Big business
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(December 2012) |
Big businessinvolves large-scale corporate-controlled financial orbusinessactivities. As a term, it describes activities that run from "huge transactions" to the more general "doing big things". Incorporate jargon,the concept is commonly known asenterprise,or activities involvingenterprise customers.[1][2][3]
The concept first rose in a symbolic sense after 1880 in connection with the combination movement that began in Americanbusinessat that time.[citation needed]Some examples of American corporations that fall into the category of "big business" as of 2015[update]areExxonMobil,Walmart,Google,Microsoft,Apple,General Electric,General Motors,JPMorgan Chase,Bank of America,Wells Fargo,Citigroup,andGoldman Sachs;in the United States, big businesses in general are sometimes collectively pejoratively called "corporate America".[4]The largest German corporations as of 2012[update]includedDaimler AG,Deutsche Telekom,Siemens,andDeutsche Bank.[5]SAPis Germany's largest software company. Among the largest companies in the United Kingdom as of 2012[update]areHSBC,Barclays,WPP plc,andBP.[6]The latter half of the 19th century saw more technological advances and corporate growth in additional[clarification needed]sectors, such aspetroleum,machinery,chemicals,andelectrical equipment(seeSecond Industrial Revolution).
In the sphere ofenterprise software,beyond the functional level, an enterprise edition would emphasize institutional concerns aroundsoftware security,fault tolerance,geographic redundancy,disaster recovery,dispersed operational collaboration with administrative teams large enough to have internal sub-departments, andmultilingualandlocalizedfunctionality that spans the global marketplace.Procurement,validationandregulatory complianceof large systems at the enterprise scale often involves a multi-yearplanning cycle.
History
[edit]Origin of term
[edit]The Oxford English Dictionary identifies the first use of the term, in 1905, to be in "The City: The Hope of Democracy",Frederic C. Howe.[7]
Early 20th century
[edit]Theautomotive industrybegan modestly in the late-19th century, but grew rapidly following the development of large-scale gasoline production in the early 20th century.
Post-World War II
[edit]The relatively stable period of rebuilding afterWorld War IIled to new technologies (some of which were spin-offs from the war years) and new businesses.
Computers
[edit]The new technology of computers spread worldwide in the post war years.[citation needed]Businesses built around computer technology include:IBM,Microsoft,Apple Inc.,Samsung,andIntel.
Electronics
[edit]Miniaturization andintegrated circuits,together with an expansion of radio and television technologies, provided fertile ground for business development. Electronics businesses includeJVC,Sony(Masaru IbukaandAkio Morita), andTexas Instruments(Cecil H. Green,J. Erik Jonsson,Eugene McDermott,and Patrick E. Chodery), while also the companies in the computer-section above can be considered electronics.
Energy
[edit]Nuclear powerwas added tofossil fuelas the main sources of energy.
Criticism of big business
[edit]The social consequences of the concentration of economic power in the hands of those persons controlling "big business" has been a constant concern both of economists and of politicians since the end of the 19th century. Various attempts have been made to investigate the effects of "bigness" upon labor, consumers, and investors, as well as upon prices and competition. "Big business" has been accused of a wide variety of misdeeds that range from theexploitationof the working class to the corruption of politicians[4]and the fomenting of war. Attitudes toward big business have fluctuated; Americans generally had a favorable view of big business in the 1950s, which would worsen drastically in a generation later.[8]
Influence over government
[edit]Corporate concentration can lead to influence over government in areas such as tax policy, trade policy, environmental policy, foreign policy, and labor policy throughlobbying.In 2005, the majority of Americans believed that big business has "too much power in Washington."[9]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^"Compliance-as-a-service platform Laika raises $35M".VentureBeat.2 November 2021.Retrieved3 November2021.
- ^Daso, Frederick."WorkOS Unlocks Equal Access For B2B Startups Selling To Enterprise Customers".Forbes.Retrieved3 November2021.
- ^עסקים קטנים,23 January 2023
- ^abRamirez, Mark D.; Lewis, Paul G. (December 2018)."Beliefs About Corporate America and the Structure of Opinions Toward Privatization".Political Behavior.40(4): 1011–1034.doi:10.1007/s11109-017-9434-4.Retrieved30 May2024.
For instance, candidates in the 2016 presidential primaries for both political parties took positions relating themselves either with or against corporate America, with neither party appearing to have a monopoly on appearing for or against "Wall Street," "big banks,: and other subsets of private firms. [...] Big business or corporate America can often be pejorative terms associated with greed, lack of accountability, and corruption.
- ^"The Largest German Companies".Forbes.
- ^"The U.K.'s 40 Largest Companies".Forbes.Retrieved29 December2012.
- ^""big business": 1905 F. C. HoweCity,p. ix ".
We are beginning to realize that the same self-interest is the politics of big business.
- ^Sicilia, David B., 'The Corporation Under Siege: Social Movements, Regulation, Public Relations, and Tort Law since the Second World War', in Kenneth Lipartito, and David B. Sicilia (eds), Constructing Corporate America: History, Politics, Culture (Oxford, 2004; online edn, Oxford Academic, 1 Sept. 2007),https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199251902.003.0008,accessed 30 May 2024.
- ^Timothy P. Carney (2 July 2006),Big Business and Big Government
- Dictionary of American HistorybyJames Truslow Adams,New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1940.
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