Introduction
The relationship of multinational corporations in a global workplace and the government of various nations are complicated. In general, they are independent from each other but they basically affect the interest of both sides. The interdependence of the global workplace and the government has developed over the trend of globalization (Coglianese et al., 2004). The regulations and the policies of the local and national government has been important for the order and maintenance of different global work environment. The government are relying on the condition of the global work environment for their policies and international laws such as trade agreements, tariffs and price control (Van den Bosch, 1994).
For the multinational corporations, the government laws and policing became the main factor for every decision regarding their economic plans. Government policies and laws could affect global workplace directly or indirectly (Coglianese et al., 2004). The regulations, permissions and formalities could directly affect corporations by restriction of some aspects of business. The policies such as price control and regulations regarding environmental protection could indirectly affect the corporations.
The objective of this research paper is analyze the role which the government play in the global work environment. The research paper also opts to evaluate what should be the government’s role in the global work environment.
What role does government play in the global work environment?
The international businesses are affected not only by one government. It is usually influenced by many governments as long as they are related into it. In general, the transactions in the global workplace is more affected by the local and national government than the local or domestic businesses (Coglianese et al., 2004). International corporations are more affected by the government due to tax, quotas, licenses, international regulations, policies and laws.
The government does not only affect the global work environment through transfer of goods or the import and export sector. The government also plays a role in the movement of other aspects of global workplace such as capital and labor (Coglianese et al., 2004).
The main role of the government in the global work environment is to provide or control permission. Corporations generally need a charter or a host country and the government could only provide the permission for it. The registrations or other papers for permission which is provided by the government is mainly for defining the financial liability of the owners of the international businesses or the corporations (Coglianese et al., 2004). It is for the government to evaluate which is the liable for every actions of the corporations in their territory. In this role of the government, corporations could not operate and they would have to find other nations to accommodate them.
Another main role of the government in the global work environment is to facilitate the international business. One of the aspects of how the government facilitate international business is the development of infrastructures. The government have the role of providing infrastructure needed for the operations of the international businesses (Van den Bosch, 1994).
These infrastructures are essential for the operations of the international businesses in the country as well as for international affairs. One of the major infrastructure that the government provide is the ports which is used for handling cargo for international trades (Coglianese et al., 2004). The government also provides roads and highways which are critical for the global work environment especially for the corporations.
Another aspect of how the government facilitate the international business is the development of law and order on the global work environment. Although the government laws and policies are only applicable to one country, they could affect the global work environment since the countries are interrelated and they usually influence each other (Coglianese et al., 2004).
The international companies are also concern about the safety of their operations or businesses in a certain country. The political, social and economic stability is what the international corporations seek. It is the government’s role to provide the stability in their nation for the global work environment (Van den Bosch, 1994).
In most cases, the global workplace is filled with risks for corporations. It is the role of the government to minimize the risk for the corporations by providing law, order and stability with their nation (Coglianese et al., 2004). The government should have a clear policy towards international trade and international investment in order for the multinational corporations to assess the risk they are about to face.
The government could also reduce the risk for the international corporations by avoiding inflation and controlling the foreign exchange rate of the country. The government could also provide consumer and property rights in order for the international corporations to have assurance of their economic safety.
The government has a significant influence with the global work environment through government policies. Some of these government policies include monetary policies, fiscal policies, sector policies and commercial policies (Coglianese et al., 2004). These policies affect both the local and international businesses. For global corporations, they are greatly affected by the policies regarding the restrictions of the international businesses on the economic development of the nation.
In general, the government is the guide for global work environment. The government could lead to their development or it could lead to restrictions which could limit the progress of their operations and businesses (Van den Bosch, 1994).
What role should government play in the global work environment?
The government could directly influence the global work environment through government policies and laws. They usually organize the law and order of the country which is beneficial to the international corporations. In addition, there are some aspect of the global work environment that could be indirectly affected by the works or actions of the government. It could be beneficial such as business promotion or it could be disadvantageous such as economic restrictions (Coglianese et al., 2004). There are some things that the government should play as a role to the global work environment. These roles are also based on the features of the global work environment and how they operate their businesses.
First, the government should help in promoting international business which could be beneficial to both of them. The government could acquire large amounts of revenue from international businesses which is the reason why most of the countries promote foreign investments. The global work environment could benefit from these promotion since they could expand their operations. The nation could suffer from the promotion of international business especially when there are extreme competition with local businesses (Van den Bosch, 1994). However, it is the role of the government to promote the international businesses since it could also benefit the country. Promotion of international businesses are done by most of the developing countries.
Another main role of the government is that they should encourage the international businesses operating in the country to grow. They should encourage foreign investments on the international businesses because their success could also be beneficial to the government. The government could also help in the progress of the international business by encouraging contracts between international businesses (Coglianese et al., 2004). In this case, the competition would be decreased and the risk of operating a business would also be reduced. The government’s role of encouraging foreign investments could be critical to global work environment. The government could also help in the progress of international businesses by doing their role such as providing infrastructure and maintaining political and economic stability.
Another role of the government is that they should protect both of the international businesses and the customers. The failure of the international businesses could be critical to the government. Protection of the interests of the international businesses and the customers are critical to the global work environment. The government could protect the consumers and the costumers by controlling some of the major aspects of economic restrictions such as price control and foreign exchange. The costumers could also be protected by enforcing some of the laws on manufacturing such as proper labeling of the goods (Coglianese et al., 2004). The relationship of consumer and costumers are critical to the global work environment and should be protected by the government.
Lastly, the government should also consider the environment when facilitating the global workplace. The government should promote sustainability and environmental protect throughout the global businesses. The role of the government is very critical to the environmental protection and promotion of sustainability (Van den Bosch, 1994). The government could establish a policy regarding sustainability and protection of the environment. The global workplace would eventually follow these policies since the government’s permission for business is at stake. In addition, it is the role of the government to protect their people from the hazards of environmental problems.
References
Coglianese, C., Keating, E., Michael, M., & Healey, T. (2004). The role of the government in corporate governance. NYU Journal of Law and Business, 1(1), 219-238
Van den Bosch, F. (1994). Government’s impact on the business environment and strategic management. Journal of General Management, 19(3), 50-59
