Transnational communities and business systems

Abstract

The paper examines the concept of 'transnational communities' as a way of understanding globalization practices in business and management. It argues that 'transnational communities' are emergent properties of the internationalizing of economic activity. Three specific aspects of this process are considered in detail: the development of multinational companies; the development of international regulatory bodies; and the development of cognitive and normative frameworks through the practices of business education, management consultancies and other global professsional service firms. It is argued that in each case, transnational spaces are emerging; within these spaces, transnational communities are developing. The article calls for more research into the diverse nature of these spaces and communities as a way of avoiding the sterile polarities of what Held et al. (1999) refer to as the 'hyperglobalists' and the 'sceptics'.

Political Contestation in Global Production Networks

“…GPNs thus exist within the 'transnational space' that is constituted and structured by transnational elites, institutions, and ideologies (Faist, 2000;Morgan, 2001). Within this space, transnational communities emerge with economic systems, relations of power and institutional forms that are distinct from, though interact with, national or region-bound forms (Urry, 2000).…”

Lost in translation? International migration, learning and knowledge

“…This is not because of any claims as to unprecedented levels of international migration in recent decadesindeed, in many ways international migration was relatively greater in the second half of the nineteenth century (Chiswick and Hatton, 2003). But there have been qualitative changes in international mobility (King, 2002), recognized in for example the literatures on skilled international labour migration (Salt 1988) and transnational companies (Morgan 2001). International migration both mediates and is mediated by the transnationalisation of capital and knowledge.…”

The Spatial Mobility of Corporate Knowledge: Expatriation, Global Talent, and the World City

“…But gone are the days of one way flows of knowledge and people between the headquarters and subservient, knowledge-poor subsidiaries. As Bartlett and Ghoshal (1998) and others (e.g., Morgan, 2001), have quite rightfully acknowledged, contemporary firms are highly transnational in scope, with knowledge being shared among all subsidiaries and people flowing in multiple directions for learning, knowledge transfer and exchange, and the sharing of best practice, whether in management systems or for the rolling out of corporate policy and strategy. In the knowledge-intensive sectors of the economy, which encompass banking, finance, accounting, and legal services, as well as other activities such as advertising, the arts, and even elite sports, expatriation and corporate mobilities are a key modus operandi of the TNC, because idiosyncratic knowledge, skills, expertise, and competences are embodied in the individual worker, a function that can seldom be The Corporation of London estimated that 25 % of the 300,000 City-jobs in 2009 were filled by foreign workers (Aldrick, 2009) c Estimate by City of London of City-jobs only (i.e., excluding Canary Wharf) (CEBR, 2011) accomplished by ICT or other forms of technological transmission.…”