El siglo de la empresa brings together a series of master lectures in which Professor Vicente Salas reflects on the visibility and social influence attained by large private corporations in the course of the 20th century, and the intellectual interest awakened by their economic and organizational dynamics. An abundance of academic writings have dealt with the company, yet the majority have considered it as one more cog in the workings of the markets and price formation, without regard for the diversity of sizes, ownership structures, forms of internal organization, specializations or geographical scope that give each one its unique personality.

Professor Salas’ book is an attempt to justify the company’s importance during the twentieth century and the need to study its workings in order to properly understand the structure of the markets and their competitive conditions. Hence each of the lectures reproduced here looks at a different facet of the company: the first addresses its organizational development and its role in encouraging the formation of a society of specialists; the second considers companies as compact entities that projects themselves outwards, battling for visibility and the interest of potential clients, as well as studying how they compete strategically; finally, the third deals with the relationship between the company and the social environment in which it operates, looking beyond its production and distribution activities to issues such as business ethics and corporate social responsibility.

In sum, this book combines the theories that have won currency in the specialist literature with a novel, up-to-date approach to the companies of today, providing the non specialist with a concise and readable account of their past development and the key factors for their future performance.