Selecting the Correct Hypothesis Test
Hypothesis testing is a very detailed subject. Understanding how to correctly conduct these tests is beyond the scope of this manual or the Six Sigma methodology itself. However, since the Six Sigma project team is expected to be applying these tests to uncover facts and these facts will then be used to base decisions on, […]
Organizations Gain from Embracing Business Process Improvements
Business in present times is very challenging and dynamic. The nature of markets, life cycle of products and services as well as the Customers and their expectations have changed. So has competition. No business can survive this change unless and until they re-invent themselves and equip themselves to face competition. While some Organizations build their […]
How Countries Can Reduce Tax Evasion?
Tax Evasion vs. Tax Avoidance Tax evasion and tax avoidance are often used interchangeably. However, there is a huge difference between the two terms. Tax evasion is a criminal activity. In most countries, tax evasion would attract a jail term. Evasion is usually done by not reporting income or overstating expenses. However, tax avoidance is […]
Is the American Dream Over? a Critical Commentary on the Future of the United States
What is the American Dream and why was it so Good while it Lasted? For a long time, the United States was seen as the Land of Milk and Honey where anyone and everyone with some talent, lots of hard work, sheer grit, and dogged determination could make a career for themselves and raise a […]
Can Jobs be Stolen ?
The immigration conundrum has been at the center of all political campaigning in the recent past. Voters in all developed countries from Europe, United States, and even Singapore are voting for stronger immigration laws. There is an inherent feeling amongst them that they are being robbed of something they deserve by these immigrations. The winning […]
The previous articles in this module discussed how international businesses expand into overseas markets both for selling their products as well as to extract the resources in mineral rich countries.
We discussed how the international expansion of these businesses has to equitable and follow the rules of justice. What happens when these businesses ride roughshod over local populations and insist on carting away the resources to their native lands? The result is that the local populations would be outraged against the exploitative practices of these multinationals. This has been the case with Shell in Nigeria, Vedanta in India, BHP in Africa, and other businesses in Latin America.
The reason for this resistance is that the communities and the people surrounding the locations where these businesses have plants feel that they are being cheated of their resources and are not being adequately compensated.
Indeed, if anything can be said about global capital, the local resistance is the phenomenon that has emerged consistently across the world in the recent past. The latest of the resistances is about the POSCO steel plant in Odisha, India where the native people are protesting against land acquisition, which they allege has been done forcibly.
While not advocating that the local communities are not within their rights to protest, the point needs to be made that the international businesses can help them with in a more equitable manner by sharing some part of their profits.
Without getting into the debate as to whether resources must belong to the native country and not to a foreign country, the fact that all countries gain because of the Ricardian theory of competitive advantage wherein a country with resources can export them and import something that is not available in it.
The bone of contention here is that the price at which the resources are being exploited is not just and fair and hence, there are calls for proportional pricing and compensatory royalties.
The multinationals respond to this criticism saying that the native countries do not have the expertise in extracting and developing the resources and hence, these companies are actually helping them. Therefore, it follows from this that the best way to deal with the global capital meeting local resistance is through dialogue and the evolution of an international mechanism to deal with such cases.
The protests against global businesses are growing by the day and hence, there is an urgent need to tackle this issue before the very stakeholders in these businesses start to lose out. There is an active role for governments in this case as they are the ones who set the rules for engagement.
Therefore, along the lines of what the Supreme Court in India has done which is to throw open the question about pricing of resources (all kinds including spectrum) and how they must be managed. This is the way ahead for other countries to follow and it remains to be seen how India deals with this issue so that other countries can replicate its experience.
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Cross Border Mergers and Acquisitions and Some Recent Trends in this Field
February 12, 2025
