MULTINATIONAL CORPORATION

In response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, nations implemented lockdown measures to contain the virus. This study assessed air pollution levels during and after lockdowns, focusing on heavily affected locations: Oulu and Helsinki in Finland, Paris in France, Madrid in Spain, Milan in Italy, and Wuhan in China. Air Quality Index (AQI) data from these areas over two years were analyzed to understand lockdown effects. COVID-19 lockdowns in six cities were compared with SARS-CoV-2 measures using statistical methods. Pollutant Outdoor variations were evaluated via tests, showing significant differences. Parametric analyses and regression studied lockdown impacts on pollution and relationships. The study comprehensively analyzed COVID-19 lockdowns' effects on air quality, identifying differences, quantifying changes, and exploring patterns in Oulu and Helsinki. Pollutant correlations varied among cities during lockdowns. Regression analysis highlighted independent variables' impact on pollutants. Decreases in NO2 were seen in Helsinki, Madrid, Oulu, Paris, and Milan, reflecting reduced traffic and industry. PM2.5 and PM10 reductions occurred in these cities and also Wuhan, except for O3 levels which increased. Reduced human activities improved air quality, especially for NO2 and PM10. Regional variations necessitate tailored interventions. We observed that during the COVID-19 lockdowns, there was a substantial decrease in both PM2.5 and NO2 levels, indicating a direct correlation between reduced human activities, such as transportation and industrial operations, and improved air quality. This underscores the potential impact of environmental measures and suggests the need for sustainable practices to mitigate urban pollution.

Objective: This conceptual paper describes the nature of service based learning program that could define the importance of motivation for students as future young talents.This paper proposes a research framework to examine the impact of motivation on students’ academic achievement, , as well as aiming to and identify the constraints of motivation among students. Methodology: This concept paper is based on previous literature on service based learning program and students’ motivation.Results: It has been found that students’ motivations are highly important to students’ academic achievement.The service-learning relationships, student’s motivation and educational motivation were strong indices which affected the students’ academic achievement in relation to the motivation.Implication: This study gives ideas to students on how to improve their motivation with proper motivational strategies. As students go through motivational structure for several times, their outcomes and targets wil...

In this article, Professor Pomp argues that the OECD should look to the American states for insight into taxing cross-jurisdictional corporations. In the early 20th century, the states had to respond to the challenge of taxing domestic interstate corporations. While these corporations posed no tax problem at the federal level, states had to respond to the reality of corporations shifting profits into neighboring tax havens. They needed a better alternative to federal transfer pricing and sourcing rules. In the 1930’s, some states began combining domestic related entities. The growth of multinational corporations created new problems for both the states and the federal government. Some states continued to not only to combine domestic corporations, but also multinationals as well: an approach known as worldwide combined reporting. Political pressure, not administrative obstacles, eventually pushed these states back to a waters edge approach. The states can shed light on the challenge ...

Pennwalt Inc., a multinational chemical and pharmaceutical firm based in the United States, operates a chloralkali plant in Managua, Nicaragua. This plant utilizes elemental mercury in the production of chlorine and caustic soda for markets throughout Central America. The plant was recently found to be contaminating the waters of Lake Managua (on which the plant is located) with 2 to 4 tons of inorganic mercury effluent per year-over 40 tons in the 13-year history of the plant. Examination of the 152 workers employed in the plant showed that 56 (37 percent) were suffering symptoms and signs of mercury poisoning, including tremors (in 45), memory and attention deficits (in 45), and paresthesias (in 52). Levels of airborne mercury vapor in the plant were found to range as high as 600 μg/m3. (The airborne standard set by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is 100 μg/m3.) Workers in the plant had never been alerted to the hazards of mercury. The plant was found to be ...

