantation lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) pathogenesis is related to EBV infection. Mismatch with the donor (EBV D+/R-) is the main risk factor for both early PTLD (1 year). In these at-risk patients, the role of antiviral prophylaxis for preventing PTLD remains controversial. We analyzed the impact of antivi-ral drugs given to prevent CMV disease in a monocentric retrospective cohort of 73 adult kidney or kidney-pancreas EBV-seronegative recipients, transplanted between 01/01/2000 and 01/01/2016. Thirty-seven (50.7%, prophylaxis group) received (val-)aciclovir or (val-)ganciclovir for 3-6 months and 36 (49.3%, no-prophylaxis group) received no-prophy-laxis. Mean follow-up was 69 ± 7.2 months in the prophylaxis group and 91 ± 10.3 months in the no-prophylaxis group. Monitoring of EBV PCR revealed that prophylaxis delayed primary infection at 100 days (43% vs. 84%, P = 0.02). Early PTLD incidence was not different between groups (4/37 vs. 4/36, P = 0.99). Concerning late events, EBV-related neoplasia incidence was significantly lower in treated patients among whom no cases were observed, while in the no-prophylaxis group 6 cases were reported (P = 0.02). Despite a weak level of evidence our study suggests that antivi-ral prophylaxis could prevent late onset PTLD.

International audience; If all immunocompromised patients can experience Post Transplantation Lymphoproliferative Disorder (PTLD) due to EBV reactivation, EBV-seronegative recipients in which primary infection can occur, are at higher risk of developing PTLD when transplanted with an organ from an EBV seropositive donor(1,2). In our center, among 73 EBV-seronegative adult patients transplanted between 2000 and 2016 (3% of the whole), 8 developed an early PTLD and 5 others beyond one year, all EBV-related(3). EBV is most often latent and inaccessible within B cells, but occasionally it achieves a lytic infection, susceptible to some antiviral drugs, such as (val)ganciclovir, and specific antibodies.

International audience; The treatment of active antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR) is still a matter of debate, the place of rituximab remaining controversial. The French multicenter double-blind RITUX-ERAH study included 38 patients with ABMR in the first year of renal transplantation. All patients received plasma exchanges, intravenous immunoglobulins, and corticosteroids and were randomly assigned rituximab or placebo infusion at day 5. Additional rituximab infusions were allowed. In the intention-to-treat analysis, 12-month graft survival and renal function were not different between the rituximab and placebo groups. Long-term data are needed to conclude. Evaluation of the 7-year outcomes of the RITUX-ERAH study patients according to the rituximab or placebo treatment received. Eleven patients received placebo and 27 at least one infusion of rituximab. Seven years after ABMR, death-censored kidney allograft survival and renal function were not different between the groups. The evolution of anti-HLA sensitization was similar. There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of infectious or neoplastic complications, but to be noted, seven cancers developed in six patients treated with rituximab (mean period of 44~months post-ABMR). In this cohort, there was no benefit 7~years after ABMR of rituximab in addition to plasma exchanges, intravenous immunoglobulins, and steroids.

International audience

Tacrolimus, the cornerstone immunosuppression after simultaneous pancreas and -kidney (SPK) transplantation, may exert nephrotoxic and diabetogenic effects. We therefore prospectively compared in an open-label, randomized, monocentric, 5-year follow-up study, a tacrolimus- and a sirolimus-based immunosuppressive regimen. Randomization using the block method allowing a blind allocation was done at the time of surgery. All patients received anti-thymocyte globulin and maintenance therapy with tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil, and steroids. At month 3, tacrolimus was continued or replaced by sirolimus. The primary endpoint was kidney and pancreas graft survival at 1 and 5 years. Fifty patients were included in the final analysis in each group. At 1 year, differences for kidney and pancreas graft survival between sirolimus and tacrolimus were 0% (90% confidence interval -4.61% to 4.61%) and 6% (90% confidence interval -6.32% to 18.32%), respectively. There was no difference in renal and pancreas graft survival at 5 years. Thirty-four patients (68%) in the sirolimus group vs three (6%) in the tacrolimus group needed definitive withdrawal of the study drug. Despite noninferiority of sirolimus compared to tacrolimus for kidney and pancreas graft survival, the high rate of sirolimus discontinuation does not favor its use as cornerstone therapy after SPK transplantation (NCT00693446).

