ABSTRACT
A big business can be identified as follows: (1) its size, number of employees and capital assets are much larger compared with a traditional enterprise; (2) it commonly embodies horizontal or vertical integration of separate plants and differentiated product lines; (3) it usually has multi-plant operations in wide geographical areas, and therefore the multinational corporation (MNC) becomes its prominent sub-category; (4) it owns substantial market shares in particular industries and therefore monopoly or oligopoly is not uncommon; and (5) ownership and control of the firm are separated. The firm is managed by salaried professionals in a hierarchically organised structure (Schmitz 1993).
