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What Is a Case Study?
When you’re performing research as part of your job or for a school assignment, you’ll probably come across case studies that help you to learn more about the topic at hand. But what is a case study and why are they helpful? Read on to learn all about case studies.
Deep Dive into a Topic
At face value, a case study is a deep dive into a topic. Case studies can be found in many fields, particularly across the social sciences and medicine. When you conduct a case study, you create a body of research based on an inquiry and related data from analysis of a group, individual or controlled research environment.
As a researcher, you can benefit from the analysis of case studies similar to inquiries you’re currently studying. Researchers often rely on case studies to answer questions that basic information and standard diagnostics cannot address.
Study a Pattern
One of the main objectives of a case study is to find a pattern that answers whatever the initial inquiry seeks to find. This might be a question about why college students are prone to certain eating habits or what mental health problems afflict house fire survivors. The researcher then collects data, either through observation or data research, and starts connecting the dots to find underlying behaviors or impacts of the sample group’s behavior.
Gather Evidence
During the study period, the researcher gathers evidence to back the observed patterns and future claims that’ll be derived from the data. Since case studies are usually presented in the professional environment, it’s not enough to simply have a theory and observational notes to back up a claim. Instead, the researcher must provide evidence to support the body of study and the resulting conclusions.
Present Findings
As the study progresses, the researcher develops a solid case to present to peers or a governing body. Case study presentation is important because it legitimizes the body of research and opens the findings to a broader analysis that may end up drawing a conclusion that’s more true to the data than what one or two researchers might establish. The presentation might be formal or casual, depending on the case study itself.
Draw Conclusions
Once the body of research is established, it’s time to draw conclusions from the case study. As with all social sciences studies, conclusions from one researcher shouldn’t necessarily be taken as gospel, but they’re helpful for advancing the body of knowledge in a given field. For that purpose, they’re an invaluable way of gathering new material and presenting ideas that others in the field can learn from and expand upon.
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Nike - TNC case study
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A case study about the transnational corporation, NIKE. Ideal for anyone studying A Level Geography
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- 1. A TNC Case Study
- 2. Background Nike’s global headquarters is located in Beaverton, Oregon, USA Nike employs more than 700,000 contract workers in over 700 factories worldwide. The list includes 124 plants in China, 73 in Thailand, 35 in South Korea and 34 in Vietnam. More than 75% of the workforce is based in Asia.
- 3. How the TNC works... • Like many TNCs, Nike subcontracts or uses independently owned factories in different countries to produce its products. • Often this takes place in less economically developed countries (LEDCs) where labour costs are lower than in MEDCs. • Nike say they are in the business of "marketing" their products, not making them.
- 4. The costs The figures supplied by Nike for its cost/price chain are as follows: – Contractors are paid an average of $18 a shoe by Nike. • This is made up of $11 for materials, $2 for labour, $4 for other costs, and $1 for profit. – Nike sells the shoes to retailers for $36. The mark up of 100% accounts for the costs of design, research and development, marketing, advertising, shipping, production management, other sales and business costs, taxes and of course a profit. – Retailers mark up another 100% to $72 (on average) to cover wages, shrinkage, insurance, advertising, supplies and services, depreciation, taxes and profit.
- 5. Expansion • In mid-2003 Nike paid $305 million to acquire retro shoemaker Converse. Most large TNCs grow by acquiring other businesses as well as generating their own growth.
- 6. Impacts on host country • Outsourcing creates substantial employment in Vietnam. • Nike pays (slightly) higher wages than local companies. • Improves the skills base of the local population. • The success of the global brand may attract other TNCs setting off cumulative causation. • Exports are a positive contribution to the balance of payments. • Contribution to local tax helps pay for new and improved infrastructure. • Workers at nine Nike plants in Indonesia (including Jakarta) have been found to suffer from sexual and verbal abuse, lack of medical attention and compulsory overtime. • Suspicions have been raised over the use of child labour. • Company image and advertising may help to undermine national culture. • Huge demand on water resources & use of fossil fuels. • In the late 1980s labour costs in South Korea rose, so Nike decided to move production to Indonesia where costs were lower.
- 7. Impacts on country of origin • Positive employment impact and stimulus to the development to high level skills in design marketing and development in Beaverton Oregon. • Direct and indirect contribution to local and national tax base. • Nike does not manufacture in the US which leads to indirect loss of jobs and negative impacts on balance of payments as footwear is imported. • Trade unions complain over an uneven playing field because of the big contrast in working conditions between LEDCs and MEDCs.
