Multinational corporation

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A multinational corporation (MNC) or enterprise (MNE),[1] is a corporation or an

enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also
be referred to as an international corporation. The International Labour Organization (ILO)
has defined[citation needed] an MNC as a corporation that has its management headquarters in one
country, known as the home country, and operates in several other countries, known as host
countries.
The Dutch East India Company was the first multinational corporation in the world and the
first company to issue stock.[2] It was also arguably the world's first megacorporation,
possessing quasi-governmental powers, including the ability to wage war, negotiate treaties,
coin money, and establish colonies.[3]
The first modern multinational corporation is generally thought to be the East India
Company.[4] Many corporations have offices, branches or manufacturing plants in different
countries from where their original and main headquarters is located.
Some multinational corporations are very big, with budgets that exceed some nations' GDPs.
Multinational corporations can have a powerful influence in local economies, and even the
world economy, and play an important role in international relations and globalization.

Contents
[hide]
• 1 Market imperfections
• 2 International power
○ 2.1 Tax competition
○ 2.2 Market withdrawal
○ 2.3 Lobbying
○ 2.4 Patents
• 3 Culture
• 4 Different methods of communication across different cultures
• 5 7 Methods of managing across cultures
• 6 Advertisement in different countries
• 7 Companies that adapted to foreign market successfully
• 8 Companies that failed to adapt to foreign culture
• 9 Transnational Corporations
• 10 Micro-multinationals
 • 11 Criticism of multinationals
• 12 References
• 13 External links

[edit] Market imperfections

It may seem strange that a corporation can decide to do business in a different country, where
it does not know the laws, local customs or business practices.[1] Why is it not more efficient
to combine assets of value overseas with local factors of production at lower costs by renting
or selling them to local investors?[1]
One reason is that the use of the market for coordinating the behaviour of agents located in
different countries is less efficient than coordinating them by a multinational enterprise as an
institution.[1] The additional costs caused by the entrance in foreign markets are of less
interest for the local enterprise.[1] According to Hymer, Kindleberger and Caves, the existence
of MNCs is reasoned by structural market imperfections for final products.[5] In Hymer's
example, there are considered two firms as monopolists in their own market and isolated
from competition by transportation costs and other tariff and non-tariff barriers. If these costs
decrease, both are forced to competition; which will reduce their profits.[5] The firms can
maximize their joint income by a merger or acquisition, which will lower the competition in
the shared market.[5] Due to the transformation of two separated companies into one MNE the
pecuniary externalities are going to be internalized.[5] However, this does not mean that there
is an improvement for the society.[5]
This could also be the case if there are few substitutes or limited licenses in a foreign market.
[6]
The consolidation is often established by acquisition, merger or the vertical integration of
the potential licensee into overseas manufacturing.[6] This makes it easy for the MNE to
enforce price discrimination schemes in various countries.[6] Therefore Hymer considered the
emergence of multinational firms as "an (negative) instrument for restraining competition
between firms of different nations".[7]
Market imperfections had been considered by Hymer as structural and caused by the
deviations from perfect competition in the final product markets.[8] Further reasons are
originated from the control of proprietary technology and distribution systems, scale
economies, privileged access to inputs and product differentiation.[8] In the absence of these
factors, market are fully efficient.[1] The transaction costs theories of MNEs had been
developed simultaneously and independently by McManus (1972), Buckley & Casson (1976)
Brown (1976) and Hennart (1977, 1982).[1] All these authors claimed that market
imperfections are inherent conditions in markets and MNEs are institutions that try to bypass
these imperfections.[1] The imperfections in markets are natural as the neoclassical
assumptions like full knowledge and enforcement do not exist in real markets.[9]
[edit] International power
[edit] Tax competition
Multinational corporations have played an important role in globalization. Countries and
sometimes subnational regions must compete against one another for the establishment of
MNC facilities, and the subsequent tax revenue, employment, and economic activity. To
compete, countries and regional political districts sometimes offer incentives to MNCs such
as tax breaks, pledges of governmental assistance or improved infrastructure, or lax
environmental and labor standards enforcement. This process of becoming more attractive to
foreign investment can be characterized as a race to the bottom, a push towards greater
autonomy for corporate bodies, or both.
