The study begins by examining economic, political, and social conditions in Tsarist Russia that prompted the Zale family to immigrate to the United States. They eventually settled in Texas where, as a boy, Morris Zale was introduced to the jewelry business. In his first store in Wichita Falls Zale developed the idea of mass marketing his merchandise, and in order to do so he offered credit to his customers. He also made extensive use of advertising. Both of those approaches were revolutionary in the retail jewelry industry. This study examines various methods used by Zale's to expand its holdings. In addition, attention is given to Zale's diversification in the late 1960's and early 1970's. Emphasis is given in the study to Zale's development of a vertically integrated structure. By purchasing diamonds directly from the Diamond Trading Company, Zale's has been able to process the stones at each stage—cutting, polishing, mounting, and marketing. Such an arrangement eliminated middlemen at each step, permitting Zale's to reduce markups and margins and still maintain necessary profit levels. This study examines several serious adversities that have confronted the company—racial and religious prejudice, the Depression, shortages brought on by World War II, potential competition from a synthetic diamond, and an internal scandal involving Zale's chief financial officer. In each case Zale's managed to emerge from the adversity stronger than it had been previously. From the outset Zale's objective has been to sell the greatest amount of jewelry to the greatest number of people at the lowest possible price, and this study indicates how successful the company has been in reaching that goal.

The purpose of the study was to provide a complete historical account of the events which led to the rise and fall of the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company of South Bend, Indiana. The study also evaluated the impact upon the ethnic development of South Bend from the years 1856 to 1966.The applicability of the Kuhnian paradigmatic process of culture change to the South Bend-Studebaker interaction sphere was considered as well.Ninety-seven employees of the company were selected and interviewed in regard to their knowledge of the company and its impact upon the city. Primary and secondary archival materials were utilized to supplement worker interviews.FINDINGS1. The Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company and the Studebaker Corporation acted as primary agents of ethnic development in the South Bend community.2.The interviewing process provided new data which supplemented and substantiated previous accounts.3. The Studebaker Company's success was founded upon intensive employer-employee involvement in the production process.4. The Studebaker Company's failure was brought about by the breakdown of the employer-employee relationship.CONCLUSIONS1. The study proved the significant impact of the Studebaker Company upon the American transportation industry.2. The Studebaker Company exerted a major influence upon the ethnic and cultural development of the city of South Bend.3. The "paradigmatic process of social change" model as postulated by Thomas Kuhn was appropriate to the Studebaker-South Bend situation.4. An ethnohistorical reconstruction technique proved successful in recounting the impact of the Studebaker Company.

During the last century, not only the legal literature but also the literature in many fields along with government efforts on all levels, were all mainly devoted to the debate of trade liberalization in general, and specifically to the case of the expected gains from using international agreements as a tool to remove the trade barriers. Meanwhile, all the parties have paid little attention to profound questions about identifying the impediments that they are facing and the other possible options that might maximize the general welfare, which are the cross-border merger and acquisition transactions. This dissertation will address that under-researched question, and it will try to identify some of those impediments that are facing the cross-border merger and acquisition transactions. The dissertation will mainly focus on the different premerger control laws that are adopted around the globe, as an impediment that faces the cross-border mergers and acquisitions, and it will try to identify the drawbacks of those laws and most importantly develop and examine reforming proposals. The underlying result of this dissertation will reveal that the multijurisdictional premerger control laws across the globe have numerous drawbacks that are actual impediments that face mergers and acquisitions in general, and especially the cross-border transactions. In addition to that, the best reformative option is the abolishing of the premerger control laws, or in other words the deregulation of the cross-border merger and acquisition transactions. The conclusion of this dissertation is that using the law as a useful tool should be reinvented on two dimensions, at one end of the spectrum the law should enable the state possibilities that are required to give a hand and facilitate the entry to markets, by abolishing the premerger control laws i.e. deregulating mergers and acquisitions, and at the other end of the spectrum the law should grant the state the power to monitor and challenge those practices that might cause harm to employees or consumers, before the courts, along with the primary power to challenge anticompetitive behaviors.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1986 H44 / Master of Arts / History