Final answer:
The expansive growth of business during the Industrial Revolution was driven by technological innovations in steel refining, communications, and electricity. Entrepreneurs like Carnegie and Rockefeller established vast empires, creating and controlling monopolies in various industries, which in turn transformed the societal and economic landscape of the era.
Step-by-step explanation:
Industrial Revolution: Expansion of Business
One of the key contributors to the expansive growth of business during the Industrial Revolution was the technology innovation. Processes in steel refining and new inventions in communication and electricity spearheaded this transformation. The telephone, developed by Alexander Graham Bell, and the advancements in electricity by Thomas Edison played significant roles in changing business operations.
Entrepreneurs like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller founded large corporations, leveraging the corporate structure to create industrial empires. The growth of cities was also tied to industrialization, as new factories needed labor, leading to mass urban migrations. People looking for work and entrepreneurs building their businesses together turned what were once rural communities into bustling urban centers.
The rise of these massive corporations often resulted in them controlling the entire production cycle, including raw materials and sales outlets, which in some cases led to the creation of monopolies. The spread of industrialization and capitalism in the nineteenth century undoubtedly changed the societal and economic landscape, with vast fortunes made and the standard of living raised for many, albeit with significant costs to workers and through aggressive business practices often associated with the term robber barons.