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Technology Acquisition, Firm Capability and Sustainable Competitive Advantage: A Case Study of Australian Glass Manufacturers Ltd, 1915–39

In 1915, Australian Glass Manufacturers Ltd (AGM) adopted a strategy of technology acquisition to ensure its survival and to establish a sustainable competitive advantage. By 1935, AGM was largely vertically integrated and its core container glass business was an Australian monopoly. AGM had also diversified into commercial glass and consumer goods production and was Australia's first manufacturer of flat glass. The analysis adopts the framework of the new institutional theory of the firm and focuses on the sourcing, assessing and securing of appropriate technologies. It is argued that operationalising the strategy crucially depended on developing managerial and technical know-how. It required the development of specialised teams and new effective precedents, and involved an extended period of learning by doing. AGM also comprises a limiting case for the historiographical stereotype of Australian manufacturing firms as inward looking and largely reliant on British technology in the inter-war period.