The Niger Delta local communities have been negatively affected by oil and gas production operations and their livelihoods disrupted and disorganized rulting into poverty. The study therefore assessed fisherfolks’ vulnerability to poverty due to oil spillage in the Niger-Delta region of Nigeria. Data collected with the aid of a well-structured questionnaire from four hundred fisher folks selected through a multi-stage sampling technique were analyzed with Vulnerability as Expected Poverty Analysis and Logit Regression Model. Results showed that the average age of the sampled fisher folks was 40 years. Fishing was found to be a male dominated enterprise in the study area though with appreciable proportion (44.7%) of women involvement. Most (62.7%) of the fisher folks were educated and 86.0% still depended on informal sources of credit. Using vulnerability threshed of 0.5, 46.0% of the fishing households were vulnerable but the fishing households from oil bearing communities were however more vulnerable than those of oil impacting communities. The logit regression result showed that age, gender, household size, level of education, membership of cooperatives, fishing income, expenses on food, access to credit facilities, access to basic amenities, livelihood diversification, number of occurrence of oil spillage and location of occurrence of oil spillage significantly determined the fishing households’ vulnerability to poverty in the study area. It is recommended that a comprehensive package of strategies that will ensure functional basic amenities, effective social protection programmes and other better risk management policies should be given special focus by the government and non-government actors working in the Niger-Delta region as this is fundamental for mitigating vulnerability to poverty.

We examine the relationship between the role of trade finance availability and the export intensity of foreign subsidiaries of multinational enterprises (MNEs). In developing our hypotheses, we draw upon insights derived from "new" internalisation theory (international business literature) and international trade finance (international economics literature). We empirically test these hypotheses using survey data compiled from subsidiary managers in six ASEAN countries, supplemented with host-country level data. We conceptualise, empirically test, and establish that the subsidiary-level capability in combining and utilising internal and external debts is an important subsidiary-specific advantage to support export intensity. We find that subsidiaries employ intra-firm loans from MNE internal capital markets and, to some extent, bank loans from external financial institutions to boost their export intensity. Subsidiaries may have concerns about foreign exchange risks, but the use of appropriate foreign exchange risk management is positively associated with export intensity. We discuss the implications of our findings for theory and practice.

The Psychological Science Accelerator's Rapid-Response COVID-19 Project (PSACR) aimed to rapidly select and conduct rigorous, multi-site, and multinational research to understand the psychological and behavioral aspects of the COVID-19 crisis. Here we describe the process we used to select our projects and our general methods for implementing them.

PurposeThe aim of this study was to investigate how Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) enforce Code of Conduct (CoC) policies, as well as how they affect suppliers' motivation to engage them in managing CoC compliance mechanisms of monitoring, enforcement and transparency in the Indian apparel industry.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative survey was conducted using face-to-face surveys. Overall, 210 usable data points were collected and analyzed by use of structural equation modeling.FindingsStudy findings highlighted that hard power strategies currently used by MNEs in the apparel Indian market were primarily coercive in nature. A clear power imbalance between MNEs and suppliers from India was evident. Results suggested that when MNEs attempted to use their powerful position to advance compliance goals, higher level of CoC monitoring was required and suppliers were only extrinsically motivated. Lack of intrinsic motivation in suppliers' resulted in under-developed suppli...

The long-term reactions, experiences and reflections of simulation educators have not been explored. In a semistructured, exploratory interview study, the experiences of simulation educators in either Advanced Life Support (ALS) or Crisis Resource Management (CRM) courses in Denmark, Norway and the USA were analyzed. Three overarching themes were identified: (1) general reflections on simulation-based teaching, (2) transfer of knowledge and skills from the simulation setting to clinical settings and (3) more overarching transformations in simulation educators, simulation participants, and the healthcare system. Where ALS was deemed as high on the efficiency dimension of learning, CRM courses were described as high on the innovation dimension. General reflections, transfer and transformations described were related to differences in course principles. The results are relevant for career planning, faculty development and understanding simulation as social practice.

