Topic
Instrumentality of Multinational Companies in Transferring New Work and Employment Practices between Countries
Instructions
Choose ONE from the following questions:
1. ‘Work is not globally distributed to areas based on the cost of labour, but is clustered in regions and cities’. Critically discuss clustering’ of work, as observed in R & D, creative industries and Hi-Tech industries.
2. ‘Anti-globalisation rhetoric is increasing, but does this mean that business is ‘returning’ from developing to so-called developed economies’? Discuss using this statement using the concepts of reshoring and off-shoring of work.
3. What is the best way of policing labour standards in commodity or value chains in sectors such as fast fashion?
4. ‘Globalisation has been built upon the mobility of labour, which creates a win-win scenario for employers, states and workers’. Critically discuss this statement.
5. Using labour process analysis, evaluate the quality of jobs in EITHER new mass distribution work OR mass service work.
6. Governments in developed economies are advocating creative and knowledge work to replace jobs lost through out-sourcing and automation. How feasible is this as an industrial strategy? Your answer should also discuss the quality of work in the creative industries.
7. Do Multinational companies from emerging economies, such as China, represent a ‘race to the bottom’ in terms of working conditions and a threat to established norms of work and employment in advanced capitalist countries?
8. Critically discuss the role of Multinational Companies as a vehicle for transferring new work and employment practices between countries.
Words: 2400
References: 18 references minimum (Harvard).
Answer preview
In the current wake of globalization, multinational companies have played a fundamental role in defining global trade. The essential elements of global trade include fair labour and employment practices (Adenfelt, 2010). Globalization is aimed at improving business, and trading activities carried out in the best environmental conditions possible. Therefore, in as much the trade happens across a specific country’s geopolitical boundaries, it is important to note that best practices define the business. Multinational firms like Coca-Cola, Toyota, and Nestle, have revolutionized trade practices in their counties of operations and as such, they have injected new practices that have been embraced to increase the efficiency of the trade (Meardi et al., 2009).
Word count: 2911