ABSTRACT

The industrial economies of the world had earned a reputation for their technological achievement and their rising levels of prosperity. By the late nineteenth century these economies also began to develop organizational and scientific capacities that would enable them to move far beyond their earlier productive abilities of the first part of the century. Matched with increasing technical proficiency, these economies would reach out beyond their borders both for markets and for raw materials. The emergence of the corporation that would amass capital and produce goods on a scale yet seen stood as the major organizational innovation of these industrial economies. This economic institution quickly developed into a powerful agency transforming business, individual lives and human societies across the globe. The United States would take the lead in this phase of industrialization, followed closely by a united German state. Great Britain would maintain its economic presence, yet rarely duplicate the achievements of either of its competitors. By the outbreak of World War I, the basis for an interdependent global economy had materialized through the activities of the modern corporation.