Colossus : How the Corporation Changed America

Rating:
Summary: Macro Perspective...Micro Analysis
Review: How to describe this book? It has immense scope ("how the corporation changed America" during the past 350 years) but, under Beatty's brilliant supervision, the narrative somehow retains a sense of intimacy as he and others focus on defining moments, pivotal developments, heroes and villains, great business successes as well as failures, shifting roles played by the federal government, westward expansion, two world wars, natural disasters, and the emergence of high technology This is indeed an epic narrative worthy of Tolstoy with a diversity of "characters" worthy of Dickens. Beatty skillfully blends all manner of different sources with a series of his own commentaries. Great stuff.

Rating:
Summary: Insightful!
Review: Jack Beatty combines his own analyses with writers' essays, articles and other materials to chronicle the American corporation from its inception in the 1600s through the present. His overall conclusion seems to be that corporations are a source of more evil than good, but don't let this bias throw you - this collection of sometimes brilliant writings is captivating reading. We from getAbstract highly recommend this book to all students of business history, especially those whose views of the corporate colossus tend toward the darker side.

Rating:
Summary: America Inc.
Review: This book is a collection of essays written about the history of corporations in America and the role those corporations have played in influencing our history.

The book covers many subjects such as the first corporation chartered by the British crown to explore and exploit New England, how corporations developed in America, the many benefits corporations have provided us, the abuses, how coporations changed our culture, and how our culture has changed corporations.

Specific essays chronicle how Henry Ford started manufacturing cars that regular people could afford, and paid his employees enough to afford them. Another essays discusses GM's rise to compete with Ford and overtake them by not being rigid. There is an essay that discusses how people devote themselves to the business. Another essay discusses the abuses that resulted as Safeway was bought in a Leveraged Buy out. Another discusses racism in business. Etc.

The reason this book gets 3 stars is that some of the essays were fascinating, but some seemed to be just filler.