What are the differences between a multinational, global, international, and transnational company?
An international company has operations in multiple nations, but may not have any investment in those nations other than their home nation. This may be for a company that is only involved in exporting and selling its goods or services in other nations (McNett, 2022).
Now global companies, are just as they seem as these companies are established all over the world. However, standard products are sold with no change in branding or information about the global company. Take Domino’s for example. They may have various subsidiaries across the globe, but their products are still sold without flexibility.
Moving on to multinational companies, where a company may have operations in more than one country. This is a corporation that owns or controls the production of goods or services in at least one nation outside its home nation (McNett, 2022). They have a centralized office where the decision making affects all subsidiaries that company holds. When you look at Nike, their products are developed and decided on by headquarters.
Let’s take another household name, McDonalds. They are a mix to make up a transnational company, where they operate in other countries all over the globe but have a decentralized management system. This allow each transnational company to make their own decisions based on local markets to suit their operating zones. These types of companies would be more focused on business expansion than their loyalty to the operating country’s value systems.
Even though these types of companies are different with how they operate, I feel several aspects of different companies could fall into a multitude of those types. It all can come down to the operating structure a company wants to have as they expand into new countries and markets.
References:
McNett, Michael Geringer, J. International Business. McGraw-Hill Higher Education (US), 2022. [VitalSource Bookshelf].
Mishra, Sonam. “The Difference between International, Multinational, Transnational & Global Companies.” Best Online Digital Marketing, Sonam Mishra , 24 Jan. 2022, https://snmonline.co.in/2022/01/24/the-difference-between-international-multinational-transnational-global-companies/.