- 8. Future • In 1993, Nike setup a Reuse-a-shoe program to encourage people to recycle their old shoes. • Benefits both the environment and community • Old shoes recycled to make material that can be used for sports surfaces such as basketball courts, running tracks and playgrounds.
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Edexcel IGCSE Geography
Transnational corporations (tnc’s).
The working of the global economy involves a number of major players, that is organisations that have great power and influence. They include the great business empire known as transnational corporations (TNCs) and global organisations such as the united Nations (UN), the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Other powerful players are the USA, the European Union, Japan and OPEC.
The table above gives the names of some of the world’s leading TNCs. It is interesting to note that over half of them are involved in the oil industry. Perhaps this reflects the fact that oil and gas are currently the leading sources of energy. They are vital to the workings of the global economy – as raw material sources, as a fuel for transport, and as generators of electricity for industry and the home.
The production chains of these and other TNCs connect across the globe, kitting together the countries of the world into a network of interdependence. The overriding motive for setting up these chains is to maximise sales and profits. Aside from agriculture, industry and domestic purposes there are also other strong motives for this:
- To be close to major markets
- To sell inside trade barriers
- To take advantage of incentives offered by governments
- To be able to operate without too many restrictions.
Case Study: Tesco – A Transnational Retailer
The supermarket chain Tesco is one of the few leading TNCs with its head offices in the UK. Currently it is ranked 50th in the global league table. the company started life as a single grocery stall in the East End of London. It did not set up its first self-service supermarket until 1956. It was during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s that the company really took off to become the largest food retailer in the UK shown by the image below.
The key to a company’s success has been:
- Its strategy of diversification into new markets, such as toys, clothing, electrical goods, home products, financial services and telecommunications, in addition to its original business of food.
- Outsourcing its supplies of foodstuffs, clothing and other goods directly from producers both in the UK and in LICs such as Kenya, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
- Globalising its chain of supermarkets. This did not start until the 1990s with the opening of stores in the Eastern Europe (Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia). In 1998, it made its first move outside Europe, opening stores in Taiwan and Thailand and in South Korea and following year. Tesco’s presence in Asia has subsequently spread to China, Japan and Malaysia. Today 30% of the company’s profits come from Asia.
From a single supermarket in 1956, Tesco now has over 4500 stores and employs around 750000 people. Tesco has become a major TNC.
Case Study: Rio Tinto, Namibia
Rio Tinto is a transnational Mining and resources group, founded in 1873. At first, it concentrated its efforts on the mining of copper. As the company has prospered so it has turned it attentions to other minerals. Its networks of mines is now global in extent.
Namibia is one of the world’s major producers of uranium. Rio Tinto’s Rossing mine is one of the world’s five largest primary uranium mines shown by the image below. It is situated close to the seaside town of Swakopmund.
At present there seems to be a uranium rush. It is based on the likelihood that nuclear power will play a leading role in filling the global energy gap. Additionally new mines are due to be opened. What has Namibia gained from small number of foreign technicians. These jobs mean tax income for the Namibia government. There are also the royalties paid to the government for the extraction of the uranium. The Uranium Oxide is exported in its raw form and enriched in countries with uranium converts such as France, the USA, Canada and China. So there is little or no `secondary` employment other than in transporting the ore to the coast and shipping it overseas. Rio Tinto provides a limited range of services for its workers and their families.
There are however costs to be considered. Health is one of these. Exposure to even relatively low levels of radiations over a long period can be extremely harmful tot he health of workers and communities living around uranium mines. Workers are exposed to dust and radon gas daily, and as a result develop diseases such as TB and lung cancer. Although mining companies usually deny any reasonability and refuse to compensate workers, there is increasing evidence of a link between uranium mining and workers’ health problems.
Other aspects of the downside include the fact that uranium uses enormous amounts of water . Namibia is a water-deficient country. Mines produce huge amounts of waste and tailings. Once mining ceases huge holes remain. There are real environmental costs. These bring mining into direct conflict with tourism ventures that rely on Namibia’s scenic beauty and wildlife as main attractions.
The Good And The Bad
The growth of globalisation has given rise to a major debate about its real benefits. Its supporters point out that it is giving the poorest countries have something to offer to the global economy. Being involved in the global economy create jobs, the opportunity for people to earn a steady wage and chance to improve their quality of life.