Over the past two decades, several calls have been made for close engagement between history and management and organization studies (Clark & Rowlinson, 2004; Jones & Khanna, 2006; Kieser, 1994; Kipping & Üsdiken, 2008; O’Sullivan & Graham, 2010; van Baalen & Bogenrieder, 2008). It was observed that the close relationship between business history and management studies, evinced by Chandler’s book Strategy and Structure (1962), which had a profound influence on both areas of study, has not pushed this relationship further over the years (Kipping & Üsdiken, 2008). In response to this observation, this paper employs the coevolutionary and dynamic capabilities concepts to evaluate the historical evolution of a multinational hotel firm.

The objectives of multinational firms expanding overseas in search of new markets and new resources, or risk-spreading and overcoming competition are widely cited. On the other hand, without the host governments' incentives, such as tax exemptions and economic liberalisation, expansions into foreign countries would not be an easy move, or even possible. Host governments normally seek cooperation from multinational firms to invest locally in order to improve the countries' infrastructure, employment levels, knowledge exchange and technological advancement. This paper examines the international hotel industry development to illuminate the interdependent relationships that exist between governments and multinationals. It utilises cases from the Intercontinental Hotels Corporation and the Hilton Hotels International to illustrate elements critical to facilitating cooperation, and the flexibility of such elements that enabled overseas expansion, as well as the subsequent changes in industry structure. Multinational hotel firms not only helped to generate economic growth for host countries; they also stimulated competition within the hotel industry that, arguably, improved the quality of products and services. The intensified competition in the industry, contrasted with the lengthy process of design and building of a hotel, instigated the separation of bricks and brains in the hotel industry. Such separation further evolved into different cooperation perspectives; that is expansion via management contracts and franchising which became key cooperative approaches for today's hotel development strategy.

Abstract: Asymmetric campaigns since the end of the Cold War have tended to have a brief war-fighting phase followed by a cultural phase in which victory is achieved by winning the hearts and minds of diverse ethnic and national groups that may side with us or with ...

Although there is no universal agreement that students should learn programming, many countries have reached a consensus on the need to expose K-12 students to Computational Thinking (CT). When, what and how to teach CT in schools are open questions and we attempt to address them by examining how well students around the world solved problems in recent Bebras challenges. We collected and analyzed performance data on Bebras tasks from 115,400 students in grades 3-12 in seven countries. Our study provides further insight into a range of questions addressed in smaller-scale inquiries, in particular about the possible impact of schools systems and gender on students' success rate. In addition to analyzing performance data of a large population, we have classified the considered tasks in terms of CT categories, which should account for the learning implications of the challenge. Algorithms and data representation dominate the challenge, accounting for 75-90% of the tasks, while other categories such as abstraction, parallelization and problem decomposition are sometimes represented by one or two questions at various age groups. This classification can be a starting point for using online Bebras tasks to support the effective learning of CT concepts in the classroom.

An increasingly large share of cross-border acquisitions are undertaken by private equity-firms (PEfirms) and not by traditional multinational enterprises (MNEs). We propose a model of cross-border acquisitions in which MNEs and PE-firms compete over domestic assets and which incorporates endogenous financial frictions. MNEs' advantages lie in firm-specific synergies and access to internal capital markets, whereas PE-firms are good at reorganizing target firms. We show that stronger firmspecific synergies, lower restructuring advantages for PE-firms, higher exit costs for PE-firms, better access to internal capital markets, a higher risk premium on lending, higher moral hazard problems, and higher trade costs all favor MNEs over PE-firms. We also present cross-country correlations that are consistent with these predictions.

