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1 – 10 of over 8000Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some…
Abstract
Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.
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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse knowledge transfers in transnational corporations. Design/methodology/approach – The paper develops a conceptual framework for…
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse knowledge transfers in transnational corporations. Design/methodology/approach – The paper develops a conceptual framework for the analysis of knowledge flow transfers in transnationals. Based on this theoretical framework, the paper propose's research hypotheses and builds a causal model that links the constructs of the model (knowledge stickiness factors, internal/external knowledge flow transfer, and competitive advantage). Findings – The competitive advantage of a transnational organisation lies to a great extent in its ability to identify and transfer strategic knowledge between its geographically dispersed and diverse locations. Transnational corporations face major challenges in the current competitive environment. The transnational corporation must learn how to exploit its specific resources – either acquired in the country of origin or in foreign markets. It cannot forget that the source of a long‐term competitive advantage is focused on the variety of skills and diversity of knowledge. Transnationals can benefit from international fertilisation, because knowledge exploration and exploitation activities are closely related with the concepts of synergies, interdependences and interactive organisational learning. Practical implications – The paper proposes a causal model that links strategic variables in the knowledge flow transfer to the achievement of a competitive advantage for the firm. As a further avenue for research, there are plans to test this model with a sample of USA pharmaceutical companies with subsidiaries abroad. Originality/value – The paper provides great value both for academics and executives interested in the analysis of the complexity of knowledge transfer in transnational corporations.
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David Bailey, George Harte and Roger Sugden
Drawing on evidence of major Western governments’ concerns with the wider economic, social and environmental impact and performance of transnational firms, we argue that recent…
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Drawing on evidence of major Western governments’ concerns with the wider economic, social and environmental impact and performance of transnational firms, we argue that recent emphasis on deregulating industrial development, such as in the proposed Multilateral Agreement on Investment and ongoing discussions over a multilateral framework on investment, necessitates a fuller and regulated, rather than voluntaristic, corporate accountability, covering further details of the impact and performance of transnationals.
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This article examines the application of "resource dependency theory" to transnational corporations (TNCs) operating in host countries like Bangladesh to explain the relationship…
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This article examines the application of "resource dependency theory" to transnational corporations (TNCs) operating in host countries like Bangladesh to explain the relationship between the TNCs and Bangladesh. Data indicate that while the TNCs' participation in a third world host country is encouraged primarily for promoting its economic development, TNCs are mainly attracted by market size, purchasing capacities (determined mainly by GNP) of the population, and stable political condition of the country. Although examination of the application of resource dependency theory provides some insights into understanding the complicated relationship between TNCs and Bangladesh, several other factors, not explained by resource dependency theory, help explain the behavior of TNCs in a host country
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of major structural changes on the conceptualization of the transnational corporation (TNC) based on foreign direct investment…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of major structural changes on the conceptualization of the transnational corporation (TNC) based on foreign direct investment (FDI) and on indicators of transnationality.
Design/methodology/approach
Analysis of three major structural changes which impact the current conception of transnationality. They are: the rise of digital companies; the increased role of finance in the economy; externalization of activities via non-equity modalities (NEMs) with an impact on FDI and on the labour market.
Findings
The paper finds that the current concept of transnationality needs widening to take account of companies with a low degree of fixed assets abroad such as the digital and the financial companies and those internationalizing via NEMs, as well as to take account of the evolving relationship between TNCs and labour.
Research limitations/implications
Future research along the lines proposed should consider: working explicitly with the new, inclusive concept of transnationality and arrive at an empirical estimate of the proposed indices of transnationality which modify and amplify the current United Nations Conference on Trade and Development indices.
Social implications
Useful for understanding the nature of transnationality in the twenty-first century and for developing policies.
Originality/value
The paper proposes a new concept of transnationality and of the TNC, one that allows for new ways of organizing direct business activities abroad. It also proposes broadening the list of indicators of transnationality.
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Larry Phillips and Mark A. Fox
Forces associated with globalization have facilitated the development of transnational corporations (TNCs). Such companies have a geocentric orientation and attempt to be…
Abstract
Forces associated with globalization have facilitated the development of transnational corporations (TNCs). Such companies have a geocentric orientation and attempt to be responsive to both national markets, while simultaneously seeking global coordination. In this paper we propose that such companies need to reconsider the traditional balance sheet approach to expatriate compensation. Accordingly, we suggest that transnational corporations need to engage in a paradigm shift from the notion of expatriate compensation to transpatriate compensation. We suggest that such a paradigm shift is necessary in light of increasing globalization of markets and operations.
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Jeb Sprague and Grazia Ietto-Gillies
The purpose of this paper is to discuss economic and social issues of contemporary capitalism through the views and works of Grazia Ietto-Gillies who has a long experience of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss economic and social issues of contemporary capitalism through the views and works of Grazia Ietto-Gillies who has a long experience of research in these fields. The issues relate to strategies of TNCs, to globalization and transnationalization, to internationalization indices, to linkages between innovation and internationalization, to uneven development, and, finally, to issues related to the economics profession and the dissemination of research in the twenty-first century.