The problem is that TNCs and business are out to maximise their profits – they are inherently exploitive. They often ignore the environmental and social impacts of their investments. Few TNCs answer to the governments of the countries in which they invest. They are so powerful, they can do almost what ever they like. The profits that they make in any one country are most often `exported` to open up new businesses elsewhere. Any investment can disappear as quickly as it came, if global or local economic conditions change.
The world’s poorest countries have yet to see much benefit from globalisation. If anything, it has increased the so-called development gap between the rich and poor nations of the world. International trade only really benefits those who can afford to make, export and buy expensive imported goods, so many of the poorest people are penalised or excluded.
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Globalisation - Apple Inc Case study: TNCs
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Case study - emerging and developing country - India
India is classified as an emerging and developing country (EDC) that is experiencing rapid economic development. This is leading to social and cultural changes.
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The role of transnational corporations (TNCs)
Many transnational corporations (TNCs) have set up factories and offices in India. The country is an attractive location to TNCs because the population speak good English, they have strong IT skills and they work for lower wages than people in many other countries. Companies like Toyota, Volvo and Hyundai manufacture cars in India. Companies like ASDA, BT and Virgin Media have call centres in India.
Advantages of TNCs in India
There are many advantages of TNCs. India has benefited in many ways:
- TNCs have created jobs and offered education and training to employees
- the additional wealth has led to the multiplier effect
- some TNCs have set up schemes to provide new facilities for local communities
- the infrastructure of the country has been improved, with new roads and internet cabling
- TNCs pay tax to the government, which can be spent on development projects
Disadvantages of TNCs in India
There have also been some disadvantages of TNCs in India:
- some corporation leaders have taken advantage of the relaxed environmental laws in the country by creating lots of pollution
- the conditions for workers in factories can be very harsh
- many TNCs are owned by foreign countries so economic leakage occurs, where profit is sent abroad
- the best jobs are often given to foreign workers from the TNC's country of origin
- TNCs use many of the country's natural resources - a drinks-bottling plant in Kerala, India, was shut down due to its impact on local water supplies
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Transnational Corporations: A Case Study
Show More Globalisation Facilitating the Growth of Power for Transnational Corporations Globalisation has facilitated the growth of Transnational Corporations to develop a power greater than ever before. Allowing these corporations to expand all over the world. Completed through the international effort to develop and improve economies, technology, trade and communication ("What is globalization ? definition and meaning", 2016). The advancements globalisation has provided have progressively allowed TNCs to become increasingly powerful actors in the global political arena. One specific example would be Apple and their particular influence on the global market and the advancement of technology. Globalisation can be defined as the process and worldwide movement through the interaction and integration amongst people, companies and governments of different states ("What Is Globalization? | Globalization101", 2016). A Transnational Corporation is essentially a business that operates and conducts business activities in multiple countries around the world (Batten, 2011). Playing a major role in the process of globalisation assisting and further developing economies, communication systems, transportation systems and the spread of ideas and cultures (Study, 2016). Through corporation’s mergers and acquisitions, TNCs have grown extremely …show more content… The first is that they increase employment through the creation of new jobs. They provide a nation’s people with an income essentially raising individuals and in turn they country out of poverty because they can earn more money to spend more money. TNCs also increase the demand and can afford to pay for a nations services and products, such as transportation, primary products and things like roads to transport their goods, electricity, water and plumbing all to operate. They transfer new innovations and trends to the developing world. Increase the industrial and economic
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TNCs and globalisation: Prime sources of worsening ecological crisis
The failure of the Rio Summit to address the crucial issue of transnational corporations (TNCs) and their culpability for the global ecological crisis was perhaps the Summit's major failing. Since Rio, the processes of liberalisation, commercialisation and globalisation have facilitated the expansion of TNCs and their destructive impact on the environment. Meanwhile, within many countries, particularly those in the South, the same processes embodied in structural adjustment programmes (SAPs), have accelerated the development of environmentally harmful patterns of production and consumption.
Globalisation and ecological deterioration
If the post-UNCED processes have failed to resolve the development and social aspects of sustainable development, the record in relation to the environment is also very disappointing. The major reason for this is that the powerful commercial and financial interests have succeeded in pushing liberalisation and the 'free market' approach to be the overriding priority in the policies and policy framework of most governments. Environmental concerns, together with social and development concerns, fell several notches in the political agenda, internationally and nationally.
