Industrie-Holding: Creating a Community of Interest among Swiss 'Multinationals'

This article focuses on the genesis and evolution of Industrie-Holding, a federation of Swiss multinationals, from 1942 onwards. Thanks to recent donations from the Alusuisse and Hero archives, historians now have access to the minutes of the Industrie-Holding executive committee and general assembly meetings, as well as to some of its internal correspondence. Using this material, this article examines the emergence of the managing directors' awareness of the importance of the multinational character of their companies and of the need to defend the specific interests resulting from this status. It analyses how the context of World War II prompted a small group of Swiss multinationals to organise themselves into a business interest association (BIA) and why the founding members implemented rather restrictive admissions criteria. The analysis also highlights the evolution of Industrie-Holding's membership and the division of labour with respect to other Swiss BIAs. Finally, the article examines Industrie-Holding's operations and provides a sense of the diversity of its lobbying activities over time.