ABSTRACT
The process of the internationalisation of business has been judged very differently, depending on the viewpoint of the observer. From an economic standpoint, the principal agents of internationalisation are multinational corporations which extend their business activities beyond national borders with the aim of boosting profitability. The cost advantages which accrue to the pioneers then force other companies to follow suit. What is critical, however, for the influence of global companies on workplace representatives and national politics is less how mobile companies actually are than their potential for mobility. The mere threat of relocation is often sufficient to induce employee representatives, as well as political decision makers, to be more responsive to employer demands for more overtime working, pay cuts and a lowering of social standards. One new variant of globalisation discernible since the early-1990s, and attributable to the acceleration in the pace of change in the economic environment, is the increase in internationalisation via foreign acquisition.
