THE TNCs, SYM BOL OF A “GLOBAL VILLAGE”, OR A GLOBALIZATION OF DISASTERS?

Obstacles to Wal-Mart Expansion

In the 1990’s, the first implementation of Wal-Mart in Europe met the first difficultes, until obligating the firm to withdraw his European expansion. In 1999, Wal-Mart bought Asda, the second supermarket chain in the United-Kingdom. The Thatcher’s decade allowed the evolution of the laws on labour and the decrease of the British wages to acceptable levels for the American company. In 2003, Wal-Mart took over Sainsbury’s. But, the Trade Union7 of the retail sector8 used their relays in the press and in the political world to create against-Wal-Mart campaigns, slowing down the company’s growth in the UK.In Germany, the implementation of Wal-Mart is a failure. […]

R.-P. Desse, Wal-Mart territories, 2011

The worldwide production of the IPhone 4S

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Outsourcing strategies for Wal-Mart’s suppliers

Defensor in the 1980’s of the famous slogan “Buy American”, today, the firm owns his wealth to the importation of manufactured products from countries where the labor force’s cost is more competitive. Wal-Mart buys the products he distributes to close to 65,000 suppliers dispatched in approximatively about 60 countries – only a thousand of them are in the USA. In 2006, his central purchasing departments were implemented in 22 countries […].China is the space of supplying privileged by the company. A team of 400 people coordinates production and purchases for an amount of 20 billions of dollar a year at about 20,000 suppliers. […] China, as the world workshop, wouldn’t have worked correctly without the container revolution in maritime transportation. […]To maintain discount prices everyday as their slogan says “Everyday, low prices”, the company imports 60% of the products sold in his stores, contrary to 6 % in 1995. His policy of discount prices was a fantastic accelerator for the effects of globalization in the USA, but there is an ongoing debate about the responsibility of the firm in the huge growing commercial deficit of the USA.

R.-P. Desse, Wal-Mart territories, 2011

An increasing weight of the TNCs in the world

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Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, 20th anniversary cartoon (2009)

The establishment of MacDonald’s in the world

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The establishment of MacDonald’s in the world

Attitudes have made Vietnam attractive for American fast-food brands, which view the country as one of Asia’s last consumer markets with significant untapped potential, according to industry analysts. The latest entrant is McDonald’s, the fast-food giant, which has restaurants in more than 100 countries and will open its first Vietnam location on Saturday in downtown Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnam has a surging middle class, and most of its 90 million citizens were born after the Vietnam War ended, in 1975. (…)

KFC opened in Vietnam in 1997, two years after the country normalized relations with the United States. But not until 2010 did American brands begin to enter Vietnam’s market in earnest. They still trail Asian brands by a large margin. American-style Asian fast-food chains, like Lotteria from South Korea and Jollibee from the Philippines, have slowly introduced restaurants in a few major cities. (…)

Bill Hayton, a former foreign correspondent in Vietnam and the author of “Vietnam: Rising Dragon,” a 2010 book that explored links between money and power in the one-party state, said: « Laws and regulations are often rather vaguely written, giving officials plenty of opportunity to delay or assist an investor’s plans ».

Mike Ives, « McDonald’s Opens in Vietnam, Bringing Big Mac to Fans of Banh Mi », The New York Times, 7 February 2014

Nike, “just do it!”, 1997 (www.tncandglobalisation.weebly.com)

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TERRITORIAL STRATEGIES OF THE TNCs: RESHAPING THE PATTERNS OF TRADE

(INCREASING OR REDUCING ECONOMICS GAPS?)

Nokia’s globalized production

Nokia has production facilities located all over the world and we’re working to make each one as sustainable as possible. In part, this means minimising any negative environmental and social impact the facility may have - for example, by reducing its energy consumption or ensuring materials are ethically sourced. But it also means maximising the positive impact our presence can have on the local community - from providing rewarding employment opportunities to supporting worthy causes, such as schools or hospitals. […]

Leaner, greener operations in China – Beijing (establishment in 1995)Responsible for smartphone and feature-rich phone production, our Beijing facility shows how good design can enhance sustainability. In 2000, we moved into the purpose-built XingWang industrial park, which clusters Nokia with several key suppliers. This helps reduce transportation costs, and offers significant savings on energy and emissions

www.nokia.com

A dissident point of view (“Exploring the Global Race to the Bottom” - www.globalchange.umich.edu)

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Protesters in South Africa - 25 May, 2013 (International Day of Protest Against Monsanto)

Pollution Fine Sought Against Coca-Cola

A state government panel recommended Tuesday that Coca-Cola’s Indian subsidiary be fined $47 million for damage to the water and soil in a southern Indian village that it said had been caused by one of the company’s bottling plants. The plant, which opened in 2000 and closed five years later, polluted the groundwater and soil around the village of Plachimada, in the state of Kerala, the panel said. Coca-Cola said in a statement that it was unfortunate “that the committee in Kerala was appointed on the unproven assumption that damage was caused, and that it was caused by Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages.” According to the panel, the bottling plant discharged a sludge that contained toxic chemicals like cadmium and lead. After villagers complained that the water table had dropped and farms were less productive, the village council decided not to renew the plant’s license.

Hari Kumar, The New York Times, March 23, 2010.

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Distribution of value for iPhone, 2010 (“Capturing Value in Global Networks: Apple’s iPad and iPhone, July 2011 – US National Science Foundation)

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