This chapter examines the rate and pattern of growth of shipbuilding output in the major ports of Northeast England in the nineteenth century, with the aim of determining the contributing factors that led to the region’s shipduilding successes in the period. Ville determines major factors as:- cost savings due to access to raw materials; good labour relations; and the development of skilled labour.

Examining accounting transactions between depositors in the first accounts ledger of the Bank of New South Wales contributes to our knowledge of early Australian colonial businesspeople and their business activities. A social network analysis framework is applied to the transactions to disclose business networks and prominent individuals in the networks. The analysis seeks to ascertain the importance of these people to commerce and the significance of their networks in facilitating commercial relationships in a business environment fraught with uncertainty. The results illustrate the importance of networks to colonial trade and mercantile activity, especially for smaller scale businesspeople.

There is a growing policy focus in Australian higher education on quantitative research performance assessment. However, most of the analysis has addressed aggregate performance at the institutional level, an approach inconsistent with recent policy emphasis on diversity among universities and one that ignores performance variations across disciplines. Using averaged and all available data for 2000–2004, cluster analysis is used to classify Australian Commerce Faculties into groups that exhibit similar research performance, measured by publication, PhD completion and secured competitive research grant funding. We also use factor analysis to generate full-multidimensional rankings within the resulting two or three clusters. It is found that in terms of total research output, with the exception of Adelaide all the Group of 8 (Go8) members plus University of Technology, Sydney and Griffith always belong to ‘Clusters A’. However, when research performance is expressed in per academic staff terms, an additiona...

This article presents a cross-sectional model for forecasting research output across the Australian university system. It builds upon an existing literature that focuses either on institutional comparisons or studies of specific subjects, by providing discipline-specific results across all of the 10 major disciplinary areas as defined by Australia's Department of Education, Science and Training. The model draws upon four (highly significant) discipline-specific explanatory variables; staff size, research expenditure, PhD completions and student–staff ratios to predict the output of refereed articles.

An expanding economy, new technologies, and changing consumer preferences provided growth opportunities for firms in interwar Australia. This period saw an increase in the number of large-scale firms in mining, manufacturing, and a wide range of service industries. Firms unable to rely solely on retained earnings to fund expansion turned to the domestic stock exchanges. A new data set of capital raisings constructed from reports of prospectuses published in the financial press forms the basis for the conclusion that many firms used substantial injections of equity finance to augment internally generated sources of funds. That they were able to do so indicates a strong increase in the capacity of local stock exchanges and a greater willingness of individuals to hold part of their wealthin transferable securities.

We contribute to the debate on research performance by comparing the distribution of research inputs and outputs across Australian universities during 1992‐2003. We have calculated annual Gini coefficients for various performance measures and Lorenz curves for the final year of the study. Various findings are evident. Research-input measures have remained relatively unevenly distributed across universities. Output measures were more evenly distributed and this exhibited a gradual and rather consistent convergence through time, supporting the view that the research output is being generated gradually more equally across Australia’s universities. The exclusion of the ‘Group of Eight’ (Go8) universities results in a more even distribution of performance. However, in 2003 this group took the lion’s share of research inputs but produced a smaller share of outputs. Our findings are relevant to current funding policy discussion.

The marketplace for Australian wool relocated from London to the Australian capital cities in the half-century after 1880. This represented a major institutional shift that underpinned the development of the Australian economy and made Australia the centre of the international wool market. We analyse the principal demand and supply changes underlying this market shift. Consolidation of worsted manufacturing, demand diversification, improved transport and communications, Australian dominance of international wool production and the growth of the small grazier, shifted the relative market efficiency in favour of Australian auctions.

