This book explores the history and global expansion of AB Volvo, one of the hundred largest corporations in the world, through the experiences of its workers in Sweden, Mexico, South Africa, and India. It investigates how neo-liberalisation has transformed the company into a promoter of lean production, at the expense of the workers' needs.
How multinationals contribute, or don't, to global prosperity Globalization and multinational corporations have long seemed partners in the enterprise of economic growth: globalization-led prosperity was the goal, and giant corporations spanning the globe would help achieve it. In recent years, however, the notion that all economies, both developed and developing, can prosper from globalization has been called into question by political figures and has fueled a populist backlash around the world against globalization and the corporations that made it possible. In an effort to elevate the sometimes contentious public debate over the conduct and operation of multinational corporations, this edited volume examines key questions about their role, both in their home countries and in the rest of the world where they do business. Is their multinational nature an essential driver of their profits? Do U.S. and European multinationals contribute to home country employment? Do multinational firms exploit foreign workers? How do multinationals influence foreign policy? How will the rise of the digital economy and digital trade in services affect multinationals? In addressing these and similar questions, the book also examines the role that multinational corporations play in the outcomes that policymakers care about most: economic growth, jobs, inequality, and tax fairness.
Transnational Corporations is a policy-oriented journal for the publication of research on the activities of transnational corporations and their implication for economic development. Articles accepted for publication in this issue report on the following research themes: international tax
Global Value Chains and Production Networks: Case Studies of Siemens and Huawei presents theories and frameworks that facilitate the evolution of GPN studies, from macro perspectives based on territory and industry to the use of micro (firm-level) data. The book explores these theories and frameworks through detailed case studies of two major corporations, Siemens and Huawei. With the GPN/GVC structure of Chinese firms not well known outside China, despite the growing importance of Chinese firms in the global economy, this guide plays a pivotal role in facilitating the use of data that promise to unlock economic cooperation and value. - Emphasizes micro-data analytical models and their methodological underpinnings - Illustrates how these data illuminate the economic structures of two comparable GPNs within highly divergent institutional contexts - Suggests how companies can cooperate with foreign partners to enhance their global management capacity and reshape their advantages in international competition
Essay on the capitalist economy of the USA - covers corporation structure and giant entrepreneurship, generation and absorption of surplus profit, consumption, investment, historical and political aspects of monopoly, defence policy, etc., and includes sociological aspects, the standard of living and intergroup relations. References.
This engaging and timely book provides an in-depth analysis of work and labour relations within global platform capitalism with a specific focus on digital platforms that organise labour processes, known as labour platforms. Well-respected contributors thoroughly examine both online and offline platforms, their distinct differences and the important roles they play for both large transnational companies and those with a smaller global reach.
Examines the competitive and strategic issues faced by China and India through a political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal analysis. This book also examines the threats that these two countries pose to other countries looking to expand their presence in the global software markets.
This book is based on the 7th ILO Social Policy Lectures, which are endowed with the ILO's Nobel Peace Prize, held in Kingston, Jamaica in December 2005. In keeping with the topics covered in the lecture series, it uses the global value chains perspective to look at how offshore outsourcing has affected the quantity and quality of jobs in the global economy. While offering an overview of the contemporary global labour market, the book examines the issue of global consolidation and industrial upgrading and its promise and perils for development. It introduces an analytical framework for linking jobs in the industrial structures of both advanced and developing economies through the dynamics of global value chains. It reviews the strategies of leading firms global retailers, branded marketers, and brand-name manufacturers and considers the conceptualisation of jobs in the global economy not by their location in particular industries or countries, but by their role in global value chains.The author argues that, given the special features of global value chains, there is a need to reconsider the contemporary notions of global corporate social responsibility and private as well as public governance
Multinational Corporations and Global Justice: Human Rights Obligations of a Quasi-Governmental Institution addresses the changing role and responsibilities of large multinational companies in the global political economy. This cross- and inter-disciplinary work makes innovative connections between current debates and streams of thought, bringing together global justice, human rights, and corporate responsibility. Conceiving of corporate social responsibility (CSR) from this unique perspective, author Florian Wettstein takes readers well beyond the limitations of conventional notions, which tend to focus on either beneficence or pure charity. While the call for multinationals' involvement in the solution of global problems has become stronger in recent times, few specifics have been laid down regarding how to hold those institutions accountable in the global arena. This text attempts to work out the normative basis underlying the responsibilities of multinational corporations—thereby filling a crucial void in the literature and marking a milestone in the CSR debate.
