What is a multinational organization?

Answer 1

A multinational organization has operations in more than one nation. You can buy a big mac in almost any country in the world. McDonnell's is a multinational organization. The Pelham Diner has one store. It only exists in one place. It is not a multinational organization.

Answer 2

Multi-national organisation (also known as multi-national corporations (MNCs) or trans-natonal corporations) are organisations "that carry out commercial activities for profit in more than one country."* They may often have their headquarters based in one country, but their activities extend across international borders. They are "non-state actors" and are to be distinguished from "non-governmental organisations" (such as Greenpeace and Amnesty International) and "international government organisations" (such as the United Nations, European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation).* Prominent examples include Coca-Cola, McDonalds, BP and Royal Dutch Shell, although MNCs may be much smaller with only "one or two factories outside the country in which they are based." Furthermore, MNCs do not just refer to companies which manufacture or distribute goods, but also those which provide "market services."^ Some major MNCs are controversial and stigmatised as money-hungry vessels of Third World exploitation which have no concern for the environment. On the other hand, it has been argued that MNCs are a crucial source of foreign direct investment, "innovative in research and development...and the best hope for overcoming the chronic under-development and poverty in the Third World."* Both views can be comprehensively argued. *Griffiths, Martin & O'Callaghan, Terry, International Relations: The Key Concepts, London: Routledge, 2002: 215-217. ^Giddens, Anthony (ed), Sociology (4th Edtn), Cambridge: Polity, 2001: 57.