The inescapable overriding conclusion of an objective assessment of the environment would be that liberalisation, commercialisation and globalisation together with the logic of the race to retain or gain 'competitiveness' have undermined sustainable development both as a principle and as a programme.
The most important task in slowing down or preventing even greater environmental abuse is to build up (or re-build) public opinion and the political will on the necessity of placing long-term and public sustainability concerns above (or, to begin with, at least on par with) short-term and narrow commercial interests. Since the liberalisation/globalisation process is the main source of the increased ecological problems, the key to preventing a further worsening of environmental crises is to create conditions for state, inter-state and public intervention in free-market forces. The present reluctance of political leaders to institute policies that alter or temper the present pro-free market approach (or worse, their belief in the impossibility of instituting such policies) and to make businesses more publicly accountable and responsible, is at the root of the current environmental impasse.
Liberalisation and globalisation are related to the worsening of the global environment in various ways:
* The failure to internationally monitor and regulate TNCs, and the moves instead to widen their rights and access, have led to a spectacular rise in their power and authority. TNCs have generally and rapidly expanded the outreach and volume of their activities. This has correspondingly increased the damage caused to the environment in terms of volume and geographical spread.
* Liberalisation policies and global market integration have facilitated the institutions and activities that contributed to greater exploitation and depletion of biological diversity and resources such as forests and fishery resources and which promote and expand environmentally harmful land-based activities (agriculture and aquaculture), that lead to continued depletion of biodiversity.
* Other resources continue to be depleted beyond sustainable rates, such as water, soil and minerals. Liberalisation has opened up more mining concessions and a new wave of environmentally damaging mining activities.
* The lack of financial flows to, and resources in, most developing countries (accompanied by continuing debt and commodity price problems), and the persistence of structural adjustment restrictions and policies have meant a great lack of resources or 'economic space' in many of these countries to implement or change towards environmentally sound production.
* There is little improvement in technology. There is no real will to change harmful production methods. The promised technology transfer to the South has not taken place; instead new obstacles have emerged, such as enhanced IPR protection. Harmful technologies continue to be exported to the South and new technologies are being spread before adequate assessment and regulation.
* There is slow progress in reducing the trade in toxic and hazardous substances and products, and the export of these to the South has continued and even increased.
* The emphasis on the need to be competitive has meant slow progress (and in some countries an actual rolling back) in the control of pollution and energy use. Big infrastructure projects that are ecologically harmful are proliferating. The race to earn foreign exchange has led to increased tourism promotion and activities, with their side effects.
* With the accelerated spread of information and communications technology products, consumer culture has become more widespread. In the North and among Southern elite, there is little progress in curbing wasteful lifestyles. On the whole, there is an increase in unsustainable consumption patterns.
The rise of TNCs and the environmental implications
On the eve of the Earth Summit in 1992, the Third World Network made the assessment that the 'biggest gap in the UNCED documents being signed in Rio is the absence of proposals for the international regulation or control of big businesses and transnational corporations to ensure that they reduce or stop activities that are harmful to the environment, health and development.' (TWN 1992). The fact is TNCs account for the largest part of global economic activity and are the main entities responsible for the global environment crisis. TWN expressed concern that the UNCED secretariat had downgraded the need to strengthen regulation of TNCs (for example, the shelving the UN Centre on TNC's recommendations, requested for by the ECOSOC) and instead promoted self-regulation through a Business Council for Sustainable Development. 'A voluntary set of principles cannot be an adequate replacement for multilaterally agreed regulations which states industry and TNCs are obliged to follow,' the TWN concluded.
Following the Rio Summit, the trend of deregulating of TNCs and of granting them more rights and freedoms, without corresponding accountability, has greatly accelerated, particularly with the conclusion of the Uruguay Round agreements. This trend is likely to spurt ahead further if the OECD proposals for a multilateral agreement on investment and the WTO more on investment, competition and government procurement succeed.
That TNCs are the most important players involved in environmentally damaging activities can be gauged from the following:
* TNC activities generate more than half of the greenhouse gases emitted by industrial sectors with the greatest impact on global warming.
* TNCs have virtually exclusive control of the production and use of ozone-destroying CFCs and related compounds.
* In mining, TNCs still dominate key industries and are intensifying their activities. In aluminium, for example, six companies control 63% of the mining capacity.
