Editing Big business

{{Short description|Large-scale corporate organisation}}
{{Other uses|Big Business (disambiguation)}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}

'''Big business''' involves large-scale corporate-controlled financial or [[business sector|business]] activities. As a term, it describes activities that run from "huge transactions" to the more general "doing big things". In [[corporate jargon]], the concept is commonly known as '''enterprise''', or activities involving '''enterprise customers'''.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-11-02|title=Compliance-as-a-service platform Laika raises $35M|url=https://venturebeat.com/2021/11/02/compliance-as-a-service-platform-laika-raises-35m/|access-date=2021-11-03|website=VentureBeat|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Daso|first=Frederick|title=WorkOS Unlocks Equal Access For B2B Startups Selling To Enterprise Customers|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/frederickdaso/2021/10/11/workos-unlocks-equal-access-for-b2b-startups-selling-to-enterprise-customers/|access-date=2021-11-03|website=Forbes|language=en}}</ref><ref>[https://www.bizness.co.il/ עסקים קטנים], 23 January 2023</ref>

The concept first rose in a symbolic sense after 1880 in connection with the combination movement that began in American [[commerce|business]] at that time.{{citation needed|date=June 2015}} Some examples of American corporations that fall into the category of "big business" {{as of | 2015 | lc = on}} are [[ExxonMobil]], [[Walmart]], [[Google]], [[Microsoft]], [[Apple Inc.|Apple]], [[General Electric]], [[General Motors]], [[JPMorgan Chase]], [[Bank of America]], [[Wells Fargo]], [[Citigroup]], and [[Goldman Sachs]]; in the United States, big businesses in general are sometimes collectively pejoratively called "corporate America".<ref name="Ramirez and Lewis 2018">{{cite journal |last1=Ramirez |first1=Mark D. |last2=Lewis |first2=Paul G. |date=December 2018 |title=Beliefs About Corporate America and the Structure of Opinions Toward Privatization |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11109-017-9434-4 |journal=Political Behavior |volume=40 |issue=4 |pages=1011–1034 |doi=10.1007/s11109-017-9434-4 |url-access=subscription |access-date=30 May 2024 |quote=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.}}</ref> The largest German corporations {{as of|2012|lc=on}} included [[Daimler AG]], [[Deutsche Telekom]], [[Siemens]], and [[Deutsche Bank]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Largest German Companies |url=https://www.forbes.com/lists/2005/183/Rank_1.html |website=[[Forbes]]}}</ref> [[SAP]] is Germany's largest software company. Among the largest companies in the United Kingdom {{as of | 2012 | lc = on}} are [[HSBC]], [[Barclays]], [[WPP plc]], and [[BP]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The U.K.'s 40 Largest Companies. |url=https://www.forbes.com/2006/12/02/forbes40-hsbc-hbos-biz-cx_pm_1205uk40_intro.html |access-date=29 December 2012 |website=[[Forbes]]}}</ref> The latter half of the 19th century saw more technological advances and corporate growth in additional{{clarify|date=June 2015}} sectors, such as [[Petroleum industry|petroleum]], [[Machinery industry|machinery]], [[Chemical manufacturing|chemicals]], and [[Electrification|electrical equipment]] (see [[Second Industrial Revolution]]).

In the sphere of [[enterprise software]], beyond the functional level, an enterprise edition would emphasize institutional concerns around [[software security]], [[fault tolerance]], [[geographic redundancy]], [[IT disaster recovery|disaster recovery]], dispersed operational collaboration with administrative teams large enough to have internal sub-departments, and [[multilingualism|multilingual]] and [[internationalization and localization|localized]] functionality that spans the global marketplace. [[Procurement]], [[verification and validation|validation]] and [[regulatory compliance]] of large systems at the enterprise scale often involves a multi-year [[enterprise life cycle|planning cycle]].

==History==
===Origin of term===
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]].<ref>{{Cite web |title="big business": 1905 F. C. Howe ''City'', p. ix. |url=https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/18833?redirectedFrom=big+business#eid21080471 |quote= "We are beginning to realize that the same self-interest is the politics of big business."}}</ref>

===Early 20th century===
The [[automotive industry]] began 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====
The relatively stable period of rebuilding after [[World War II]] led to new technologies (some of which were spin-offs from the war years) and new businesses.

=====Computers=====
The new technology of computers spread worldwide in the post war years.{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}} Businesses built around computer technology include: [[IBM]], [[Microsoft]], [[Apple Inc.]], [[Samsung]], and [[Intel]].

=====Electronics=====
Miniaturization and [[integrated circuit]]s, together with an expansion of radio and television technologies, provided fertile ground for business development. Electronics businesses include [[JVC]], [[Sony]] ([[Masaru Ibuka]] and [[Akio Morita]]), and [[Texas 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=====
[[Nuclear power]] was added to [[fossil fuel]] as the main sources of energy.

==Criticism of big business==
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 the [[Exploitation of labour|exploitation]] of the working class to the corruption of politicians<ref name="Ramirez and Lewis 2018" /> 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.<ref> 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. </ref>

===Influence over government===
{{See also|Corporatocracy}}
Corporate concentration can lead to influence over government in areas such as tax policy, trade policy, environmental policy, foreign policy, and labor policy through [[lobbying]]. In 2005, the majority of Americans believed that big business has "too much power in Washington."<ref>{{citation | url = http://www.cato.org/research/articles/cpr28n4-1.html
| author = Timothy P. Carney | date = 2 July 2006| title = Big Business and Big Government}}</ref>

==See also==
{{div col}}
* [[Almighty dollar]]
* [[alcohol industry|Big Alcohol]]
* [[Big Chocolate]]
* [[Big data]]
* [[Big government]]
* [[media conglomerate|Big media]]
* [[Big Oil]]
* [[pharmaceutical industry|Big Pharma]]
* [[Big Science]]
* [[Big Soda]]
* [[Big Tech]]
* [[Big Tobacco]]
* [[Conglomerate (company)|Conglomerate]]
* [[Corporatocracy]]
* [[Evil corporation]]
* [[Fat cat]]
* [[Keiretsu]]
* [[Major film studios]]
* [[Megacorporation]]
* [[Small business]]
* [[Wall Street]]
* [[Zaibatsu]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* ''Dictionary of American History'' by [[James Truslow Adams]], New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1940.

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Business terms]]
[[Category:Political terminology]]
[[Category:Libertarian terms]]
[[Category:Anti-corporate activism| ]]