Global Corporations in Turkey

Although the modern Turkish economy has been the subject of much study, there is limited work on the history of private corporations in post-war Turkey, particularly multinational companies. There is also a lack of detailed research on how the use of scientific and technological tools, as well as the transformation of concepts, has impacted the business code of conduct in local contexts. This groundbreaking new study fills in these gaps and examines how Turkey’s business circles, academic programmes and bureaucracy melded with the global economic entities that emerged after World War II. Drawing on the corporate archives in Germany and Switzerland, the Rockefeller Foundation records, and biographical narratives, it focuses on three main industries healthcare, nutrition, and mobility.

Deciphering previously unexplored records in corporate history, this study will shed light on the relationship among multinational corporations and local actors vis-à-vis technical and economic transformation. It will be of great interest to scholars and students of business history, modern Turkish history and international business.