However, some scholars for instance the Columbia economist Jagdish Bhagwati, have argued
that multinationals are engaged in a 'race to the top.' While multinationals certainly regard a
low tax burden or low labor costs as an element of comparative advantage, there is no
evidence to suggest that MNCs deliberately avail themselves of lax environmental regulation
or poor labour standards. As Bhagwati has pointed out, MNC profits are tied to operational
efficiency, which includes a high degree of standardisation. Thus, MNCs are likely to tailor
production processes in all of their operations in conformity to those jurisdictions where they
operate (which will almost always include one or more of the US, Japan or EU) that has the
most rigorous standards. As for labor costs, while MNCs clearly pay workers in, e.g.
Vietnam, much less than they would in the US (though it is worth noting that higher
American productivity—linked to technology—means that any comparison is tricky, since in
America the same company would probably hire far fewer people and automate whatever
process they performed in Vietnam with manual labour), it is also the case that they tend to
pay a premium of between 10% and 100% on local labor rates.[10] Finally, depending on the
nature of the MNC, investment in any country reflects a desire for a long-term return. Costs
associated with establishing plant, training workers, etc., can be very high; once established
in a jurisdiction, therefore, many MNCs are quite vulnerable to predatory practices such as,
e.g., expropriation, sudden contract renegotiation, the arbitrary withdrawal or compulsory
purchase of unnecessary 'licenses,' etc. Thus, both the negotiating power of MNCs and the
supposed 'race to the bottom' may be overstated, while the substantial benefits that MNCs
bring (tax revenues aside) are often understated
[edit] Market withdrawal
Because of their size, multinationals can have a significant impact on government policy,
primarily through the threat of market withdrawal.[11] For example, in an effort to reduce
health care costs, some countries have tried to force pharmaceutical companies to license
their patented drugs to local competitors for a very low fee, thereby artificially lowering the
price. When faced with that threat, multinational pharmaceutical firms have simply
withdrawn from the market, which often leads to limited availability of advanced drugs. In
these cases, governments have been forced to back down from their efforts. Similar corporate
and government confrontations have occurred when governments tried to force MNCs to
make their intellectual property public in an effort to gain technology for local entrepreneurs.
When companies are faced with the option of losing a core competitive technological
advantage or withdrawing from a national market, they may choose the latter. This
withdrawal often causes governments to change policy. Countries that have been the most
successful in this type of confrontation with multinational corporations are large countries
such as United States and Brazil[citation needed], which have viable indigenous market competitors.
[edit] Lobbying
Multinational corporate lobbying is directed at a range of business concerns, from tariff
structures to environmental regulations. There is no unified multinational perspective on any
of these issues. Companies that have invested heavily in pollution control mechanisms may
lobby for very tough environmental standards in an effort to force non-compliant competitors
into a weaker position. Corporations lobby tariffs to restrict competition of foreign industries.
For every tariff category that one multinational wants to have reduced, there is another
multinational that wants the tariff raised. Even within the U.S. auto industry, the fraction of a
company's imported components will vary, so some firms favor tighter import restrictions,
while others favor looser ones. Says Ely Oliveira, Manager Director of the MCT/IR: This is
very serious and is very hard and takes a lot of work for the owner.pk
Multinational corporations such as Wal-mart and McDonald's benefit from government
zoning laws, to create barriers to entry.
Many industries such as General Electric and Boeing lobby the government to receive
subsidies to preserve their monopoly.[12]
[edit] Patents
Many multinational corporations hold patents to prevent competitors from arising. For
example, Adidas holds patents on shoe designs, Siemens A.G. holds many patents on
equipment and infrastructure and Microsoft benefits from software patents.[13] The
pharmaceutical companies lobby international agreements to enforce patent laws on others.
[edit] Culture
Culture is the set of values and beliefs shared by a group. This includes groups as small as
social groups, and as large as a whole country. Since multinational companies operate in
more than one country, they are exposed to many different cultures. Each culture has its own
beliefs and values. To be successful in these foreign countries, multinational companies must
have a global mindset, and be able to recognize and adapt to the differences.
