The Strategic Consequences Of European Economic Integration For Australian Manufacturers In The UK: A Study Of Five Survivors

This paper presents a longitudinal insight into the strategic consequences of European Union (EU) expansion for Australian manufacturers in the UK. In 1992, immediately prior to the 1992 single market reforms, Edwards and Buckley surveyed 20 Australian manufacturing firms in Britain for their perception of the likely strategic impact of those reforms. The results of that study indicated that Australian businesses did not expect dramatic strategic consequences from European integration. In 2004 a 12-year follow up investigation focusing on EU expansion was undertaken. Of the 20 firms originally interviewed, 11 had been divested, and four were unable to provide appropriate respondents that met the researchers logistical and time constraints. Respondents from the remaining five firms were interviewed at their UK offices. Unlike the lackluster approach reported from the original study, the five 2004 respondents appeared to have undertaken a relatively sophisticated analysis of the strategic consequences of EU expansion. It later emerged that four of these five 'survivors' were the minority that had earlier attributed significance to the 1992 single market reforms. A range of considerations was identified from their responses.