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Was The Power Exercised In Keeping With The Social Contract Of Rockefeller's Era?

456 Words2 Pages

In our text, the seven levels of corporate power are economic power (ability to influence events, activities and people), technological power (ability to influence direction and consequences of physical innovations), political power (ability to influence governments), legal power (ability to shape laws), cultural power (ability to influence cultural values, habits and institutions), environmental power (impact on nature) and power over individuals. Rockefeller and the powers of Standard Oil have impacted society economically, technologically, politically, and culturally. As a result, the Standard Oil has expanded the US economy. The oil company built and structured the oil industry. They kept their competitive edge by improving their process and decreasing their prices. They set the pricing standards. The growth of the Standard Oil business changed the general population desire and states of mind since Rockefeller's fuel business began to engage with other industries. The Standard Oil had innovative power. Additionally, the business created oil that energized several advancements. The Standard Oil business had political power, because of the size and financial related support that the organization had. Also, the …show more content…

Was the power exercised in keeping with the social contract of Rockefeller’s era?
Yes. Rockefeller maintained power in the oil company by being productive, profitable, financially savvy and cost effective. His focus on oil led him to dominate the oil industry. He made it difficult for others business in the industry to compete with his company and drive out competitors from the oil business. His competitive advantage led to improvement of product and selling at lower cost though it did not benefit the other competitors in the industry. Rockefeller had too much power to the extent that he felt that rules and regulation do not apply to him (Pratt, 2012).

2. Does the story support the position of either the pluralist or dominance theory of business

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