* In agriculture, TNCs control 80% of land worldwide cultivated for export crops; and 20 firms account for 90% of pesticide sales.
* TNCs manufacture most of the world's chlorine, the basis for some of the most toxic chemicals including PCBs, DDT and dioxins.
* TNCs are the main transmitters of environmentally unsound production systems, hazardous materials and products to the Third World. For example, 25% of pesticide exports from the US in the late 1980s were chemicals banned or withdrawn in the US itself.
* TNCs dominate the trade in (and in many cases the extraction or exploitation of) natural resources and commodities that contribute to depletion or degradation of forests, water and marine resources, and toxic wastes and unsafe products.
* Through advertising and product promotion, they also promote a culture of unsustainable consumption.
Case studies of the recent performance of 20 TNCs by Greer and Bruno show that despite the improved public relations exercises designated to foster the image of greater environmental responsibility and despite more voluntary codes of conduct by industry, there has been few change with the corporations continuing with activities that are environmentally harmful.
With their growth, both in production volume and the geographical scope, big companies, based largely on the continuing use of unsustainable production systems and the promotion of wasteful lifestyles (which in many cases displace more sustainable systems or lifestyles) more environmental degradation worldwide must be expected.
Because of their greater technological capacity, the use of production techniques or substances that are often more ecologically damaging, and the larger volume of production that they characterise, TNCs usually have a negative effect on the environment when they newly produce in, or export to (or increase their activities in) an area. With the increasing spread and market penetration and share of TNCs and big business concerns, the damaging environmental effect have increased. This effect is not been confined to Northern-based companies. In recent years there has been a significant increase in overseas investment and activities by companies based in developing countries, especially in East and South- East Asian. For example, these companies account for a large part of new and increased forest logging and deforestation in Indochina, the Pacific and South America.
Liberalisation policies and the environment
Within countries, the processes of liberalisation, commercialisation and deregulation have generally had adverse implications for the environment. This is true in the North as well as the South. In developing countries, whilst much of the research on structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) has focused on the development aspects of sustainability, there is a growing body of evidence that it has also contributed to the process of environmental deterioration.
In the designing of SAPs, environmental concerns have not been explicitly taken into account. The deregulation, privatisation and liberalisation measures that lie at the heart of SAPs have accelerated the development of environmentally harmful patterns of production and consumption, whilst the reduction of government budgets has affected the state's capacity to deal with environmental problems.
By promoting external liberalisation, SAP has encouraged the increase in the extraction and export of raw materials in many countries, thus contributing to resource depletion and degradation. The growth of poverty and inequities resulting from debt and SAP has also pushed poor farmers and communities to opening up forests to eke a living from the land.
According to Walden Bello (1994), most of the top 15 Third World debtors have tripled the rate of exploitation of their forests since the late 1970s. This is related to the survival imperative of poor, landless people and the pressing need of nations to gain foreign exchange for debt servicing. Bello has also summarised detailed case studies of four countries that adopted SAP (Chile, Costa Rica, Ghana and the Philippines), demonstrating the dynamics and interrelations between structural adjustment, poverty, market liberalisation and environmental degradation. In these countries, the overriding need to service debts led to an emphasis on expanding exports of natural resources and commodities (such as timber, fish, bananas, cocoa and minerals). Moreover, SAPs- induced poverty resulted in a situation where landless farmers had to exploit forest, land and fishery resources. The result was rapid depletion and degradation of the fragile natural resource base in these countries.
The environment and health conditions in many Third World countries has also been adversely affected by import liberalisation, promoted through SAP as well as through the trade measures of the US administration (through its Super and Section 301 laws) and GATT. For instance, there has been a significant increase in the incidence of smoking in several Asian countries that were compelled to facilitate the increased importation of cigarettes. Import liberalisation has also resulted in the proliferation of modern consumer products (aimed initially at the higher-income groups that have benefited from SAPs) which promote environmentally unsustainable consumption patterns. There is a danger these imported and well-advertised products may replace and displace more socially appropriate and environmentally friendly local products, including those now used by ordinary people.
