J. & P. Coats as a Multinational before 1914

It is not surprising that the literature on British business history has paid special attention to J. & P. Coats, the Paisley-based cotton thread manufacturing company. The company created ahighly profitable conglomerate with an efficient management structure after 1896, thereby providing a good example for the other amalgamations of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. J. & P. Coats produced and sold its products throughout he word, pioneering in foreign direct investment (FD1). And it stood out in size, having grown into an important big business both at home and abroad by the 1910s. Much of the research on J. & P. Coats, however, particularly regarding its overseas activity, has been hampered by lack of access to the company's archives, requiring scholars to rely on secondary sources augmented by speculation. The J. & P. Coats archives are now available at Glasgow University, and it is therefore possible to construct a more accurate and complete picture of the fm-n's multinational ctivities before 1914. A detailed analysis reveals that the merger of 1896 and the company's efficient managerial hierarchy were essential parts of the Coarses' ardent pursuit of global production. In a broader context, the experience ofJ. & P. Coats sheds new light on the early history of British multinationals.