International audience; Selective targeting of CD28 might represent an effective immunomodulation strategy by preventing T cell costimulation, while favoring coinhibition since inhib-itory signals transmitted through CTLA-4; PD-L1 and B7 would not be affected. We previously showed in vitro and in vivo that anti-CD28 antagonists suppress effector T cells while enhancing regulatory T cell (Treg) suppression and immune tolerance. Here, we evaluate FR104, a novel antagonist pegylated anti-CD28 Fab' antibody fragment, in nonhuman primate renal allo-transplantation. FR104, in association with low doses of tacrolimus or with rapamycin in a steroid-free therapy, prevents acute rejection and alloantibody development and prolongs allograft survival. However , when FR104 was associated with mycophenolate mofetil and steroids, half of the recipients rejected their grafts prematurely. Finally, we observed an accumulation of Helios-negative Tregs in the blood and within the graft after FR104 therapy, confirmed by Treg-specific demethylated region DNA analysis. In conclusion , FR104 reinforces immunosuppression in calci-neurin inhibitor (CNI)-low or CNI-free protocols, without the need of steroids. Accumulation of intra-graft Tregs suggested the promotion of immunoregu-latory mechanisms. Selective CD28 antagonists might become an alternative CNI-sparing strategy to B7 antagonists for kidney transplant recipients.

This essay explores the development of large scale enterprise in Australia, an economy in which resource industries were unusually important and with a very small domestic market. Using asset size as a yardstick, the authors construct a series of the 100 largest firms operating in the years 1910, 1930, 1952 and 1964. These lists allow the identification of firms by industry and whether they were foreign-owned. Cross-country comparisons are also made. Further, the authors discuss the more qualitative aspects of Australian large scale enterprise in the context of whether these firms approximated the competitive capitalism of the United States or the family capitalism of Britain. They concluded that Australian firms displayed little of the dynamism of the leading firms in the United States. Protectionist government policies explain part of this behavioural trait.

Recent work on business organisation has shown how a network based upon trade can evolve into a more widely embracing trade and financial network. A growing network may also engender leaders who intermediate to reduce communication costs. This paper provides an historically based variation on such hypothesised network structures by showing that trade and finance can exist together as part of a network from the outset. New Zealand pastoral agent firms recognised from very early on that regular trading transactions between agent and farmer generated trust, reputational effects, and mutual information exchange vital for successful lending and the provision of pastoral services. Agents, and sometimes other functional groups, served as intermediating leaders as the network grew in size and complexity.

This research note reports on the quantity of business records available in Australia as indicated by a recent survey of the top one hundred firms operating during the twentieth century. The archival work was undertaken as part of a large study investigating aspects of corporate leadership in Australia, conducted Jointly at the Australian National University and the University of Melbourne. We found that the surviving records of Australian businesses cover a wide selection of firm types, and that the comprehensiveness of many archives places business history on a sound foundation for the future.

In a recent report into new research directions in management accounting a geographically and philosophically diverse group of eight scholars argued for a convergence of different and complementary approaches to the subject. They concluded that, “[n]ew directions and advances in management accounting research depend on researchers actively seeking synergy among different research methods and disciplines” (Atkinson et al. 1997, p. 98). The authors argued specifically that management accounting research can benefit from integration with advances in economic, organisational, and social theory. In another recent assessment, Foster and Young (1996, p. 75) have called for “management accounting academics to gain broader and deeper institutional knowledge [and]…a longer term perspective”. In this essay we particularise these general calls by arguing that powerful synergies exist between the study of accounting and business history in Australasia. Historical evidence can be usefully employed to further our understanding of how management accounting systems (hereafter MAS) develop in our leading contemporary corporations.

