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Big business involves large-scale corporate-controlled financial orbusiness activities. 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 Americanbusiness at 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]SAP is 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, andmultilingual andlocalized functionality that spans the global marketplace.Procurement,validation andregulatory compliance of large systems at the enterprise scale often involves a multi-yearplanning cycle.
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]
Theautomotive industry began modestly in the late-19th century, but grew rapidly following the development of large-scale gasoline production in the early 20th century.
The relatively stable period of rebuilding afterWorld War II led to new technologies (some of which were spin-offs from the war years) and new businesses.
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.
Miniaturization andintegrated circuits, together with an expansion of radio and television technologies, provided fertile ground for business development. Electronics businesses includeJVC,Sony (Masaru Ibuka andAkio 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.
Nuclear power was added tofossil fuel as the main sources of energy.
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 theexploitation of 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]
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]
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.
We are beginning to realize that the same self-interest is the politics of big business.
