Both authors, Srnieck, Bonacich and Wilson, tell us about the emergence of global companies, both through platforms, such as Uber, and through large logistics companies with supply chains global companies like Wal-Mart. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayGlobal companies can be described as companies that operate in multiple countries across continental borders. Such global corporations are also known as multinational corporations (MNCs). Although both authors explored two different types of business, in the end they both agree that there are now fewer and larger global companies. Below, we delve into the impact that the rise of global corporations has had on business and society, in both developing and developed countries. We will explore whether the emergence of such powerful companies is beneficial as it creates wealth and job opportunities. around the world, as well as possessing economies of scale that allow consumers to benefit from lower average costs and prices or if these global companies displace independent local businesses and use their power to stagnate and exploit developing nations. Jamaica and its economy have been victims of the emergence of global corporations and the political influence they possess. The case of Jamaica and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) highlights the harmful impact that multinationals can have on developing countries. The fact that Jamaica has an oil-intensive economy due to the bauxite industry has meant that the harsh reality of the 1970s oil crisis and declining revenues in the bauxite industry have led Jamaica to debt while the price of imported goods increased and exported goods decreased. The prime minister seeks help and obtains a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which in turn imposes a structural adjustment program leading to austerity and the opening of its markets. “This assistance has done little to remedy the major weaknesses of the island's economy which now faces further pressures from a more globalized economy and an international free trade model” (Wesley Hughes, 24 June 2007. 'Structural transformation strategic'. Jamaica Gleaner. ) Voting power within the IMF is determined by the amount of money contributed by each country, which consequently puts developed nations such as the United States in a more powerful position in the decision-making process. the needs of investors and companies can be put before those of developing countries. The agricultural sector in Jamaica has suffered greatly due to interactions with the IMF. One of the terms of the loan was that they had to lower tariffs on imported goods, as a result the local dairy industry collapsed due to the importation of cheaper milk powder from the United States, which was able to weaken domestic Jamaican farmers . This, combined with the impact of globalisation, has made key industries unprofitable, as the Revolution Newspaper pointed out: 'During the 1970s and 1980s, the Jamaican government underwrote billions of dollars in loans from those institutions. One of the many onerous conditions of this debt was that Jamaica dramatically lower tariffs on imports, including imported agricultural products. This led to a wave of food imported into Jamaica: everything from potatoes, vegetables and fruits to meat and milk. Produced by farms in the United States and other countries, often with government subsidies, imported food was cheaper than locally produced food. TheJamaican farmers were unable to compete and many were forced to abandon farming altogether.'Revolution Newspaper. 2013. “United States of Amnesia: “Forgetting” How the IMF Ruined Agriculture in Jamaica.” August 18, 2013. Reduced import duties make it less expensive for other countries to export food and other products to Jamaica. Jamaican officials may have believed that trade liberalization would allow them to import food at lower prices for low-income consumers, pressure inefficient farmers to abandon the sector, and make other farmers more competitive. However, there appears to be no plan in place to provide displaced farmers with productive work and, as a small island economy, any attempt to diversify agricultural products takes time and resources away from a government that has to spend almost 60% of its revenue to pay to reduce the debt contracted by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Former World Bank vice president Joseph Stiglitz claims in his book “Globalization and Its Discontents” that free market ideals “cloud clarity of thought” about how to address problems within the global economy. However, he points out that there has been a silver lining with the opening up of Jamaica's dairy industry. “The opening of the Jamaican milk market to U.S. imports in 1992 may have hurt local milk producers, but it also meant that poor children could get milk more cheaply,” he wrote. Furthermore, expanding on this point, much of the Jamaican population does not have access to the refrigeration needed to store fresh milk supplied by local farmers, so trade liberalization has meant that the poor have access to many more goods, which as a result of Western innovation, they have managed to improve their standard of living. That said, it still left the country's agricultural market in ruins. Jamaica's difficulties continued when the banana industry was forced into decline after the United States, which does not export bananas, complained to the World Trade Organization about "unfair" labor practices and won, despite the fact that the Dole Food Company (an American multinational) had a monopoly on a considerable part of the banana trade. “US multinationals that control Latin America's banana crop hold three-quarters of the EU market” compared to the 7% that comes from the Caribbean. The US government is also under pressure from the powerful US-based multinationals that dominate the banana industry in Latin America. The Clinton administration brought the banana wars to the WTO within 24 hours after Chiquita Brands, a powerful multinational banana company previously a Republican supporter, made a $500,000 donation to the Democratic Party.” Patrick Barkham, March 5, 1999. “The Banana Wars Explained.” The Guardian newspaper. Such cases highlight the unfortunate consequences in developing countries of the political influence and power of global companies with which they simply cannot compete. According to Jack Harper, the effects of the emergence of global companies in Jamaica have not been limited to agriculture, but have affected the country in terms of its people and culture. “…the imposition of corporations and nations further complicates and destabilizes Jamaican life,” Harper wrote. “Emigration was a safety valve for the island. Now, more Jamaicans live outside the country than inside, sending annual remittances of $1.3 billion to families.abroad to support them and afford basic necessities. We can also deduce that, due to the lack of industries and jobs, it forced mass economic migration, where people moved abroad to improve their standard of living, look for work and, as already mentioned, earn money to send back to their families. On a more local scale, we can explore the impact that the emergence of global companies is having in the Western world, with more and more independent businesses closing as large global companies take over the high street. Srnicek talked about the rise of platforms as large monopolistic companies; platform companies, such as Amazon, AirBnb, and Uber have become these large monopolistic firms due to insurmountable network effects, where “the utility that a user receives from a particular service increases directly with an increasing number of other users” (Rohlfs 1974 ; Katz and Shapiro 1985), which arose due to the ease and convenience they provide when connecting different users, such as supplier and consumer, via technology. The rise of platform monopolies and the dominance they hold has a multitude of consequences for businesses. On the one hand, they are extremely beneficial for the consumer since they significantly reduce transaction costs, the costs associated with exchanging goods or services, when connecting them to the good or service they need. For example, Uber (“A location-based app that makes it easy to hire a private driver on demand”) is based on reviews and can automatically detect your location, send you a driver, and take payment from your online account, while using a traditional taxi service has many transaction costs, such as the information cost of searching for a taxi service and finding out a price, as well as the cost of checking whether or not they provide good quality service. All of these costs highlight the ease and convenience for the consumer that comes with using such platforms and how they are, in fact, beneficial to society. However, when you consider the consequences for business, they are not so positive. In this ever-changing world it is right to recognize that we are in the age of platforms, the benefits they offer to the consumer are difficult for local businesses to compete with and inevitably these businesses suffer and are forced out of the market. . “Since ride-hailing services began operating in Southern California three years ago, the number of pre-arranged taxi trips in Los Angeles has declined by 42%, according to city records, and the total number of travel has collapsed by almost 30%”. LAURA J. NELSON. April 14, 2016. Uber and Lyft have devastated Los Angeles' taxi industry, city records show. Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles city records show that Uber, and the conceptually similar platform “Lyft,” have devastated the taxi industry, whose prices are regulated by the local government, as they struggle to compete with “cheaper and nimbler” platforms. A similar shift in independent businesses , like local coffee shops and grocery stores, is happening as they struggle to compete with multinational companies like Starbucks and Walmart. The economies of scale available to these multinationals allow companies to offer the lowest prices and offers to the consumer, while undermining local businesses and forcing them out of the market. However, it is argued that although they replace some businesses, the emergence of these global companies can be positive for surrounding businesses through external economies of scale, as they attract consumers to the area and increase the number of visitors, hence the number of.