Discuss the role and impacts of TNC’s in the global economy. (40 marks)

Transnational Corporations (TNC’s) play a large role in the development of the global economy, through the sharing of research, trade and technological advances between the different countries. They also play a big part in increasing the interconnection in the world’s economic, cultural and political systems, otherwise known as globalisation. Nevertheless there are both positive and negative impacts that TNC’s bring to the global economy, socially, economically, politically and culturally.

The world has seen a huge rise in the number of Transnational Corporations. Since the 1970s the number of TNCs has risen from 7,000 to over 60,000. To begin with, around 95% …show more content…

For example, food is an important element in defining culture and although a number of religions exist in India, the two cultures that have Indian cooking and food habits are the Hindi and Muslim traditions. Religious groups in India believe that with the introduction of non-traditional food from TNCs such as McDonalds, there are adverse effects on the traditions it tries to uphold.
Bolivia is another country that believes that McDonalds is “not interested in the health of human beings only in their earnings and corporate profits”. Nutritionists, sociologists and educators in this country believe that McDonalds’ ethos is opposite to how Bolivians feel a meal should be prepared.
Nevertheless, in the defense of McDonalds, the cultural influence in globalization is of slight significance to policy makers as they acknowledge that their power has a huge influence over the cultures involved. In most countries, McDonalds has conformed to local culture, tailoring the menu to local tastes, and most oversea franchises are locally owned. The first opening of a vegetarian McDonalds has recently opened near the Golden Temple in Amritsar, an important Sikh centre of worship.
There have also been ethical issues associated with TNC’s such as McDonalds, for example, they were accused of paying “poverty