Abstract

This research explores resistance to a universal business organisation by analysing large firms in Ireland. Drawing on our dataset of large Irish firms, an SSOP informed study identifies strategic transformations such as increased internationalisation and changes in ownership regime across three benchmark years of 1978, 1990 and 2010. However large Irish firms are not characterised by convergence to a universal business organisation. This study contributes to the SSOP project by extending it to a new geographic context and, by including sector of activity, by providing a contextually sensitive explanation for the absence of a universally applicable business organisation.