Contractual joint ventures (CJVs) and the buyback form of countertrade are popular methods that Socialist countries use to attract foreign investment. In this paper we explore some reasons why this is so and also explain two predominant characteristics of these contracts: the existence of sharing rules and minimum standard requirements on inputs. The model stresses the incentive problems involved when a (Socialist) host country, which does not allow foreign direct investment, uses a CJV to obtain the fruits of some knowledge-based production process from a multinational enterpris. -; *The second author's work on this paper was mostly done while visiting the Economics Department at the University of Southampton, whose support and hospitality were greatly appreciated. We wish to thank seminar participants at the universities at Guelph, British Columbia (the faculty of Commerce and Business Administration), Southampton. Munich,

Striking territorial variations in the 2016 Brexit referendum are neglected in the explanatory literature, a gap our analysis of British Election Study helps to fill. Rather than modelling Britain as one political system, we present parallel models for England, Scotland and Wales. Typical in other multi-national states, this approach is innovative for 'British politics'. To analyse complex multi-level national identities, we develop a Relative Territorial Identity (RTI) measure. Substantively, RTI predicts Brexit vote-choice. Since voters who prioritise English identity tended to vote Leave, while the obverse was true in Wales and Scotland, RTI helps to explain territorial differentiation.

The statistical analysis of firm-level data on U.S. multinational companies was conducted at the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce under arrangements that maintain legal confidentiality requirements. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not reflect official positions of the U.S. Department of Commerce or the National Bureau of Economic Research. The authors are grateful to William Zeile and Raymond Mattaloni for assistance with the BEA data. Also we would like to thank Ron Davies for insightful comments on an early draft. NBER working papers are circulated for discussion and comment purposes. They have not been peerreviewed or been subject to the review by the NBER Board of Directors that accompanies official NBER publications.

This paper surveys the recent burgeoning literature that empirically examines the foreign direct investment (FDI) decisions of multinational enterprises (MNEs) and the resulting aggregate location of FDI across the world. The contribution of the paper is to evaluate what we can say with relative confidence about FDI as a profession, given the evidence, and what we cannot have much confidence in at this point. Suggestions are made for future research directions.

Are foreign production and exports substitutes or complements? The continuing globalization of production makes the question of the relationship between trade and foreign direct investment ever more important. Standard theory of the multinational corporation (MNC) assumes substitution, while previous empirical work examining the relationship has generally found strong evidence of complementarity. This study examines product-level data, which more closely fits the assumption of a single-product firm often used in MNC theory, and finds substantial evidence for both a substitution and a complementarity effect between affiliate production and exports with Japanese automobile parts for the U.S. market. I also test for and find evidence of substitution using product-level data on a set of Japanese-produced final consumer goods. Thus, product-level data allows one to separately identify substitution from complementarity effects (here from vertical production relationships), rather than try to infer them from estimates using more aggregate data. In this sense, the paper highlights the importance of matching the level of data aggregation with the hypotheses being tested. This is particularly true at a time when there is an increasing proliferation of available microeconomic data in the field of international economics.

The literature on the effects of foreign direct investment and activities of multinational enterprises (MNEs) on host-countries economies has been almost exclusively focused on issues of productivity, growth and wages. We argue that this leaves quite a bit of important unexplored areas of inquiry, particularly those connected with the interactions of local communities and governments with MNEs. Both the international economics and international business literatures have surprisingly overlooked many topics in these areas. As an example, we provide a novel analysis of local corporate philanthropy, which shows significant systematic differences between local-and foreign-owned corporations.

Strategic interdependence of MNCs and governments has been examined in numerous studies. One of the best known models of MNC-Host country relationship was introduced several decades ago and called the bargaining power model. This model was revisited by scholars who applied it to different contexts. We aim to elaborate the bargaining power model applying it to emerging market MNC -emerging host country bargaining and to reveal the role of international institutions in this model. We use critical discourse analysis which allow us to identify several media discourses.

В статье исследуются причины, определяющие решение многонациональных компаний о зарубежном дивестировании, и факторы, обусловливающие выбор формы последнего. В связи с тем, что на решение о дивестировании оказывают влияние как внутренние, так и внешние (относительно фирмы) факторы, выбор формы дивестирования может быть объяснен различными теориями, дополняющими друг друга. Данная статья опирается на теорию реальных опционов и теорию перспектив, которые способны объяснить решения о дивестировании и выбор формы дивестирования, что показал анализ кейсов четырех иностранных компаний, осуществивших дивестирование с российского рынка. Ключевые слова: зарубежное дивестирование, многонациональные компании, теория реальных опционов, теория перспектив, Россия.