[edit] Different methods of communication across
different cultures
Communication is the process of conveying messages. ‘’Successful communication in the
international business environment requires not only an understanding of language, but also
the nonverbal aspects of communication that are part of any community’’[14] (Ferraro, pg 73).
Different countries are going to have different ways of communicating. If certain executives
of a company want to do business with people from different countries, they need to
understand how to communicate clearly with them, without mistakenly doing something
wrong. The most obvious way of communicating with different people is with words, and
therefore, some executives learn how to speak the language spoken in the foreign country.
This act can show that the executive is truly dedicated to the work, and that he is willing to do
anything to complete the deal. Greeting rituals are sometimes overlooked, but they shouldn’t
be because they are more important in some parts of the world than others. ‘’In Japan, failure
to show respect by exchanging business cards can get negotiations off to a very bad
start’’(Schneider and Barsoux, pg 26) .[15] ‘’While in France, greetings are highly personal
and individual…as workers expect to be greeted individually’’(Schneider and Barsoux, pg
26)[16] Another form of communicating is through hand gestures. Often goes unnoticed, hand
gestures are as important as words themselves because they too have meaning behind them. ‘’
Cultures located in southern Europe and the Middle East employ a wide variety of gestures
frequently with purposefulness’’(Ferraro, pg 79).[17] Some hand gestures have different
meanings in different countries. ‘’For example, the hand gesture where the index finger and
thumb touch and create a ‘zero’ can mean different things in different places. In the US and
UK, it means ok. In Russia it means zero. In Japan it refers to money. While in Brazil, it is
viewed as an insult.’’ [18] Time is another communication system. ‘’ In western cultures,
people like to get to the point of the matter in business meetings and conversations. However,
in other countries like Saudi Arabia and Russia, it is customary to converse first about
unrelated matters before starting the business discussions for which the meeting was
arranged. Barging straight into the business issue, without informal small talk at the
beginning, may make them very uncomfortable and may ruin the negotiations.’’(Miroshnik
pg 12)[19]
[edit] 7 Methods of managing across cultures
(1) Hierarchy: "This refers to the way people view how much they defer to people in
authority, whether they feel entitled to express themselves and how empowered they feel to
take the initiative on matters before them. For example, Canada believes in egalitarianism,
while nations like India, Japan, China, Germany, Mexico are highly hierarchical." (Schachter,
pg b15)[20]
(2)Group focus: “This refers to whether people consider that accomplishment and
responsibility are achieved through individual or group effort, and whether they tend to
identify themselves as individuals or members of a group. Canadians are individualists while
Brazilians, Chinese, Mexicans and Japanese are group-focused.”(Schachter, pg b15)[21]
(3)Relationships: “This is about whether trust and relationships are viewed as a prerequisite
for working with someone. Canadians focus primarily on the transaction, rushing to deal,
while the Chinese, Italians, and Spaniards, for example, focus on nurturing relationships
first.”(Schachter, pg b15)[22]
(4)Communication styles: “This covers matters like verbal and non-verbal expression, how
directly or indirectly people speak, and whether brevity or detail is valued in communication.
Israel, Denmark, Germany and Sweden use a direct style, while indirect communication
styles are the norm in China, United Arab Emirates, and Japan (Schachter, pg b15)”[23]
(5)Time orientation: “This refers to the degree to which people believe adhere to schedules
United States, Germany, Denmark and Switzerland follow schedules while countries like
Saudi Arabia, Spain, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates are unconcerned about
schedules and deadlines.” (Schachter, pg b15)[24]
(6)Change tolerance: “How people are comfortable with change, risk-taking and innovation.
