Theories of Business Power Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Theories of Business Power - Research Paper Example When discussing business power and the society, the American Tobacco Company cannot go unmentioned. The company, founded by entrepreneur James B. Duke shortly after the Civil War, maximized on new technology from the Bonsack machine in order to increase the output of its cigarettes. It used cunning methods to market them worldwide. By 1881, almost ten years after he had switched to cigarettes from chewing tobacco, he was using Russian immigrants to roll his cigarettes and women to market them. By 1883, he had expanded his business to China as well as negotiated an exclusive contract for a cigarette-rolling machine. Texts show that by 1892, about 2.9 billion cigarettes had been sold and over 10 billion sold by 1903. The monopoly, however, disintegrated in 1911 but its effect of leaving millions of smokers worldwide and billions by now remains. Duke’s example in The American Tobacco Company illustrates the ability of commerce to change a society.The rise of the railroads in the United States in 1850 also illustrates how power radiated from this industry touching on the seven spheres of influence. The railroads changed both the American politics and the government in more than one ways. For example, the political candidates were able to get wide exposure, the government subsidized and later regulated these railroads too. To the American society, this railroad contributed to the Indian war, engineered professional management teams and introduced concepts such as cost accounting and division structures.