According to UNRISD (1995), the effectiveness of policy responses to environmental degradation is often curtailed by adjustment: 'In general terms, there are three main variants of environmental policy approaches; conservationism, primary environmental care and environmental economics. The potential of all of these to alleviate environmental problems has been limited by the economic and social changes that have accompanied economic restructuring.' For example, SAPs-induced agricultural export growth often has negative environmental effects, especially where ecological conditions are such that export crop cultivation is less sustainable than that of traditional food crops. Conservation programmes and environmental protection agencies are also most vulnerable to government spending cuts. Also, SAPs undermine the potential for community-based action and weakens the capacity of communities to adapt to changing ecological conditions, thus reducing the possibility of implementing the community-based 'primary environmental care' approach.
The environmental effects of trade and trade liberalisation in the transfer of inappropriate technologies, production methods and consumption patterns has been examined in Khor (1996). The view that 'free trade' is the best route to environmental protection (because it generates wealth to pay for protection measures) ignores the role that trade liberalisation plays in facilitating resource depletion and unsustainable production and consumption patterns. The present pattern of trade has in fact helped accelerate environmental degradation worldwide.
Investment liberalisation, without corresponding tightening of regulation but instead accompanied by further deregulation, can be predicted to accelerate the process further. The higher flows of FDI in recent years to developing countries is increasing the tempo of ecologically-damaging activities. The proposed multilateral agreement on investment (developed in the OECD) and similar moves in the WTO to liberalise investment rules will have very wide environmental implications, and have raised serious concerns with many environmental groups. (TWR No. 81/82, May/June 1997)
- 3.1A What is Globalisation?
- 3.1B Transport Technology and Globalisation
- 3.1C Communication Technology
- 3.2A International Organisations
- 3.2B National Governments
- 2C SEZs and Attitudes to FDI
- 3A Measuring the Degree of Globalisation
- 3B Role of TNCs
- 3C Switched Off Locations
- 3.4A Benefits and Costs of Global Shift
- 4B Environmental Problems
- 4C Deinstrialisation and its Problems
- 5A Rural-Urban Migration and Megacities
- 5B International Migration
- 5C Costs and Benefits of Migration
- 6A Cultural Diffusion
- 6B Cultural Erosion
- 6C Opposition to Globalisation
- 7A Economic and Social Measures
- 7B Trends, Winners and Losers
- 7C Economic Development and Environmental Impact
- 8A Racial Tensions
- 8B Controlling the Spread of Globlisation
- 8C Attempts to Retain Cultural Identity
- 9A Local Sourcing
- 9B Fair Trade and Ethical Consumption
- 9C Recycling
- 4A.1A Classifying Economic Activity
- 4A.1B Economic Activity and Social Factors
- 4A.1C Quality of Life Indices
- 4A.1A Changing Function and Characteristics
- 4A.2B Reasons for the Change
- 4B.2C Measuring Change
- 3A Regional and National Influences
- 3B International and Global Influences
- 3C Identity
- 4A Successful Regions
- 4B Less Successful Regions
- 4C Priorities for Regeneration
- 5A Engagement
- 5B Lived Experience
- 5C Conflicts
- 6B Media Representation
- 6C Representation and Need for Regeneration
- 7A Infrastructure Investment
- 7B Planning Policies and Stuff
- 7C Negative Effects of Governmet Policys
- 8A Sympathetic Business Environments
- 8B Partnerships
- 8C Regeneration Strategies
- 9A Re-imaging
- 9B Rebranding Deinstrialised Places
- 9C Rebranding Rural Areas
- 10A Measuring the Success of Regeneration
- 10B Success and Social Progress
- 10C Improving Living Environments
- 11A Successful or Not?
- 12A Restructuring and Contested Decisions
- Scarborough and High Wycombe
- 7.1A Defining characteristics of powers
- 7.1B Hard and Soft Power Spectrum
- 7.1C Changing Importance of 7A and 7B
- 7.2A Imperial Era
- 7.2B Indirect Control
- 7.2C Geopolitical Stability and Risk
- 7.3A The Emerging Powers
- 7.3B Strengths and Weaknesses
- 7.3C Development Theory
- 7.4A - Influence through IGOs
- 7.4C Cultural Influence
- 7.5A Global Action
- 7.5B Alliances
- 7.5C the United Nations
- 7.6A Resource Demands
- 7.6B Environmental Governance
- 7.6C Middle-Class Consumption on Emerging Powers
- 7.7A Tension over Physical Resources
- 7.7B Intellectual Property
- 7.7C Political Spheres of Influence
- 7.8A Emerging Powers and the Developing World
- 7.8B Asian Tensions
- 7.8C Middle East Tensions
- 7.9A Economic Problems
- 7.9B Costs of Being a Superpower
- 7.9C Future Power Balance
- 8.1A GDP and Human Development
- 8.1B Best Development Goals?
