Global Corporations and Global Value Chains

Many of the great international corporations of the past have now largely been disembodied into global value chains. This chapter considers the implications of the continued advance of global value chains as the mode of production for an increasing number of goods and services, and how this has impacted considerably on the economies and societies both of the developed world and the emerging economies. In turn, this has transformed corporations themselves into largely finance, design, and marketing agencies which are often distant from the production and operations which they ultimately control. While the globalization of production has brought employment and economic growth to many developing countries, it is also associated with exploitative employment relations, environmental irresponsibility, and recurrent ethical dilemmas. While corporations may disaggregate production in distant networks of contractors, they cannot as readily disaggregate the moral responsibility for the social and environmental impact of their mode of production.