Along with Australians, Canadians are the most tolerant of change, while Saudi Arabia,
Indonesia, Mexico and Russia are change-averse.” (Schachter, pg b15)[25]
(7)Motivation: work/life balance: “This characteristic examines whether people work to
live or live to work. Canadians are driven by work and the status it provides - although not as
much as people in China, Japan, and the U.S. - while in Norway, Saudi Arabia, United Arab
Emirates, India and Mexico, family-work balance is treasured.” (Schachter, pg b15) [26]
[edit] Advertisement in different countries
Another way for multinational companies to prove that they understand the specific market is
through advertisement. Advertising products in different countries requires the companies to
use specific methods of advertisement that is allowed by the tradition and culture of the
country. For example, in western countries, sex appeal is used a lot in advertising many
different products. It is used to grab attention of customers and is used to boost sales. This
strategy however won’t be successful in countries that are very religious like most Arabic
countries where the dominant religion is Islam. In those countries people, especially girls, are
mostly covered and so won’t be wearing very revealing clothes. Therefore, ads that use sex
appeal, like girls in bikinis for example, won’t be used. One company that used proper
advertisement was Procter and Gamble. ‘’They tailor their marketing campaigns to the
nationality of their clients. The Japanese like to buy shampoo which uses a beautiful Japanese
girl in its advertisements, while Russian housewives will never buy any washing powder that
uses a Japanese housewife in its advertisements.’’(Miroshnik, pg 8)[27]
[edit] Companies that adapted to foreign market
successfully
Just because a large company is very successful in one country, it doesn’t mean that it will be
successful in another country, especially if that country has a completely different culture.
McDonalds is one of the largest companies in the world. However, it has adapted to the
different cultures to make sure it is successful. In France, ‘McDonald's added tablecloths and
candles to improve the ambience at some eateries and introduced waiter service at certain
outlets because they found that most Europeans prefer leisurely rather than fast food dining’
(Stern, pg A07).[28] In addition to space, McDonald’s has changed its menus from one country
to another, offering food that locals usually eat: in France, a burger has mustard and ciabatta
rolls instead of regular buns. In Japan, fried egg burgers were offered. In Saudi Arabia, in
accordance with the religious believes there, Starbucks has changed its logo and removed the
girl from the picture. In addition, Starbucks branches there usually have two sections, one for
the females and one for the males. This is the case with most stores since men aren’t allowed
to sit with women.
[edit] Companies that failed to adapt to foreign culture
In many occasions, a lot of the larger companies think that because they are a large
corporation, they can succeed anywhere without changing anything. This tactic proved
wrong, as many companies have failed and were forced to shutdown foreign branches. The
biggest example was “When Wal-Mart expanded in Germany in 1997, it hoped that Germans,
like Americans, would scoop up its low-priced items. By July 2006, Wal-Mart had closed its
German operations and absorbed $1 billion in losses. This was because they didn’t adjust to
the German culture where people preferred frequently specialty stores, not one-stop shops
(Stern pg A07)” .[29] Another example is Daimler AG, “it failed in its acquisition of Chrysler
because its disciplined, buttoned-down executives could never meld with their more
freewheeling American counterparts.” (Schachter, pg b15) .[30]

[edit] Transnational Corporations

A Transnational Corporation (TNC) differs from a traditional MNC in that it does not
identify itself with one national home. Whilst traditional MNCs are national companies with
foreign subsidiaries,[31] TNCs spread out their operations in many countries sustaining high
levels of local responsiveness.[32] An example of a TNC is Nestlé who employ senior
executives from many countries and try to make decisions from a global perspective rather
than from one centralised headquarters.[33] However, the terms TNC and MNC are often used
interchangeably.
[edit] Micro-multinationals
Enabled by Internet based communication tools, a new breed of multinational companies is
growing in numbers.[34] These multinationals start operating in different countries from the
very early stages. These companies are being called micro-multinationals. [35] What
differentiates micro-multinationals from the large MNCs is the fact that they are small
businesses. Some of these micro-multinationals, particularly software development
companies, have been hiring employees in multiple countries from the beginning of the
Internet era. But more and more micro-multinationals are actively starting to market their
products and services in various countries. Internet tools like Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ebay and
Amazon make it easier for the micro-multinationals to reach potential customers in other
countries.
