Transnational Corporation (TNC) Networks

The term of Transnational Corporation (TNC), as its name suggests, is a reference to a firm whose influence is not limited to a single nation. “A transnational corporation is a firm that has the power to coordinate and control operations in more than one country” (Dicken, 2011, p. 110). This influence can take many forms such as subsidiaries or production facilities in other countries, but ownership is not mandatory for a corporation to have sway in another country. A TNC could gain power in a country other than its home through connections to suppliers or through the act of outsourcing (Stevis, Transnational Corporations, 2013).

These connections also hint at an idea, suggested by Dicken, that in many ways TNCs are “Networks within Networks.” Specifically, Dicken writes that TNCs are “structured through a myriad of complex relationships, transactions, exchanges, and interactions” (Dicken, 2011, p. 121). These networks, as suggested previously, can be both internal and external in nature, occurring with both entities owned by the TNC directly as well as suppliers and outside firms; they are also not limited to a specific GPN (Stevis, TNCs as "Networks Within Networks", 2013).

Transnational Corporations are viewed by many to be forces of both globalization and globality; this outlook seems to be accurate and the impacts TNCs can, and do, have are examples of this. At their core, many TNCs are formed through the usage of corporate trends that are global in nature. From outsourcing labor-intensive production to countries with more beneficial wages to creating a new Research and Development facility in a highly educated region of a different country, such actions taken by TNCs improve the global nature of the WPE by helping to build ...

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... Colorado, in particular by providing a beneficial regulatory system.

A number of local states are directly contesting this support of natural gas in their areas. After Longmont passed a ban on hydrolytic fracturing, “Gov. John W. Hickenlooper, a Democrat, has warned Longmont residents that the ban is likely to mean a lawsuit from the state” (Healy, 2012). During the elections of 2013, a number of other cities, including Fort Collins and Boulder, passed moratoriums against fracking (Gold, 2013). This shows that firms thinking of relocating to, or that already exist in Colorado, can find the relationships of the states can differ greatly towards them. Depending on the GPN of the firm, the type of states involved, and the current goals of the administration, a TNC can see a very synergistic welcoming to Colorado, or find themselves feeling antagonized and unwelcome.