It's interesting how little of this strategy involves providing a better service. But I don't think they're alone or even special from this perspective (e.g. similar to the rise of Microsoft).

I think the prevalence of "business strategy", as opposed to product/service improvement, in the growth of corporations, warrants much more scrutiny than it gets. After all, corporations should serve society - how do strategic mergers, acquisitions, lobbying, PR do that?