India companies, established in 1600 and 1602, respectively, with a national monopoly of trade with Asia. Other English companies to be granted trading monopoly charters included the Muscovy Company (1553), the Hudson's Bay Company (1670), and the Royal African Company (1672), and similar rights were granted to foreign companies by the governments of France, Spain, Sweden, and Denmark. The grant of exclusive trading rights to particular areas had long been enjoyed by chartered companies, a notable example being the Company of Merchant Adventurers. The earliest companies, which handled well-established trades, were organized as regulated companies in which the governing body, having negotiated trading treaties and established warehouse facilities, merely set broad operational parameters within which members traded on their own account. Entry to the regulated companies was relatively unimpeded, often through payment of a small fine. The companies that appeared from the middle of the sixteenth century were rather different, their monopoly status being seen as encouragement and recompense for forging new trading links. Entry was by the purchase of shares in a joint-stock company, which exploited monopoly powers by trading as a corporate enterprise. Some shareholders were merchants actively engaged in trade, but others were passive investors who delegated management to paid officials directed by a governor and assistants elected from amongst their ranks. Adam Smith, no friend of the chartered companies, argued that this separation of ownership from control contributed to gross administrative inefficiency, inattention to detail, and the pursuit of managerial goals, which raised prices to consumers and reduced returns to shareholders. He believed that only the extraction of monopoly rents ensured the success and continuance of such companies.1 In a recent series of articles, Ann Carlos and Stephen Nicholas have cast doubt upon this traditional interpretation. They argue that the joint-stock chartered companies, far from being comparatively inefficient institutions, represented the optimal organizational form for conducting long-distance trade. The chartered companies' business, like that of the late-nineteenth-century multinationals, was "characterized by a large volume of transactions in many different locations," which prompted a similar organizational response, namely, the adoption of a vertically integrated structure and an administrative hierarchy that enabled them to economize on transaction costs and overcome the limits to management encountered by owner-managed firms. Like modern multinationals, the chartered companies adopted control systems that were intended to limit opportunistic

Understanding the reasons for the highly successful Australasian pastoral sector requires a consideration of the central facilitating role of stock and station agents and pastoral finance companies...

One of the striking features of our society is the incessant urge for the creation, adoption and diffusion of innovations. Innovation takes many forms: technological, organizational, social, artistic, for example. The term ‘social innovation’ has come into common parlance in recent years. Some analysts consider social innovation no more than a buzz word or passing fad that is too vague to be usefully applied to academic scholarship. Some social scientists, however, see significant value in the concept of social innovation because it identifies a critical type of innovation. In this paper we suggest a working definition of social innovation that captures the common denominator of the existing definitions of the term. We show that when its empirical meaning is distilled, the term is of great importance. We distinguish social innovation from business innovation, and identify a subset of social innovations that requires government support. A subsidiary message of the paper –obvious, but often forgotten– is that interdisciplinary communication may be more fruitful if we realize that terminological discipline is a necessary condition in the search for improved knowledge.

