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Article: The stubborn stains of nationalism. (the European market for washing machines)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- October 22, 1988
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1988 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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COME 1992, says conventional wisdom among European managers, bigger will be better. So Switzerland's Nestle buys Britain's Rowntree, and Procter Gamble now fills all its European toothpaste tubes from a single plant near Frankfurt. In post-1992 Europe national markets will become like those of American states, and the companies that prosper will be those that learn to compete according to American rules: tapping economies of scale and building up regional brands. Oh, really?
Consider a business as seemingly mature and mundane as washing machines. In America and Japan, the average size of washing-machine factories has edged steadily upwards, and the most ...