Summary - TST 28
TRANSPORTES, SERVICIOS Y TELECOMUNICACIONES
Joaquín OCAMPO SUÁREZ-VALDÉS
De la arriería al autobús: Cosmen/ALSA, de empresa familiar a firma internacional
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Key Words:
Muleteering, stagecoaches, bus, firm, family company.
[ Abstract ]
The present paper focusses on the entrepreneurial dynasty of the Cosmen, linked to muleteering from the earliest stages of the firm in XIth century. In that regard, research has been centered in the analysis of documents preserved by the ALSA group and the founding family. From the beginning, the company took advantage of a privileged strategic location (Leitariegos in Asturias), which gave the company significant competitive advantages on which a singular growth path could be based. From human-powered transport to motor-vehicles transport, the firm’s specialization has turned the family enterprise into a reputed multinational company, a usual “case study” at business schools. The analysis aims at tackling three objectives: to illustrate, in the first place, a business development case of «path dependency»; to confirm, in the second, P. Krugman’s thesis on links between territory and economy; and, finally, to offer arguments on the benefits derived from family efforts at becoming international in terms of business.
[ Abstract ]
The present paper focusses on the entrepreneurial dynasty of the Cosmen, linked to muleteering from the earliest stages of the firm in XIth century. In that regard, research has been centered in the analysis of documents preserved by the ALSA group and the founding family. From the beginning, the company took advantage of a privileged strategic location (Leitariegos in Asturias), which gave the company significant competitive advantages on which a singular growth path could be based. From human-powered transport to motor-vehicles transport, the firm’s specialization has turned the family enterprise into a reputed multinational company, a usual “case study” at business schools. The analysis aims at tackling three objectives: to illustrate, in the first place, a business development case of «path dependency»; to confirm, in the second, P. Krugman’s thesis on links between territory and economy; and, finally, to offer arguments on the benefits derived from family efforts at becoming international in terms of business.