A stable network as a source of entrepreneurial opportunities: The Rothschilds in Spain, 1835–1931

What is it about?

Taking business decisions in large corporations requires the establishment of a competent network to channel information, permit the delegation of routine decisions, and assure the whole process is undertaken in the strictest confidence. Recent theories on social networks and the carrying out of the entrepreneurial function tackle these questions and constitute a new perspective for examining business cases. From this viewpoint, the present article seeks to analyse the entrepreneurial network established in Spain by the House of Rothschild between 1835 and 1931. It was a perfectly structured network that differentiated between agents, clientele, partners, and correspondents in a web of firms and institutions that allowed the Rothschilds to exercise their industrial and financial hegemony and consolidate themselves as the country's largest investor in the financial, industrial, railway and mining sectors throughout the stated period.

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