Transnational Social Behavior

The present thesis, is aimed to analyze the social behavior of transnational corporations during the economic crisis of late 2000s. While the growth of world´s GDP was negative in 2009 (-2.1%) and many corporations experienced cuts in employment, limited access to credit, and reductions in capital and technological spending (Campello et al., 2010: 1), the social investment of many firms followed a counter-intuitive move by increasing their social contributions in more than 228%. Between 2004 and 2013 the corporate social responsibility investments of the 261 world leading companies increased from US$7,6 billion to US$25 billion (CECP, 2005 and 2014). By the same token, a qualitative change occurred in social corporate thinking where the so …show more content…
As Stiglitz (2002: 79-80) has highlighted, the social costs and poverty conditions of many developing countries increased with neoliberal policies and practices. The social discontent has been manifested in the spread of anti-globalization movements since late 1990s, such as the World Social Forum, the Indignados and Occupy movements, or more recently the anti-TTP movilizations. As a common factor, all these movements converge in its criticism to transnational corporations and the negative social and environmental consequences of their economic …show more content…
The empirical evidence is based on the Shared Value experience of Nestlé and particularly its Rural Development Programme. The case will serve to analyze the practical and ideological transformations of this transnational corporation facing the social and environmental challenges of its economic activities in the economic crisis of 2008-09. Hence, the analysis of this case is not aimed at revealing the “real” impact of this rural programme or the perception and problems faced by the local communities, but to qualify (for now) the changes in the social strategy undertaken by this