International
Business Society Management is the product of an ongoing research effort on
the interaction between International Business strategies, regulation and societal
change. Several research projects are under way, of which only a small part
has already been published. These research projects are coordinated by Professor
Rob van Tulder and headed by the SCOPE Expert Centre, located at the department
of BusinessSociety Management at the Rotterdam School of Management (RSM). Since
its establishment in 1997, a main preoccupation of SCOPE has been to document
the internationalization strategies of the largest (core) firms in the world.
The SCOPE centre co-ordinates the research in areas of International Business-Society
Management. The SCOPE database covers the internationalization strategies of
two hundred of the world's largest enterprises and the Top 50 largest national
enterprises of the: United States of America, Japan, France, United Kingdom,
Germany, The Netherlands and Switzerland. The database is a pivotal project
in a broader interdisciplinary project on "internationalization and competitive
space". The research project and database are coordinated by the SCOPE.
The SCOPE-database is intended to function as a tool for the researchers at
the Erasmus University, plus a number of selected "linkage" projects
that take place in collaboration with partner universities and institutes. These
latter projects depart from a common selection of "core firms". Consequently,
the internationalization strategies of the selection of firms are linked to
other strategies of firms (e.g. R&D, Environmental strategies). The International
Business Competence centre SCOPE collaborates with UNCTAD in the research for
the annual World Investment Report, which receives always wide acclaim in the
international media for its coverage of timely topics concerning transnational
enterprises and topics of internationalization and development. An international
research visitation committee in 2002 explicitly acclaimed SCOPE for its scientific
performance, societal impact over the years and clear potential for the coming
years. www.b-sm.org/research
Issues of International business
The world’s most controversial issues are also settled on the interface
between (big) international business and society: environmental regulation,
tax regimes, trade and investment regimes, standardisation, the UN Millennium
goals (tackling poverty, malnourishment and lack of education), terrorism,
the adequate provision of public goods (water, safety, electricity), codes
of conduct. Fundamental research in these areas is always linked to applied
research for concrete organisations. Most SCOPE reports on these issues are
available online. The SCOPE expert centre also collaborates with other Dutch
Universities in a joint effort to create sufficient intellectual mass in the
area of ‘sustainable business and development cooperation’ (www.ecsad.nl).
Research projects have focussed on global commodity chains, NGO-business partnerships
and transfer-pricing.
Detailed studies always focus on theory building and data collection. Recent
studies have been published in the form of PhD theses on the following topics:
•
The Greening of Black Gold -on the relationship between internationalisation
and environment strategies (2005, dr. Susanne van de Wateringen, University
of Amsterdam)
•
Foreign Direct Investment and competition policy in China (2004, dr. Guoyong
Liang)
•
International business and regionalism (2004, dr. Alan Muller, with honours)
•
Banking across borders (2004, dr. Alfred Slager, with honours)
•
Working across borders (2003, dr. Douglas Van den Berghe)
•
Global Sourcing strategies (2001, Dr. Michael Mol)
•
Competitiveness and multinationals from small countries (2000, Dr. Robert Goedegebuure)
Most of these studies can be downloaded from the ERIM Series in Management
website (www.erim.eur.nl)
TNI databank. Since 1996, a joint databank by the SCOPE expert centre is sustained
in collaboration with UNCTAD, the Geneva based United Nations organisation
on Trade Aid and Development. This effort has resulted in the annual publication
in the prestigious World Investment Reports of two widely quoted lists: (1)
the world’s top 100 Transnational Corporations (TNCs) and (2) the Top50
TNCs from developing countries. The source of these data is then referred
to as “Unctad/Erasmus University databank”. Internationalisation
is measured by the Transnationality Index (TNI), a weighted measure of the
internationalisation of sales, employment and assets. The overall ranking
is based on the total size of foreign assets. The world’s largest transnationals
stem from the Anglo-Saxon and the smaller countries. The developing world’s
largest TNC from developing countries originally were only in the oil industry,
but presently indicate the coming of age of Asia as a breeding ground for
(future) multinationals. All reports are available on-line (www.unctad.org).
The leading multinationals in the world, generally represent a relatively
stable group (as the illustrative table shows), but below the surface major
turmoil can be registred. The largest TNCs from developing countries generally
are more international than their developed countries’ counterparts.
But the illustration also shows that the process of ‘globalization’ is
not that clearcut and does not necessarily lead to ever increasing levels
of internationalization of leading firms.
TRANSNATIONALITY INDEX (TNI)
The world’s largest TNC
1996: General Electric (USA) (30.7)
1997: General Electric (USA) (33.1)
1998: General Electric (USA) (36.3)
1999: General Electric (USA) (36.7)
2000: Vodafone (UK) (81.4)
2001: Vodafone (UK) (83.2)
2002: General Electric (USA) (40.6)
2003: General Electic (USA) (43.2)
The developing world’s largest TNC
1996: Daewoo Corporation (Korea) (54.5)
1997: Petroleos de Venezuela (Ven.) (44.5)
1998: Petroleos de Venezuela (Ven) (23.7)
1999: Hutchison Whampoa (H.K/China) (38.0)
2000: Hutchison Whampoa (H.K./China) (50.3)
2001: Hutchison Whampoa (H.K./China) (44.1)
2002: Hutchison Whampoa (H.K./China) (71.1)
2003: Hutchison Whampoa (H.K./China) (71.4)
Source: UNCTAD, Erasmus University Database
One of the products of the SCOPE research is the Erasmus (S)coreboard of Core Companies (also avaible for download):
Authors: Rob van Tulder, Douglas van den Berghe, Alan Muller
Publisher: SCOPE, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
Year: 2001
The
Erasmus (S)coreboard of Core Companies documents the restructuring and internationalization
strategies of a representative sample of the world's largest companies. The
present (S)coreboard assesses the 'true face of globalization', exposing in
particular the reality behind several major debates of the 1990s, including
the myth of globalization, the fallacy of lean production/increased outsourcing,
and the alleged diminished significance of 'Old Economy' players. The study
shows that for some companies internationalization is not a prerequisite for
economic survival, whereas for others is seems imperative. National origins,
long dismissed by many, still matter. In addition, the (S)coreboard illustrates
the continued importance of core companies for national economies, countering
claims of increasing competition, downsizing and the 'vogue' of newcomer companies
in the innovation arena. Finally, the present study makes first attempt at
revealing the mechanisms behind regionalism: the European Union in the 1990s
for instance has become the locus of non-European Core Company expansion, while
at the same time a platform for extra-regional expansion by European Core Companies.
By focusing on 'core companies' the firm-specific trends covered in this (S)coreboard
can be linked to macro-economic trends as well. This study illustrates the
usefulness of such an approach in an age of growing uncertainty.
Click here to download the full document (pdf)