In chapter two we used a range of aggregated time series and pooled cross-sectional data on the economy and firms to present a broad picture of the growth of big business in the Australian economy, and drew parallels with the experience of other nations. We were able to identify in which sectors our largest firms have been located, how this changed over the course of the twentieth century, and who these firms were. This provides the basis for a closer investigation of some of these firms in this and the subsequent chapters. Thus, in the current chapter, we develop the concept of the corporate leader, design a methodology for identifying corporate leaders in Australia, and then examine who these firms actually were. This enables us in chapters four and five to investigate the pattern of their development using the methodological schema outlined in chapter one, notably the methods, resources, directions, and structure of development. From this we seek to identify any typical patterns. In chapter six we then assess what sort of role corporate leaders played in the evolution of individual industries, the business sector, and the economy as a whole. Disciplines Business | Social and Behavioral Sciences Publication Details Ville, S. (2002). Identifying the Corporate Leaders. Corporate Leadership in the Australia Conference, 5-6 September 2002 (pp. 1-26). University of Wollongong. This conference paper is available at Research Online: http://ro.uow.edu.au/commpapers/743 Identifying the Corporate Leaders Simon Ville University ofWollongong In chapter two we used a range of aggregated time series and pooled cross-sectional data on the economy and firms to present a broad picture of the growth of big business in the Australian economy, and drew parallels with the experience of other nations. We were able to identify in which sectors our largest firms have been located, how this changed over the course of the twentieth century, and who these firms were. This provides the basis for a closer investigation of some of these firms in this and the subsequent chapters. Thus, in the current chapter, we develop the concept of the corporate leader, design a methodology for identifying corporate leaders in Australia, and then examine who these firms actually were. This enables us in chapters four and five to investigate the pattern of their development using the methodological schema outlined in chapter one, notably the methods, resources, directions, and structure of development. From this we seek to identify any typical patterns. In chapter six we then assess what sort of role corporate leaders played in the evolution of individual industries, the business sector, and the economy as a whole. Prime movers and challengers The notion of the first or prime mover examines the existence of firms that have played a leadership role in developing a new industry or transforming an existing one. Successful prime movers earn a quasi-rent in the process of being first, but will soon encounter challengers that seek to share in these gains. Where a first mover is able to resist such challenges to retain its dominant position it is said to possess first mover advantages. As Grant has noted, 'The idea of first-mover advantage is that the initial occupant of a strategic position or niche gains access to resources and capabilities that a follower cannot match'. I The first mover is able to sustain its leadership of the industry by erecting barriers to entry or, at least, establishing forms of competitive advantage over new entrants. There is a broad conceptual literature on the nature and extent of first mover advantages. The benefits can be divided into the initial pre-emption of scarce resources by the first mover, and its subsequent attempts to pursue corporate strategies and develop firm competences (tangible and intangible assets) designed to perpetuate the initial leadership? Porter has described how firms sustain competitive advantages through such strategies as cost leadership, product differentiation, and market segmentation. The first mover has the benefits of being further along the learning curve and can use the profits of the initial monopoly period to extend its product knowledge and develop appropriate competences. Mueller has linked first mover advantages with the path dependency principle to show why it is often difficult to catch up irrespective of the strategies of the first mover. He cites a series of demand-related inertial advantages benefiting the first mover. These include buyer inertia due to uncertainty over the new competing product and habit formation, both of which will emphasise loyalty to the first mover. The buyer may also face switching costs in R. M. Grant, Contemporary Analysis (Oxford, 3 edn, 1998), p. 184. M. B. Leiberman and D. B. Montgomery, 'First mover (dis)advantages: retrospective and link with the resource-based view', Strategic Management Journal 19, 1998, p. 1113. M. Porter, Competitive Advantage ofNations changing to the challenger's product. On the supply side, the challenger faces high set-up costs in order to match the first mover who may have defrayed these costs across a longer period of time. The challenger also faces greater difficulties raising finance through the capital market, where investors have to be convinced of the challenger's ability to overcome these hurdles and wrest market share from the first mover. While the theoretical literature largely deals with efficiency properties, applied and historical studies additionally draw attention to the predatory actions of first movers in erecting entry barriers and the vagaries of public policy. There are also disadvantages of being first, which may lead to rapid dissipation of the initial leadership in some cases. Late entrants may free ride on the development costs incurred by the pioneer, entering at a lower part of the falling cost function. First movers in rapidly developing technologically driven industries are particularly vulnerable to being superseded by new entrants who can orient their set up costs to a changing infrastructure. Technological, resource, or market shifts may make it expensive for the pioneer to refocus and write off sunk costs, but easy for the challenger to get started. Where several of these shifts occur simultaneously, sometimes known as a punctuated equilibrium, the first mover's dominance is particularly vulnerable. First mover inertia borne of leadership dominance can also weaken the firm's ability to respond to such challenges. Contrariwise, much depends upon the strength of the challengers. Empirical research suggests that successful challengers are rarely new firms attempting to mimic the success of the first mover. Most successful challengers are either the product of mergers yielding synergies from among competing firms in the industry, or they are existing firms diversifying from other sectors or geographical areas and bringing with them established corporate competences. The ability of first movers to establish sustainable advantages is, thus, highly contingent; the magnitude ofadvantage varies over product categories, geographic areas, time periods, the degree of initial leadership, and the respective competences of first mover and challenger. Leiberman and Montgomery have expressed concern that, 'as a focus for empirical research, the concept of first mover advantage may be too general and definitionally elusive to be useful'. 7 However, it is only through such investigations that we can more accurately understand the sources and broader consequences of corporate leadership. Historical studies of American business have provided us with the most extensive evidence of how firms can convert first mover status into sustained corporate leadership. Alfred Chandler argued that environmental changes occurring in the American economy in the nineteenth century, particularly the introduction of fast, regular railway transport, bringing with it wider markets and easier access to raw materials, created new opportunities in many industries. 8 Chandler suggests that first movers, particularly in capital-intensive industries, were able to sustain their leadership by making a three-pronged set of core investments in production, marketing, and management. The effect of these investments was to build up corporate competences by developing low cost production technologies, marketing facilities that supported complex products, and management teams D. C. Mueller, 'First mover advantages and path dependence', International Journal ofIndustrial Organisation 15, 1997, pp. 831-40. For example, see D. Gabel, 'Competition in a network industry: the telephone industry, 1894-1910', Journal ofEconomic History 54, 3, 1994. A. Chandler, Scale and Scope. The Dynamics ofIndustrial Ca[italism (Camb, MA, 1990), p. 599. M. B. Leiberman and D. B. Montgomery, 'First-mover advantages', Strategic Management Journal summer special issue 9, 1988, p. 52. Chandler, Scale and Scope, ch. 3.