Internationalization is a process in which organizations increase their economic activities in international markets. Specifically small business should aim internalization to become more competitive since their competitors are not only local companies but also multinational organizations. However, a medium or small size business from Brazil faces considerable challenges to internationalize such as the lack of Brazilian infrastructure. Therefore, given the importance of internationalization to the Brazilian economy and the role of small business in the global market, this study analyzes the struggles of a Brazilian small mining company through the exportation process of its main product-a high quality silica. As result, this study shows how significant can be national and international transportation costs as well as the costs related to wharfage. In fact, surprisingly, this study revealed that the costs related to national transportation are greater than the international shipment. We conclude that the main obstacle to enhance exportation in Brazil is in fact the transportation infrastructure, representing the bottleneck of Brazilian infrastructure even for small business focused on the national market.

Background: Automated insulin delivery (AID) systems have been shown to be safe and effective in reducing hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia but are not universally available, accessible, or affordable. Therefore, user-driven open-source AID systems are becoming increasingly popular. Objective: This study aims to investigate the motivations for which people with diabetes (types 1, 2, and other) or their caregivers decide to build and use a personalized open-source AID. A cross-sectional web-based survey was conducted to assess personal motivations and associated self-reported clinical outcomes. Results: Of 897 participants from 35 countries, 80.5% (722) were adults with diabetes and 19.5% (175) were caregivers of children with diabetes. Primary motivations to commence open-source AID included improving glycemic outcomes (476/509 adults, 93.5%, and 95/100 caregivers, 95%), reducing acute (443/508 adults, 87.2%, and 96/100 caregivers, 96%) and long-term (421/505 adults, 83.3%, and 91/100 caregivers, 91%) complication risk, interacting less frequently with diabetes technology (413/509 adults, 81.1%; 86/100 caregivers, 86%), improving their or child's sleep quality (364/508 adults, 71.6%, and 80/100 caregivers, 80%), increasing their or child's life expectancy (381/507 adults, 75.1%, and 84/100 caregivers, 84%), lack of commercially available AID systems (359/507 adults, 70.8%, and 79/99 caregivers, 80%), and unachieved therapy goals with

Background: Automated insulin delivery (AID) systems have been shown to be safe and effective in reducing hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia but are not universally available, accessible, or affordable. Therefore, user-driven open-source AID systems are becoming increasingly popular. Objective: This study aims to investigate the motivations for which people with diabetes (types 1, 2, and other) or their caregivers decide to build and use a personalized open-source AID. A cross-sectional web-based survey was conducted to assess personal motivations and associated self-reported clinical outcomes. Results: Of 897 participants from 35 countries, 80.5% (722) were adults with diabetes and 19.5% (175) were caregivers of children with diabetes. Primary motivations to commence open-source AID included improving glycemic outcomes (476/509 adults, 93.5%, and 95/100 caregivers, 95%), reducing acute (443/508 adults, 87.2%, and 96/100 caregivers, 96%) and long-term (421/505 adults, 83.3%, and 91/100 caregivers, 91%) complication risk, interacting less frequently with diabetes technology (413/509 adults, 81.1%; 86/100 caregivers, 86%), improving their or child's sleep quality (364/508 adults, 71.6%, and 80/100 caregivers, 80%), increasing their or child's life expectancy (381/507 adults, 75.1%, and 84/100 caregivers, 84%), lack of commercially available AID systems (359/507 adults, 70.8%, and 79/99 caregivers, 80%), and unachieved therapy goals with