Design/methodology/approach
In-depth interview; use of relevant literature to support statements by interviewer and interviewee; qualitative analysis of issues discussed.
Findings
The article links together under the same theoretical umbrella the following issues: a theory of TNCs based on strategic approach towards labour, governments and suppliers; the development of an internationalization index based on the geography of TNCs' networks; and the possible impact of internationalization on innovation. Uneven development is linked to current problems in Europe. The need and opportunity to reconsider the economics profession and the peer review system in the digitalization era is presented.
Research limitations/implications
The article is based on the views of the interviewer and the interviewee. Their views are backed by their own previous research as well as by research by other scholars cited in the article.
Practical implications
The interview draws policy implication in relation to TNCs and other actors who interact with them such as labour and governments. There are also policy implications in the economic and social spheres regarding the implications of TNCs' strategies and the aftermath of the 2007/2008 crisis.
Originality/value
At the methodological level the article highlights the advantages of in-depth interviews. Specifically, it allows the interviewee to give an overall perspective on her research and to show how the various strands are connected and how they developed through the decades of her research. It allows both interviewer and interviewee to link the issues to a variety of literatures in the economics, sociology and politics fields.
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As components of society, social classes contain individuals who are carriers of productive relationships. In the era of global capitalism, chains of accumulation are functionally…
Abstract
As components of society, social classes contain individuals who are carriers of productive relationships. In the era of global capitalism, chains of accumulation are functionally integrating across borders and regions – uniquely altering the formation of productive relationships. How can we understand class relations in the global era, and in the context of regions and countries in Oceania and Asia? How do transnational capitalist-class fractions, new middle strata, and labor undergird globalization? How have state apparatuses and other institutions in this part of the world become entwined with new transnational processes? To begin to consider these questions, this paper provides an overview and summary of studies on transnational class relations and the associated political economic changes occurring across areas of Asia and Oceania.
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Heidi Hirsto, Saija Katila and Johanna Moisander
The purpose of the paper is to discuss and illustrate how contemporary market discourses rearticulate socio-political relationships and identities, including the rights, duties…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to discuss and illustrate how contemporary market discourses rearticulate socio-political relationships and identities, including the rights, duties, and opportunities of individuals and categories of individuals as citizens. More specifically, the purpose is to analyze how “economic citizenship” is articulated and negotiated in the intersection of (Nordic) welfare state ideals and shareholder-oriented market discourses. The paper further elaborates on how different identity markers, especially gender and class, intersect in these articulations and contribute to exclusionary practices.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper approaches the articulation of economic citizenship through an empirical study that focusses on business media representations and online discussions of a major factory shutdown in Finland. Drawing from discourse theory and the notions of representational intersectionality and translocational positionality, the paper analyzes how gender and class intersect in the construction of economic citizenship in the business media.
Findings
The study illustrates how financialist market discourses render citizenship intelligible in exceedingly economic terms, overriding social and political dimensions of citizenship. The business media construct hierarchies of economic citizens where two categories of actors claim full economic citizenship: the transnational corporation and the transnational investor. Within these categories, particular systems of privilege intersect in similar ways, rendering them masculine and upper middleclass. Whether interpreted as hegemonic or counter-hegemonic, the financialist discourses rearticulate the social hierarchies and moral landscape in Finnish society.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to critical/feminist management studies by elaborating on the role of the business media as an important site of political identity work, positioning, and moral regulation, where neoliberal ideas, based upon and reproducing masculine and elitist systems of privilege, appear as normalized and self-evidently valued.
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Kamil Omoteso and Hakeem Yusuf
The purpose of this paper is to contend that the dominant voluntarism approach to the accountability of transnational corporations (TNCs) is inadequate and not fit-for-purpose…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to contend that the dominant voluntarism approach to the accountability of transnational corporations (TNCs) is inadequate and not fit-for-purpose. The authors argue for the establishment of an international legal mechanism for securing the accountability of TNCs, particularly in the context of developing countries with notoriously weak governance mechanisms to protect all relevant stakeholders.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts insights from the fields of management and international law to draw out synergies from particular understandings of corporate governance, corporate social responsibility and international human rights. The challenges to governance in developing countries with regard to securing the accountability of TNCs are illustrated with the Nigerian experience of oil-industry legislation reform.
Findings
The specific context of the experiences of developing countries in Africa on the operations of TNCs particularly commends the need and expedience to create an international legal regime for ensuring the accountability of TNCs.
Originality/value
Mainstream research in this area has focused mainly on self and voluntary models of regulation and accountability that have privileged the legal fiction of the corporate status of TNCs. This paper departs from that model to argue for an enforceable model of TNC’s accountability – based on an international mechanism.
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