ABSTRACT
The meaning of the word globalisation depends on the firm or on the industrial system. Just as a political party carefully weighs its programme and its propaganda to mobilise support and to attract voters, company views or symbols can rarely be taken literally. They are often aimed at mobilising employees and at influencing a particular bargaining arena. A striking example of different uses of company symbols can be seen driving from Schiphol Airport to Amsterdam, the Dutch capital. Just off the highway, two of the world's largest core firms are situated directly opposite each other. On one side of the street, Big Blue (IBM) has its offices. On the opposite side of the street, one can find Nissan's European headquarters. IBM has traditionally been an example of a Fordist firm, trying to establish direct control over its bargaining partners, with a high degree of vertical integration and a company internal and international division of labour. IBM has always advocated free trade, as signified by former CEO John Aker's slogan ‘peace through trade’. To underline its worldwide standardised procedures and its global ambitions, the company only waves its blue and white IBM flag in the Dutch coastal winds, as it does anywhere else in the world.
