The Global Shoemaking Empire: The Story of the Bata Company

The story of the Bata Company is a remarkable tale of entrepreneurial vision, global expansion, and the establishment of a unique social and economic system. Founded by Tomáš Baťa in Zlín, Austria-Hungary (now in the Czech Republic) in 1894, the company embarked on a transformative journey that turned it into the world's largest shoemaking producer in the second half of the 20th century.

 

 

Milan Balaban is a historian, he completed his bachelor's studies at the University of Banja Luka and pursued master's and doctoral studies at Masaryk University in the Czech Republic. His doctoral dissertation focused on "Yugoslav-Czechoslovak Economic Relations between 1918-1938." Notably, Milan Balaban received recognition for his dissertation work when he was awarded the best work on the economic history of the Balkans in 2016. His academic career has included positions at the Department of History in Banja Luka, and since 2015, he has been employed as a scientific researcher and historian at the Bata Information Centre at Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Czech Republic.

Balaban's primary research areas encompass the history of the Bata Company and Czechoslovak-Yugoslav economic relations. He has contributed to academic scholarship by publishing numerous articles in Czech and foreign scientific journals. Additionally, he has authored and co-authored books, including "The Bata Company in Yugoslavia" (published in 2018) and "Bata Across Continents" (published in 2022).

His research and expertise have taken him to various academic institutions worldwide, including the Czech Republic, France, Greece, the Netherlands, India, Canada, and former Yugoslavia. His work has contributed significantly to understanding economic and historical relations between Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, as well as the history of the Bata Company.