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Enterprise and Society 2:543-575 (2001)
© 2001 Business History Conference

Article

Multilateral Contracting in Australian Mining: The Development of Hamersley Iron, 1961–1966

Gordon Boyce

School of Marketing and International Business, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, 6001, New Zealand. <Gordon.Boyce{at}vuw.ac.nz

Abstract

Management theory and transaction cost economics provide few insights into the dynamics of multilateral negotiations. A host of factors suggest that complex transactions—especially those that involve government agencies—face a high probability of failure. Yet history records many examples of successful multiple-party transactions. Using the records of a major Australian iron ore mining venture, Hamersley Iron, this article reveals a number of the tactics that are used to engineer an agreement when the parties concerned have conflicting objectives, different cultural affiliations, and distinctive institutional ties. The essay also exposes some of the devices that the Japanese steel industry—Hamersley's main customer—used to secure competitive advantages in raw material procurement during the industry's rise to international prominence.


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