7. A. Discuss in groups.
What are the grounds to state that MNEs undermine state sovereignty?
Does the power of MNCs in the international arena give them the right to displace national governments as the sole desicion-makers and agenda setters?
Can the nation-state survive the onslaught of MNEs?
Will the MNE remain the dominant economic force in the international system, or will governments, resentful of the subservience, rise up and clamp down on the rogue MNE?
How can multinational corporations be effectively regulated without infringing upon national sovereignty? Can they be made fairer?
b. Comment on the statements.
There is something extremely stupid with the idea that opening trade routes is necessarily a conspiracy by multinational corporations merely because they are the only beneficiary. It is a persistent truism that when someone profits everyone else must lose. This is simply not the case. Countries that trade various resources also benefit. Of course if you open up trade MNEs are going to profit, but their profit isn't at any one’s expense.
An alternative to MNE monopoly seems to be nationalization of resources as a means to protect certain resources which some regard as a dubious pretext to get rid of private ownership.
Use of English
8. For questions 1-8, read the following text and choose from the list (A-I) given below the best of the phrases to fit each gap. There is one phrase which does not fit in any gap. There is an example (0).
A polycentric world is inherently complex due to its extreme diversity. According to the statistics, the already 250 million-strong Chinese middle class is expected to double in size in the coming decade 0) ……F…… As a result there will be a massive increase in the diversity of the customer base 1) ………… To effectively serve such a highly heterogeneous customer base 2) ………… many multinationals will need to fundamentally redesign their monocultural and ethnocentric organizations. They will need to learn to juggle multiple business models, organizational practices, management structures, 3) …………
To effectively compete and win in the emerging polycentric world monolithic 4) ………… that reflect internally the growing external diversity and are able to learn and adapt continuously. Polycentric organizations not only tame but even capitalize on global complexity. They operate as a network integrating creative talent and ideas from employees, suppliers, 5) ………… Moreover, polycentric organizations are highly adaptive which means they aren’t wedded to a single European or U.S.-centric business model or organizational practice, but employ a diverse portfolio of strategies 6) ………… and adapt to new opportunities and threats in different regional markets. Additionally they boast a global mindset, i.e. they don’t believe in a single “corporate culture”, and allow multiple perspectives 7) …………
The monocentric global economic order is rapidly being eclipsed by a polycentric world. Rather than keeping their enterprise locked into 20th century organizational structures 8) ………… to accelerate their firms’ evolution into polycentric organizations that harness the diversity and capitalize on the complexity of the 21st century.
A |
and even leadership styles in order to harness the growing diversity in the unpredictable global business environment. |
B |
and customers across regions to meet the global demand for innovative products and services. |
C |
and workforce of multinationals on a scale they have never experienced before. |
D |
and value systems to co-exist within the same enterprise. |
E |
and ethnocentric multinationals must evolve into what we call polycentric organizations |
F |
and one global worker in four will be an Indian by 2020. |
G |
and manage a highly multicultural employee base, |
H |
and processes, multinationals must leverage the Millennials |
I |
and approaches that allow them to quickly learn |
Speaking Activity
9. Get ready to debate the problem if multinational corporations should be reformed or abolished. Before it we should study the scenario of debates. Read the following scenario and pay attention to picture 1 showing the positions of the participants. Choose the team you are going to join.
Should multinational corporations be reformed or abolished?
The scenario
Stage 1 C |
hairperson’s
introductory speech
Stage 2 S tatement of position of the “Reformed”-team |
A |
|
S peakers and supporters of the “Abolished”-team |
rgumentation
of the speakers of the “Reformed”-team
Speakers of the “Reformed”-team |
|
Questions by supporters of the “Abolished”-team |
Stage 3 S tatement of position of the “Abolished”-team |
Speakers and supporters of the “Reformed”-team |
|
Argumentation of the speakers of the “Abolished”-team |
Q uestions by supporters of the “Reformed”-team |
|
Speakers of the “Abolished”-team |
Stage 4 Concluding remarks of the “Reformed”-team Refute arguments and evidence of the “Abolished”-team, present comparative analysis of the team’s position to intensify and prove the “Reformed”-course |
Stage 5 Concluding remarks of the “Abolished”-team Refute arguments and evidence of the “Reformed”-team, present comparative analysis of the team’s position to intensify and prove the “Abolished”-course |
Stage 6 Jury’s final remarks |
Picture 1. The position of the participants.
Make up two teams.
The “Reformed”-team proves the statement:
Multinational corporations can’t be abolished, they should be reformed.
The “Abolished”-team proves the statement:
Multinational corporations are completely unfair, they should be abolished.
Think of three or four arguments and/or examples to substantiate and illustrate your position. Get ready to defend it against criticism. Be ready to ask some questions to clarify the position of the opposite team. Make sure you use the conversation patterns given in Functional Bank.
The jury decides which team was the best.