- 8.1C Education
- 8.2A Variations in the Developing World
- 8.2B Variations in the Developed World
- 8.2C: Variations within Countries
- 8.3A The relationship between economic and social development
- 8.3B IGOs and Development
- 8.3C MDGs and SDGs
- 8.4A the UDHR
- 8.4B the ECHR
- 8.4C The Geneva Convention
- 8.5A Human Rights Vs Economic Development
- 8.5B Democratic Freedom
- 8.5C Political Corruption
- 8.6A Gender and Ethnic Differences
- 8.6B Health and Education Variations
- 8.6C Demands for Equality
- 8.7A Types of Interventions
- 8.7B Governments, IGOs and NGOs
- 8.7C Intervention and Sovereignty
- 8.8A About Development Aid
- 8.8B Does Aid Work?
- 8.8C Negatives of Economic Development
- 8.9A Military Interventions
- 8.9B Military Aid
- 8.9C Direct Military Intervention
- 8.10A Variables for Measuring Success
- 8.10B Democracy as 'Success'
- 8.10C - Economic Growth as Success
- 8.11A Successes and Failures
- 8.11B Aid and Equality
- 8.11C Aid as Foreign Policy
- 8.12A Costs of Recent Interventions
- 8.12B Non-Military may be Better?
- 8.12C - Consequences of Inaction
- 1.1A Distribution and Causes
- 1.1B Distribution of Boundaries
- 1.1C Intra-Plate Stuff
- 1.2A and B Plate Tectonics
- 1.2C Impacts on Hazards
- 3A Hazards from Earthquakes
- 3B Hazards from Volcanoes
- 1..3C - Tsunami
- 1.4A Definitions
- 1.4B The PAR Model
- 1.4C Impacts of Tectonic Hazards
- 1.5A Measuring Magnitude and Intensity
- 1.5B Hazard Profiles
- 1.5C Profile Examples
- 1.6A Inequality
- 1.6B Governance and Geographical Factors
- 1.6C Disaster Context
- 1.7A Trends since 1960
- 1.7B Megadisasters
- 1.7C Multiple Hazard Zones
- 1.8A - Prediction and Forecasting
- 1.8B The Hazard Management Cycle
- 1.8C Park's Model
- 1.9A Disaster Modification
- 1.9B Modifying Vulnerability
- 1.9C Modifying Loss
- 2B.1A Parts of the Littoral Zone
- 2B.1B Classifying Coasts
- 2B.1C Rocky Coasts and Coastal Plains
- 2B.2A Concordant and Discordant
- 2B.2B Their Morphology
- 2B.2C Geological Structure and Cliff Profiles
- 2B.3A Lithology
- 2B.3B Rock Strata and Complex Cliff Profiles
- 3C Vegetation Stabilisation of Sediment
- 4A Waves and Beach Morphology
- 4B Wave Erosion Processes
- 4C Coastal Landscapes Produced by Erosion
- 5A Sediment Transportation
- 5B Depositional Landforms
- 5C The Sediment Cell Model
- 6A Weathering
- 6B Mass Movement
- 6C Landforms Produced by Mass Movement
- 7A Long-Term Sea Level Change
- 7B Emergent and Submergent Coastlines
- 7C Contemporary Sea Level Change
- 8A Human Activity and Coastal Recession
- 8B Subaerial Processes Work Together
- 8C Temporal Variations in Coastal Recession
- 9A Local Factors that Increase Coastal Flood Risk
- 9B Storm Surges
- 9C Climate Change and Coastal Flood Risk
- A - Economic and Social Losses from Recession
- B - Flooding and Storm Surges
- C - Environmental Refugees
- 2.11A Hard Engineering
- 2.11B Soft Engineering
- 2.11C Sustainable Management
- 2B.12A Littoral Cells
- 2B.12B Policy Decisions
- 2B.2C Conflicts
- 1A - A Closed System
- 1B Importance and Size of Stores and Fluxes
- 1C The Global Water Budget
- 2A - the Hydrological Cycle
- 2B Impact of Physical Factors
- 2C - Impact of Human Factors
- 3.1 Water Budgets
- 3B River Regimes
- 3C Storm Hydrographs
- 4A - The Causes of Drought
- 4B - Human Activity and Drought
- 4C - Drought and Ecosystems
- 5A - Meteorological Causes of Flooding
- 5B - Human Activity and Flooding
- 5C - Impacts of Flooding
- 6A - Inputs and Outputs
- 6B - Stores and Flows
- 6C - Uncertainty
- 7A - Supply and Demand Mismatch
- 7B - Causes of Water Insecurity
- 7C - Finite Resources and Rising Demand
- 8A - Causes and Pattern of Physical and Economic Scarcity
- 8B - Importance of Water Supplies
- 8C - Conflicts
- 9A - Hard Engineering
- 5.9B Sustainable Water Management
- 5.9C Integrated Drainage Basin Management
- 1A Stores and Fluxes
