Multinational Corporation Is Generically Defined

Multinational corporation is generically defined as an economic entity that is headquartered within one country, but conducts operations in numerous other global regions. The complexities of such a position are increased, including the risks associated with operating in more currencies, satisfying the needs of several global and diverse markets or subjecting to internationally diverse legislations. The complexities pegged to the stakeholders are also of an incremental weight. The stakeholders are generally understood as the totality of individuals and groups of individuals who are impacted by the organizations, or which have the power to influence the organization's actions, decisions, approaches etc. Examples of stakeholder categories include the customers of the multinational corporation, its employees, the public, its business partners, non-governmental institutions or the community in which the company operates. To better understand these concepts, it would be useful to look at Ford's stakeholders and the adjacent issues.

Relative to their staff members, Ford has taken a twofold approach, as required by the given state of the economy and its internal financial results. Through times of prosperity, the company has invested in the professional formation of its employees. It strived to create a pleasant and stimulating working environment, based on the belief that a satisfied employee would perform at superior levels and would as such support the company in reaching its overall goals. The strategies were applicable at the international level, with all of its manufacturing plants and sales facilities being united under the same philosophy. In more recent times however, the company's strategy relative to the human resource has been impacted by the negative state of the American economy and by the sustained negative results of Ford. This basically materialized in downsizing processes, which were intensely criticized.

The shareowners are yet another tremendous component of the stakeholders' group. Ford's issues with the stockholders are more complex than those with the employees. For once, new owners have to be attracted in order to increase the company's capital. This implies a necessity for effective management techniques and strong financial results. Then, there is the problem posed by the shareholders in terms of their ability to influence the decision making process. An example in this instance is given by the hypothetical situation in which the Ford executives decide to not pay up dividends, but use the annual profits to cover for previous loses; the shareholders could object to this, and as such not sustain the financial revival of the automobile manufacturer. A final issue with the shareholders is the fact that the sums which are paid to them in the form of dividends is legally perceived as income, rather than debt, meaning that Ford must also pay income taxes on the respective sums.