The financing decisions for our corporate leaders were influenced over time by a range of macroeconomic and firm-specific factors (for example, the institutional structure of finance markets, the size of the firm, current sources of finance, ownership structure). The availability of finance from private and public markets affects the cost of capital for the firm, and dictates the extent to which it must fund growth from internally generated sources. Financial regulations, tax regimes, the openness of the economy to international capital flows, and investor sentiment (to name a few), all influence the nature and structure of the domestic finance market. At the firm-specific level, the financing decision involves judging whether to retain earnings for growth, or to raise new capital from debt or equity. Alternatively, firms might draw on networks of relationships to fund expansion and growth. If external sources are chosen, management is required to address more complex questions associated with the maturity and seniority of finance, and the nature of future payments (for example, fixed or floating interest rates, the currency of denomination, and dividend payouts). In this chapter we examine the sources of finance utilised by Australia's corporate leaders. We begin by describing the sources of finance available to firms: retained earnings, networks, equity and debt. We then examine how each of these sources were used to finance corporate strategies and sustain competitive advantages. We conclude with an examination of the rise of financing operations in the corporate head office of two corporate leaders: Dunlop and BHP.

Organisational configuration consists of the structures, processes, relationships and boundaries through which a company operates. They are influenced by the strategic options adopted by managers, the technological features of the company and its industry, the stage of life of the company, and its external environment. Thus, we have left the analysis of organisational configurations to the end of our study in order to examine the features of design and structure that are associated with longevity and big business. Australian corporate leaders demonstrated many of the trends identified in studies of overseas developments in the corporate economy. Corporate leaders in several sectors invested in science-based technologies to exploit economies of scale, and expanded into products and markets through the use of multidivisional structures. We describe these developments in organisational configuration as companies developed core and related markets through horizontal and vertical integration. Australian corporate leaders also faced unique geographical conditions that meant they had to deal with coordination problems and information flows over large distances if they wished to achieve national coverage. Pastoral agents, banks, retailers and property companies leveraged core competencies and replicated expertise across multiple sites, leading to an ‘organic’ multidivisional organisation. The size of the local market prevented companies from establishing scale in any other way. Another point of differentiation from international experience was the position of multinational subsidiaries in providing demonstration effects to domestic firms.

Today, there is much speculation about the formidable opportunities and challenges presented by new communication technology. The internet is expected to cause national markets to become integrated into a global arena by lowering the cost and enhancing the speed of making transactions. At the same time, the ‘boundary units’ shown in Figure 1.4 are confronting a growing flood of information about environmental conditions. The need to process this data and make it accessible to decision-makers is compelling firms to invest in ‘knowledge-management’ systems and ‘intranets’. Moreover, the internet is spawning ‘virtual firms’ run by a core of entrepreneurial specialists linked by e-mail to knowledge workers who contract to perform specific tasks. What these unfolding trends reveal is that changes in communication technology have a direct impact on the institutional arrangements included in Figure 1.2. Simultaneously, they enlarge markets, increase the span of corporate control, and encourage the proliferation of cooperative structures.