- 1B Formation of Geological Carbon Stores
- 6.1C - Geological Processes Releasing Carbon
- 6.2A Oceanic Sequestering
- 6.2B Terrestrial Sequestering
- 6.2C Biological Carbon
- 6.3A Atmospheric Carbon
- 6.3B Maintaining a Balanced Carbon Cycle
- 6.3C Fossil Fuel Combustion
- 6.4A The Energy Mix
- 6.4B - Energy Consumption
- 6.4C Energy Players
- 6.5A Mismatch between Supply and Demand
- 6.5B Energy Pathways
- 6.5C Unconventional Fossil Fuels
- 6.6A Renewable and Recyclable Energy
- 6.6B Biofuels
- 6.6C Radical Technologies to Reduce Carbon Emissions
- 6.7A Growing Resource Demands
- 6.7B Ocean Acidification
- 6.7C Forest Health
- 6.8A Forest Loss
- 6.8B Rising Temperatures
- 6.8C Declining Ocean Health
- 6.9A Uncertainty about the Future
- 9.B Adaptation Strategies
- 6.9C Mitigation Strategies
- List of Case Studies
3.3B - Role of TNCs
- When a firm changed from a national company to a TNC by opening operation in another country (FDI), it creates international connections, spreading globalisation.
- Growth in size and number of TNCs is encouraged by the creation of trade blocs, removing international barriers, and changing government policies to encourage economic liberalisation, including removing capital controls and legal restrictions, and creating SEZs.
- Firms aim to maximise profit, becoming a TNC helps to do this by reducing costs, or generating higher revenues from new markets.
- New foreign operation may be part of production process in a lower cost location, or a retail outlet to access new markets and increase revenue.
- This is the process of moving part of a company's own production process to another country, e.g. building a new factory in China, where wage rates are lower.
- Especially to SEZs in Asian countries.
- However, some firms are vertically integrated, carrying all stages of the production process out themselves, e.g. Royal Dutch Shell.
- This is the process where a firm contracts with another company to obtain goods or services from it.
- E.g. BMW, the German TNC, outsources component production to 2,500 different suppliers for the Mini - the engine is made by Brazilian suppliers, where the wage rate is lower, windscreen made in France where there are no tariffs because it's in the EU etc.
- Outsourcing is more flexible than offshoring as the TNC can quickly shift supplier if a cheaper source becomes available.
- However, less direct control over the production process can lead to problems, e.g. in 2013 Tesco discovered that its Romanian supplier was mixing horsemeat into budget beefburgers.
- This is usually administration and data processing - Bangalore in India is known for this.
- Opening new outlets in another country increases revenue for TNCs.
- Some TNCs sell identical 'authentic' products in all countries, e.g. Lego, Louis Vuitton handbags
- E.g. Cadbury's chocolate is sweeter in China due to local tastes
- McDonald's only has vegetarian outlets in some parts of India due to the local Hindu and Sikh beliefs
- Volvo driving seats positioned on the different sides of the car
- Dutch 'big brother' refilmed using local participants
- MTV avoid overtly sexual music videos in the Middle East due to local culture and religion
- GPNs may make TNCs more vulnerable to shocks in different parts of the world that halt production. 2011 Japanese tsunami halted component supplies to offshore Nissan factory in Sunderland.
- In 2013, the Rana Plaza textile factory in Bangladesh collapsed, killing 1,100 workers and halting supplies of outsourced garments to Benetton and Wal-Mart.
- TNCs have been accused of exploiting workers in the developing/emerging world by paying them low wages.
- Outsourcing jobs can lead to job losses in the home country.
- Local cultures and traditions can be eroded by TNC brands and western ideas.
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