During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, America transformed into an industrialized nation dominated by big businesses as the economy shifted from small, personal operations to large corporations. Companies integrated vertically by combining mass production with distribution and horizontally by merging into larger conglomerates. Big businesses arose through separating ownership from day-to-day management and establishing centralized administrative offices to oversee increasingly large and complex industrial operations. In contrast, big business developed more slowly in Great Britain, placing it at a competitive disadvantage in the global economy of the 20th century.

1. Business & Labor in the Industrial Age America Compared

2. Business & Labor in the Industrial Age Transformation of America between the Civil War and WWI: “industrialization,” “urbanization,” and “immigration” America was the first nation to have an economy dominated by Big Business; only later did big business come to its own in Great Britain and Japan As the 19th century progressed, more and more American industrial companies were corporations Markets expanded in America and companies responded to this Vertical integration: combining mass production with mass distribution Horizontal integration: companies coming together to form bigger conglomerates

3. Business & Labor in the Industrial Age Big Business arose: separating ownership from management, there was a replacement of personal management by bureaucratic management Businessmen established strong central offices for their companies Industrial firms grew in size and complexity James Buchanan Duke became a model of Big Business in the American Tobacco Industry Most Big Businessmen were native, white, from the city, of middle-class origins, and well educated: it was all about $$$!

4. Business & Labor in the Industrial Age Britain’s Industrial Boom Big Business was slow to form in Great Britain By 1920, the U.S. had a population and income 3 times that of Great Britain Not until the years after WWI did Big Business emerge as a dominant force in the British Economic System… …BUT Great Britain’s relative slowness in developing large industrial enterprises placed it at a competitive disadvantage and may well have contributed to its economic malaise in the 20th century