Working in multicultural work environments of multinational corporations (MNCs) creates challenges whose expected impact on happiness is equivocal. In the following paper, we examine the relationship between psychological capital and happiness at work in the specific MNCs' context. We assume that thriving (eudemonic well-being) at work fosters individuals' development and enhances their happiness composed of both the affective (positivity) and cognitive (satisfaction with intercultural interactions) components. A sample of 137 individuals from subsidiaries of various MNCs and involved in intercultural interactions was included in the cross-sectional study. In order to test the mediating effect of vitality and learning, i.e., both components of thriving, on the psychological capital and happiness at work, as well as a moderating effect of psychological capital between thriving and happiness in a multicultural work setting, a bootstrapping analysis was conducted. Prior international experience and job tenure were control variables. The results show that psychological capital as resource caravans is positively associated with learning and further is related to more satisfaction with intercultural interactions. Moreover, psychological capital is associated with more vitality at work and further favorably relates to positivity. We also demonstrate that psychological capital does not moderate the relationship between thriving and happiness at work. The research broadens the understanding of positive aspects of well-being in the unique environment of MNCs. Our study suggests that managers should stimulate learning and vitality by managerial practices concerning improvement of employee psychological capital since then they may strengthen happiness at work.

Purpose: Due to globalization and the global mobility of workforce, working in multicultural environments is a new challenge for employees and managers. The aim of the paper is to analyze the social interactions in multicultural environments of multinational corporations (MNCs) as well as to propose a model of intercultural social interactions in MNCs' specifi c context. Design/methodology/approach: The grounded theory approach was applied to create a model of intercultural interactions in MNCs. The data was obtained during the qualitative research based on comparative case studies collected in 5 MNCs' subsidiaries. The proposed model refers to the following concepts: 1) Lazarus's transactional stress theory states that job demands may be assessed as hindrances or challenges. The specifi c job demands that aff ect intercultural interactions are multilingualism, cultural diversity, cross-cultural adjustment and team work. 2) Positive psychological capital and an individual's acquired resources are in relation with intercultural interactions. 3) According to Bandura's agentic perspective, individuals take an active role in shaping social interactions and work environment. 4) Being an agent relates to Spreitzer's thriving concept that can serve as a mechanism of relations between the interactions undertaken due to MNCs' specifi c job demands and their outcomes. The qualitative methodology applied to the research does not allow for a broader generalization of the results. The outcomes of intercultural interactions depend mainly on how individuals assess their job demands in MNCs. Practical implications: Since the workplace in MNCs is abundant in learning opportunities, the managers of MNCs need to hire employees who exhibit needs for growth and development to boost thriving in their organizations. Additionally, these managers should search for employees with experience of multicultural settings and a signifi cant capacity of positive psychological capital,

This article presents an 80-year historical study of the evolution of a multinational company's manufacturing network. The study is based on business transactions and semi-structured interviews with managers. Company milestones and evolutionary stages emerged from the analysis and two evolutionary characteristics were identified; capability exploration and capability exploitation denoting how the company increased its corporate knowledge and deployed it corporate wide. The output includes a new taxonomy of company transformation that describes how subsidiaries of modern multinationals influence corporate growth.

Where organisations set out their sustainable values and make publically available their sustainable strategy, the rhetoric establishes an agenda against which, should deviation occur, the company can be publically held to account. As a result of recent scandals, it is not surprising that some people remain cautious or even cynical with regard to corporate sustainability, especially where it is found that the actual practices of an organisation are different to that reported. The research provides a review of company reports to identify how multinational organisations advocate their sustainable position. Both construction and non-construction companies are considered with regard to the use of the term 'sustainable'. The review finds that the multinational organisations, both construction and non-construction have in recent years provided a position on sustainability. While heavy construction companies are setting a commitment toward sustainability, the positions stated again...

