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-TNCs or MNCs? A note on terminology

In these educational materials we are using 'Transnational Corporation' because the word 'multinational corporation' hides the way these companies operate. 'Multinational' suggests that a company is spreading its activities equally among several countries. In reality this is not the case. TNCs have their head offices in one home country, with management, control and most shareholders there. They have branches, subsidiaries and production units in other countries, but retain decision making power in their 'home' base. They do not spread their activities and power equally between countries.

Different Names:
Multinational Corporations (MNCs)
'Multi' = 'Many'. So, 'multinational' means 'in many countries'.
Transnational Corporations (TNCs)
'Trans' = 'Across'. So, 'transnational' means 'across national borders'.
Conglomerate
A giant corporation which owns many companies.
Global Factories
This means that their activities take place across the world.
Runaway Factories
They are called this when they 'run away' or shift production to another country because conditions change, e.g. rising wages.

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