Multinational Corporations - Essay Example

Survey: Multinational Corporations Multinational Corporations Hypothesis – Foreign companies are doing more and more harm to the American economy The survey was intended to study the effect of multinational corporations on the economy of the US. In order to achieve this, a survey was conducted. The respondents were asked quite a number of questions and their responses were recorded and represented in graphs and charts. The first question asked whether the respondent had a family member who worked for a multinational corporation.

100% of the respondents said “Yes”, meaning that every family in USA has at least one member who works in a multinational corporation. All the four respondents also thought that multinational companies are increasing in number. For those who said that their family members worked in multinational corporations, 25% worked for not more than 2 years. 25% worked in multinational corporations for between 2 and 5 years, while the rest 50% worked for more than 5 years. Most respondents (75%) also described multinational corporations as those companies that invest in many countries.

25% of them viewed multinational companies as large companies trading in more than one foreign country. Regarding to work ethics, respondents were asked whether they thought that multinational corporations have stricter work ethics compared to local businesses. Most respondents (75%) said “Yes”. 50% of the respondents also suggested that multinational companies produce better goods and services while 50% said they don’t. The respondents were also asked if they thought that multinational companies pay better than other companies.

25% of the respondents were not sure, 25% disagreed and 50% agreed. Regarding work conditions, 25% of the respondents think that multinational corporations provide employees with better work conditions while 25% think that they don’t. 50% of the respondents were not sure. Furthermore, 33% of the respondents suggest that multinational companies help develop the economy while another 33% think that multinational companies have too much power. The rest 33% think that multinational corporations compete with the government for power (Jensen, 2010).

Most respondents also think that multinational companies do not need to be regulated. 50% of the respondents suggest that multinational corporations are businesses that compete like any other (Rugraff & Hansen, 2011). On a rating of scale 1 to 5, 50% of the respondents rated multinational companies 4 out of 5 on the extent that they harm the economy. From the summary of results above, it is clear that the responses exhibit a mixture of views regarding to the effect of multinational corporations on the economy.

Most of the questions relating to the characteristics of multinational companies as workplaces indicate that they are good working places (Billet, 1991). However, on the rating scale it is clear that the respondents rated multinational corporations as harmful to the economy. More than 50% of the respondents rated multinational corporations at more than average score in harming the economy. In conclusion, it may be argued that multinational corporations are causing harm to the economy, but also have some positive contributions to the economy such as reduction of unemployment rates and increase in income.

References listBillet, B. L. (1991). Investment behavior of multinational corporations in developing areas: Comparing the development assistance committee, Japanese, and American corporations. New Brunswick, N.J., U.S.A: Transaction Publishers. Hawkins, R. G. (1979). Research in international business and finance: An annual compilation of research. Greenwich, Conn: Jai Press.Jensen, N. M. (2010). Nation-States and the Multinational Corporation: A Political Economy of Foreign Direct Investment.

Princeton: Princeton University Press.Rugraff, E., & Hansen, M. W. (2011). Multinational corporations and local firms in emerging economies. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.