PowerPoint 4:
What do TNCs mean
to me?
Which statements about globalisation
and TNCs are true and which false?
1. Just 500 corporations account for two-thirds of
international trade
2. Of the world’s 100 largest economies, 50 are TNCs
3. Global wealth doubled from US$14 trillion to US$28
trillion in 10 years. According to the World Bank, this
wealth has reduced global poverty
4. The 10 largest TNCs have a total income greater
than that of 100 of the world’s poorest countries
5. Unilever’s corporate sales were US$49.7 billion in
1994. In the same year, Egypt’s GDP was S$43.9
billion
6. About 40 countries are poorer today than they were
20 years ago
Adapted from: www.franciscansisters.org/english/jpic/ globalization_quiz.htm and
www.newint.org/issue296/facts.html
Answers
1. True
2. True
3. Global wealth did double in a decade, but this
didn’t reduce world poverty –
‘In a single day under globalization, poor countries
lose nearly US$2 billion due to international trade,
30,000 children die from preventable diseases,
and US$60 million drains from poor countries to
rich ones through debt payments.’ (Source:
www.franciscansisters.org./english/jpic/globalizatio
n_quiz.htm.)
1. True
2. True
3. False – about 60 countries are poorer
Objectives
 Know what transnational corporations (TNCs)
are
 Be able to use Edward de Bono’s coloured hats
to investigate an issue from different
perspectives
 Understand that different people view TNCs in
different ways
What are TNCs?
Transnational corporations (TNCs): business
organisations whose activities take place in several
nations
This shop is located in
Kibera, a shanty town
near Nairobi, Kenya
 Coca-Cola is one of
the best known
brands in the world
 The Coca-Cola
Company is a TNC
with operations in
over 200 countries
Photo: Kevin Cook, GAIWG
Which TNC would you like to research?
 You will work as a class to research one TNC
 Which TNC would you like to research?
 Why does this TNC interest you?
 Decide on one TNC to research as a class
 Your group will carry out Internet research on this
TNC. You will use one of de Bono’s six – red,
green, blue, white, yellow or black – hats to direct
your thinking
 n Note which hat your group has been given on
Activity sheet 3
de Bono’s six hats
 Each group will be given a different coloured
hat
 Each hat is labelled with a different perspective
 The next six slides show which perspective
your group will use to research the TNC
Photo: Catherine Owen
Blue hat
You will focus on the organisation as a whole:
 Who runs the TNC? How do they run it?
 What’s the big picture?
 What about accountability? Who keeps an eye on
the activities of the TNC?
White hat
You will focus on data:
 What data do you have on the TNC? If there are
any gaps, how do you account for these gaps?
 What information is most obvious on the TNC’s
website? Why might the TNC want you to know
this?
 Is any information hard to find? Why?
Yellow hat
You will focus on the positive, thinking about the
benefits and advantages of the TNC’s activities:
 What benefits does the TNC bring to its
employees?
 What benefits does the TNC bring to its
customers?
 How do shareholders benefit from the TNC’s
activities?
Black hat
You will focus on the negative, thinking about the
problems, drawbacks and flaws:
 Are any groups of people unhappy about the
activities of your TNC? Why?
 Is there any evidence of your TNC exploiting its
workers in LEDCs and NICs?
 Does your TNC cause problems for the
environment?
Red hat
You will focus on the emotions:
 How might people respond emotionally to the
TNC’s activities? How might this change from
place to place?
 Which, if any, pressure groups have protested
about the activities of the TNC?
 Do people in MEDCs and LEDCs have different
views about the TNC?
Green hat
You will focus on creativity, the possibilities and new
ideas:
 What do you think the future holds for the TNC?
 How do you think the TNC should change in the
future?
 Think about any of the TNC’s activities that cause
concern – are there alternatives?
Research and presentation
 Carry out research in your group, focusing on
the area allocated to you by your ‘hat’
 Note the key points of your research in your row
of the grid on Activity sheet 3
 Share your group’s findings with the class and
note the other groups’ key points on Activity
sheet 3
 Note what TNCs mean to you on Activity sheet
3
More questions to consider…
 How useful are de
Bono’s coloured hats
as a framework for
learning?
 Can you think of other
globalisation issues
that could be
investigated in this
way?
Photo: Bryan Ledgard
Research opportunities
Either find out more about de Bono’s ideas at
Weblinks 8 and 9 (www.guardian.co.uk/education/
2007/apr/24/highereducationprofile.academicexperts
or http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/
1998/11/98/ e-cyclopedia/226700.stm)
Or note how many TNCs you come across in one
day. Think about the clothes you wear, food and
drink you consume, shops you visit, leisure activities
you participate in, etc.
 Has the growing influence of TNCs in world trade
improved your quality of life or not?
 Do you think other people around the world would
feel the same way as you?