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  • July 2004 (Revised October 2018)
  • Case
  • HBS Case Collection

Opium and Entrepreneurship in the Nineteenth Century

By: Geoffrey Jones, Elisabeth Koll and Alexis Gendron
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:22
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Abstract

This case examines the role of Jardine Matheson, a trading company founded by two Scottish merchants, in the opium trade between India and China during the nineteenth century. The two Opium Wars fought between Western powers and China, which sought to stop opium imports, resulted in China losing much of its autonomy. The case explains how it was British demand for tea which led to companies like Jardine Matheson developing the opium business. China had at the time the world’s largest handicraft sector and there was no demand for goods manufactured in the West, so opium was sold in exchange for tea. Jardine Matheson proved particularly successful in this business. It invested heavily in shipping, developed relationships with both Indian producers and the Chinese merchants who distributed the product, and had a closely-knit corporate culture which recruited almost exclusively within its community of origin in Dumfriesshires, a small county in Scotland. The case is widely positioned in the geo-politics of the era and can be used to demonstrate the dark origins of global capitalism. China was globalized by force in this era, and forced to consume opium which its government had made illegal.

Keywords

History; Globalized Economies and Regions; Ethnicity; Multinational Firms and Management; Groups and Teams; Trade; Social and Collaborative Networks; China; United Kingdom

Citation

Jones, Geoffrey, Elisabeth Koll, and Alexis Gendron. "Opium and Entrepreneurship in the Nineteenth Century." Harvard Business School Case 805-010, July 2004. (Revised October 2018.)
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About The Author

Geoffrey G. Jones

General Management
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Related Work

    • October 2017 (Revised October 2017)
    • Faculty Research

    Opium and Entrepreneurship in the Nineteenth Century

    By: Geoffrey Jones and Valeria Giacomin
    • July 2004 (Revised October 2018)
    • Faculty Research

    Opium and Entrepreneurship in the Nineteenth Century

    By: Geoffrey Jones, Elisabeth Koll and Alexis Gendron
Related Work
  • Opium and Entrepreneurship in the Nineteenth Century By: Geoffrey Jones and Valeria Giacomin
  • Opium and Entrepreneurship in the Nineteenth Century By: Geoffrey Jones, Elisabeth Koll and Alexis Gendron
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