Service sector micro-multinationals, like Facebook, Alibaba etc. started as dispersed virtual
businesses with employees, clients and resources located in various countries. Their rapid
growth is a direct result of being able to use the internet, cheaper telephony and lower
traveling costs to create unique business opportunities.
Low cost SaaS (Software As A Service) suites make it easier for these companies to operate
without a physical office.
Hal Varian, Chief Economist at Google and a professor of information economics at U.C.
Berkeley, said in April 2010, "Immigration today, thanks to the Web, means something very
different than it used to mean. There's no longer a brain drain but brain circulation. People
now doing startups understand what opportunities are available to them around the world and
work to harness it from a distance rather than move people from one place to another."
[edit] Criticism of multinationals
Main article: Anti-corporate activism
The rapid rise of multinational corporations has been a topic of concern among intellectuals,
activists and laypersons who have seen it as a threat of such basic civil rights as privacy.
They have pointed out that multinationals create false needs in consumers and have had a
long history of interference in the policies of sovereign nation states. Evidence supporting
this belief includes invasive advertising (such as billboards, television ads, adware, spam,
telemarketing, child-targeted advertising, guerrilla marketing), massive corporate campaign
contributions in democratic elections, and endless global news stories about corporate
corruption (Martha Stewart and Enron, for example). Anti-corporate protesters suggest that
corporations answer only to shareholders, giving human rights and other issues almost no
consideration.[36] Films and books critical of multinationals include Surplus: Terrorized into
Being Consumers, The Corporation, The Shock Doctrine, Downsize This, Zeitgeist: The
Movie and others.
[edit] References
1. ^ a b c d e f g h Pitelis, Christos; Roger Sugden (2000). The nature of the transnational
firm. Routledge. p. 72. ISBN 0415167876.
2. ^ Mondo Visione web site: Chambers, Clem. "Who needs stock exchanges?"
Exchanges Handbook. -- retrieved 1 February 2008.
3. ^ Ames, Glenn J. (2008). The Globe Encompassed: The Age of European Discovery,
1500-1700. pp. 102–103.
4. ^ The Register of Letters &c. of the Governor and Company of Merchants of London
trading into the East Indies, 1600–1619. On page 3, a letter written by Elizabeth I on
January 23, 1601 ("Witnes or selfe at Westminster the xxiiijth of Ianuarie in the xliijth
yeare of or Reigne.") states, "Haue been pleased to giue lysence vnto or said Subjects
to proceed in the said voiadgs, & for the better inabling them to establish a trade into
& from the said East Indies Haue by or tres Pattents vnder or great seale of England
beareing date at Westminster the last daie of december last past incorporated or said
Subjecte by the name of the Gournor & Companie of the merchaunts of London
trading into the East Indies, & in the same tres Pattents haue geven them the sole
trade of theast Indies for the terme of XVteen yeares ..."
5. ^ a b c d e Pitelis, Christos; Roger Sugden (2000). The nature of the transnational firm.
Hymer (1960, published in 1976), Kindleberger (1969) & Caves (1971). Routledge.
p. 74. ISBN 0415167876.
6. ^ a b c Pitelis, Christos; Roger Sugden (2000). The nature of the transnational firm.
Hymer, 1976: 49–50. Routledge. p. 74. ISBN 0415167876.
7. ^ Pitelis, Christos; Roger Sugden (2000). The nature of the transnational firm.
Hymer, 1970: 433. Routledge. p. 74. ISBN 0415167876.
8. ^ a b Pitelis, Christos; Roger Sugden (2000). The nature of the transnational firm.
Bain, 1956. Routledge. p. 74. ISBN 0415167876.
9. ^ Pitelis, Christos; Roger Sugden (2000). The nature of the transnational firm.
Dunning & Rugman (1985), Teece (1981). Routledge. p. 74. ISBN 0415167876.
10. ^ Jagdish Bhagwati, In Defense Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004, esp. 122–
195.
11. ^ Barnett, Richard, 1975: Global Reach: The Power of the Multinational
Corporations.
12. ^ HOLMAN W. JENKINS (2008-07-02). "What Is GM Thinking?". Business World.