Dabo Human Resources and Development Research Company was founded in 2020 with the capacity to employ a variety of approaches and methodologies to provide insights that will help its patrons to solve their most pressing challenges and improve research outcomes. The objectives for establishment of the company are: i. Promotion of economic and social development through research and technological advancement. ii. Engage in human resources training, capacity building and educational awareness on economic and social development by arranging conferences, symposium, seminars among Nigerians. iii. Promotion of the publication of information and research outcomes that support policy making and enforcement in the areas of economic and social development in Nigeria. iv. Promotion of innovative solutions and rendering of services that will advance on the socioeconomic development of Nigeria. v. To provide interactive platforms for exchange of ideas for socioeconomic development.

Prior to joining Cranfield, he held several senior appointments in international marketing within Unilever and has published five books and over 100 papers on aspects of branding and strategic marketing. Stan Maklan is a Senior Lecturer at the Cranfield School of Management His career spans senior appointments in Unilever, Cable & Wireless and Computer Science Corporation. Stan is also a prolific author and has written a number of books on branding and customer relationship management.

This study examined the various leadership styles used at marine services companies in Sub-Saharan Africa. A quantitative structured closed-ended questionnaire was used to gather data from its sample respondent. The target population was 215 employees. However, every second element was selected systematically to produce a sample size of 107. The findings of this study showed that the overwhelming majority of respondents agreed that their managers practice transactional leadership styles. On the other hand, most respondents disagreed that their managers practice laissez-faire and transformational leadership styles. Based on the findings, the company's management should teach and train staff to perform their responsibilities efficiently. Furthermore, the management of the marines services company is advised to be proactive, assist staff, build connections, give resources, and avoid a laissez-faire leadership approach.

Leffa, Vilson J. 2002. Teaching English as a multinational language. The Linguistic Association of Korea Journal, 10(1). The de facto adoption of English as a lingua franca in worldwide communication has met both acceptance and rejection among scientists from different parts of the world. This article tries to analyze the issue from both sides, including the ideologies that underlie frequently-mentioned dichotomies such as central versus peripheral countries, native speakers of English versus non-native speakers, and alternatives that have been proposed to counterbalance the hegemony of English. It is argued that for a language to be multinational it should ideally include certain characteristics such as the prevalence of non-native speakers, the language ability to incorporate other cultures, and tolerance to diversity. Giving a language a multinational status along these lines does not necessarily imply promotion of the language, but also the imposition that the language be willing to lose part of its cultural and linguistic identity. While it is debatable whether any language fulfills these conditions, this article makes a case for English as the best candidate, offering some suggestions on how to teach it from a multinational perspective.

Background: Global AF Aware Week is run on an annual basis by the AF Association during which a 'Know Your Pulse campaign' is held in multiple settings where the general public can receive a free manual pulse rhythm check. Settings have included GP surgeries, Hospital reception areas, Community Pharmacy and public places with a high footfall of the general public, such as railway stations and shopping malls. In 2016, this initiative was extended to involve the active collaboration of community pharmacists. The International Pharmacists for Anticoagulation Care Taskforce (iPACT) led the initiative in the pharmacy world. The joint collaboration was held during Global AF Aware Week (21-27 November 2016). Aims: • To raise awareness of Atrial fibrillation (AF) and the importance of pulse rhythm checks to the general public across multiple countries. • To engage community pharmacists in Global AF Aware Week and their active participation in delivering manual pulse rhythm checks and raising awareness of AF. • To assess the feasibility of pharmacists implementing pulse checks in community pharmacy and other settings, such as nursing homes. Methods: Five member countries of international pharmacy taskforce were engaged. Community Pharmacy partners were identified to deliver the campaign. Educational and campaign materials were provided, in local language, by the Association. A template for recording results was created and a patient referral template used. Results: 1699 pulse checks were undertaken in 56 pharmacies across 5 countries. 77 people had an irregular heart rhythm detected and were referred to their clinical practitioner. Outcomes: This preliminary collaboration project demonstrated that Community Pharmacists can deliver pulse rhythm checks to the general public to help identify people at risk of AF. The collaboration expanded the project during Heart Rhythm Week (5-9 June 2017) to more community pharmacists in more countries with a target to deliver pulse rhythm checks to 10,000 people. These results further confirmed the impact of opportunistic, community screening of potential people at risk of AF as seen in other global studies, and as recommended by the AF Screen International Consensus Collaboration earlier this year.

