ABSTRACT
The all-pervasive phenomenon of globalization threatens to extend tentacles into virtually every community, large or small, on earth. The dominant actor on the stage of globalization is the modern corporation, which has one fundamental goal: profits sufficient to ensure the maximum return for the owner or shareholder. A global corporation, attempts to sell the same product in the same way no matter where it is doing business. The gold pan and pickax are replaced by giant earthmoving equipment and computerized information technology that efficiently support corporate control, finance, and communications. One problem with the global economy is that, driven by an increasingly frenetic world financial system, the ante has been continually increased with respect to the definition of adequate returns. Breathtaking gains in the US stock market over the last several years have created dissatisfaction with what could historically be termed acceptable “normal” returns on invested capital.