13. ^ Kevin Carson, Tucker‘s Big Four: Patents., A Mutualist FAQ
14. ^ Ferraro, Gary P. (2002). The Culture Dimension of International Business. New
Jersey: Prentice Hall.
15. ^ Schneider, Susan C. (2003). Managing Across Cultures. Essex, England.
16. ^ Schneider, Susan C. (2003). Managing Across Cultures. Essex, England.
17. ^ Ferraro, Gary P. (2002). The Culture Dimension of International Business. New
Jersey: Prentice Hall.
18. ^ Bibikova, Anastasia. "Managing Cultural Differences".
19. ^ Miroshnik, Victoria (October 2001). "Cultural and International Management".
Journal of Management Development.
20. ^ Schachter, Harvey. "Adapting for success on foreign shores".
21. ^ Schachter, Harvey. "Adapting for success on foreign shores".
22. ^ Schachter, Harvey. "Adapting for success on foreign shores".
23. ^ Schachter, Harvey. "Adapting for success on foreign shores".
24. ^ Schachter, Harvey. "Adapting for success on foreign shores".
25. ^ Schachter, Harvey. "Adapting for success on foreign shores".
26. ^ Schachter, Harvey. "Adapting for success on foreign shores".
27. ^ Miroshnik, Victoria (October 2001). "Culture and International Management".
Journal of Management Development.
28. ^ Stern, Gary M. (January 2010). "Taking the Bite out of Moving Overseas U.S.
players span culture gaps in foreign markets". Investor's Business Daily. Retrieved
March 29 2011.
29. ^ Stern, Gary M. (January 2010). "Taking the Bite out of Moving Overseas U.S.
players span culture gaps in foreign markets". Investor's Business Daily. Retrieved
March 29 2011.
30. ^ Schachter, Harvey. "Adapting for success on foreign shores".
31. ^ Drucker, Peter F. (1997). The Global Economy and the Nation State. Council on
Foreign Relations. p. 167.
32. ^ Case study: The Relationship between the Structure/Strategy of Multinational
Corporations and Patterns of Knowledge Sharing within them. Oxford University
Press. 2009.
33. ^ Schermerhorn, John R. (2009). Exploring Management. John Wiley and Sons.
p. 387. ISBN 0470169648.
34. ^ Copeland, Michael V. (2006-06-29). "How startups go global". CNN. Retrieved
2010-05-13.
 35. ^ Varian, Hal R. (2005-08-25). "Technology Levels the Business Playing Field". The
New York Times. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
36. ^ Marc Abeles, 'Globalization, Power, and Survival: an Anthropological Perspective',
pg 484–486. Anthropological Quarterly Vol.79, No. 3. Institute for Ethnographic
Research, 2006
[edit] External links
• Data on transnational corporations
• CorpWatch
• UNCTAD publications on multinational corporations
• UNCTAD—Lists of largest TNCs
• ILO—Multinational Corporations
• List of multinational companies
• [Gary P. Ferraro. The Culture Dimension of International Business'Italic text. New
Jersey, Prentice Hall, 2002.]
• [Susan C. Schneider and Jean-Louis Barsoux. Managing Across Cultures'Italic text.
Essex, England, 2003.]
• [1]
• [Victoria Miroshnik, Culture and international management: a review. Journal of
Management Development. October 2001]
• [Harvey Schachter, Adapting for success on foreign shores. The Global Mail.
November 2009. http://0-
www.lexisnexis.com.ilsprod.lib.neu.edu/lnacui2api/auth/checkbrowser.do?
rand=0.8740793638063278&cookieState=0&ipcounter=1&bhcp=]
• [Gary M. Stern, Taking The Bite Out Of Moving Overseas U.S. players span culture
gaps in foreign markets. Investor’s Business Daily, January 11 2010. http://0-
www.lexisnexis.com.ilsprod.lib.neu.edu/lnacui2api/results/docview/docview.do?
docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T11486910575&format=GNBFI&sort=BOOLEAN&start
DocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T11486910578&cisb=22_T11486910577&treeMax=tr
ue&treeWidth=0&csi=8204&docNo=7]
Categories: Multinational companies | International business | International economics
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