That corporate and community interests are not always synonymous is
a truism common to all organizations, not just the multinationals. But the
scale of operations among the latter is so enormous that it makes the consequences
of their decisions especially great. We have illustrated the point
by focusing on how changes in corporate strategy, even if only to increase
rates of profit, can set the basis for widespread socioeconomic change. In
a similar way, the decisions of multinationals to move their liquid capital
from one country to another to take advantage of interest rate differentials
can have a major effect on the international balance of payments of the
countries concerned. Or a decision to pursue a particular line of corporate
development can have a major effect on national and regional economic
planning, distorting the pattern of relations that the host region or nation
wishes to encourage.