Hercules and Penrose

Penrose's The Theory of the Growth of the Firm is one of most important modern contributions to the theory of the firm. In this paper we are concerned with her analysis of the Hercules Powder Company published separately in Business History Review. The Hercules paper is important because it provides a unique case analysis of Penrosean growth processes, and indeed because there is reason to believe that it may have had a strong influence on the development of the book itself. Since Hercules is still operating today, it also constitutes an interesting living laboratory that may allow us to explore whether it has continued to pursue Penrosean growth processes over the intervening years.