Changing Enviroment of Business

Attitudes toward American Business, and the Changes Throughout the Years
Throughout the years, the public opinions of corporations in the United States have been predominately negative. From the 1860's with the creation of the railroad and the hazardous and strenuous working conditions that came with the high demand for steel at the time. This continued through the Industrial Revolution and the Great Depression when big businesses were seen as corrupt. Between the 1940's and the 1960's the public opinion of corporations made a positive comeback. This was due in large part to World War Two and the return of the industrial economy. By the 1970's, trust in institutions was at an all time low due to the Vietnam war, Watergate, and the oil embargo. Since then the downward spiral of public opinions of corporations has yet to let up, even when the the markets reach enormous gains. The public in recent years has seen the turmoil associated with companies like Enron and other large corporations engaged in fraudulent activities and the media has played a huge role in this.

Technology: the Internet, Dot.com, and the Global Village
Other major changes in the Business environment came about with technology, such as the creation of the Internet, dot.coms and the global village. Times have changed since the days of the Industrial Revolution, and the Great Depression. For example, there are televisions in just about every house in the country making the media a huge contributor to public opinion. Technology has done a great deal of good for many businesses, allowing them to grow and expand far beyond the United States with the ease of global communications. National borders are a thing of the past with an increase of cross-border corporate mergers and many companies expanding into multinational corporations.

Personal Opinion:
In my personal opinion the negative perceptions that the public places on large corporations comes from bad publicity from their own mistakes or lack of having the proper communication. The media has the ability to blow things out of proportion, however corporations should be prepared to rebut allegations so as to keep a positive reputation in the view of the public. As far as technology is involved, it has made communications for corporations much better, internally and externally. Corporations should learn about new ways of communicating and take advantage.

Links to Related Articles
The Changing Business Environment Requires the Windchill Approach
http://www.cadinfo.net/editorial/WindchillCPC.htm
American Drug Companies Out of Sync With Public Opinion on Their Ethics, Opinion Researchers Report
http://www.csrwire.com/PressRelease.php?id=3570