The enforcement framework for the OECD's Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises has long been the subject of criticism, especially by representatives of private and public actors. But two recent cases have suggested that enforcement actions arising from civil society efforts to utilise the national contact points complaint system may be slowly influencing the emerging discourse of corporate behaviour in ways that will have substantial effect. Beyond providing evidence of a more muscular institutional transnational enforcement structure for soft law codes, the cases serve to outline a framework for the interaction of transnational and national systems of corporate regulation. The multilateral system for governing multinational corporate behaviour will affect not only that behaviour, but also the rules through which corporations may be governed as to their internal affairs and with respect to the character of their legal personality. The cases illustrate the way in which advances in governance issues are being crafted, step-by-step, from out of a system that, while formally non-binding, is increasingly developing the characteristics of a binding governance system. These cases suggest the parameters within which the Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises are beginning to serve as the focal point for the construction of an autonomous transnational governance system that is intended to serve as the touchstone for corporate behaviour in multinational economic relationships.

This paper proposes a Guiding Principle for Islamic Labour Code and Business Ethics for business entities such as multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in Muslim countries. This code is proposed to ensure the manners in which they conduct with their business operations, in particular the way they manage their employees in accordance with the Islamic principles. In developing such guiding principle, the authors will take into consideration the elements of human rights and corporate responsibilities as well as the notion of maqasid shari'a. In other words, it means achieving and protecting the benefits and good (masalih) for the sake of human beings. This will cover the issues such as the rights and duties of employees in Islam, discrimination against employees, labour associations, child and forced labours and fair distribution of income and wages. This paper is a conceptual paper thus it uses the librarybased research method by analysing relevant materials such as the Holy Quran, the Hadith, the traditional Islamic books and literatures, journals, academic textual materials as well as internet sources. The outcome of this paper emphasised that, by incorporating Islamic labour code and business ethics based on the principle of maqasid shari'a, business does not only serve as a purely profit-oriented entity but will also be a more socially-responsible entity that will make profit in a responsible and ethical manner by respecting its employees and people within its sphere of influence.

Background Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a looming pandemic, demanding prompt actions to avert catastrophic consequences. Effluents from pharmaceutical industries containing antimicrobial residues could serve as one of the entry points of these drugs to the environment. This qualitative study explores the treatment and disposal practices of pharmaceutical effluent (PE) containing potential antibiotic residues (ARs) by interviewing major stakeholders. In addition, we assessed their knowledge and perception on contribution of PE to AMR. Methods The study was conducted in the two Indian states, Haryana and Telangana and at the federal level. Data was collected by semi-structured in-depth interviews of 29 participants from 17 stakeholders/organizations viz. Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) of Telangana and Haryana, civic body, pharmaceutical manufacturers, pharmaceutical associations and civil society. Data was analyzed using thematic an...

We examine how firms operating in three or more countries show different international spatial dependencies, compared to those operating in just two countries (home and one foreign country). In a multi-country model, we focus on the significance of rival locations abroad, which has not been considered in bilateral two-country models. We present a model in which a multinational enterprise (MNE) determines the spatial extension of operations (measured by the number of foreign countries per parent firm) and the intensity of production (measured by the volume of local sales or exports per foreign location). We call these "extensive decisions" and "intensive decisions," respectively. We then estimate how their affiliates' locations are substitutable or complementary with each other. We use panel data on Japanese-owned foreign affiliates from 2000-2007 and measure key determinants to trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) multilaterally, relative to other foreign locations. We find that 1) the setup of a new location for local sales is replaceable with the imports from surrounding economies, 2) the setup of a new location for exports is encouraged by the market size of surrounding economies, and 3) the export volume to the third foreign economies are also enhanced.