The organizational and geographical boundaries of the firm: strategic and policy issues for labour and governments

Analysis of the firm’s boundaries in terms of: perspectives – legal/proprietary; responsibility; control - ; stakeholders – shareholders and managers but also others and specifically labour and governments -; dimensions – organization of production; geographical/by nation-state; sectoral -. The organization of production in hierarchical as well as in a variety of hybrid forms and to the position of labour in the context of these hybrid forms. The geographical – by nation-states - dimension leads to a discussion of transnational companies, the advantages they derive from operating across borders and the source of such advantages. Detailed analysis of the position of two stakeholders vis-à-vis the changing boundaries of the firm: labour and governments. How organizational and geographical fragmentation of production lead to a more fragmented and weaker labour force. The geographical dimension and the position of governments in relation to transnational companies. How the changing boundaries of the firm particularly with respect to organizational forms and to the geography of direct foreign operations by TNCs put both labour and governments in a weaker position.