This book does not treat the MNC as an isolated entity. Rather, the center of investigation is the relationship between the MNC and its environment. For practical purposes the environment is equated with the nation-state. Thus, the study of the MNC becomes the study of the interaction between the MNC and the nation-state. This interaction was explained briefly in THE FIELD AND THE FRAMEWORK and was shown in Figure 2.6, The MNC-NS Synergy. Scholars in the field have been researching this interaction for years, as evidenced by the shelves of writings in both business and political science libraries. This section presents a brief summary of the main schools of thought on the MNC-nation-state interaction, using the two-level conceptual framework that was introduced earlier. At the first level, the academic level, are theories from economics and political science. At the second level, the practitioner level, are perspectives from business, government, and leaders of international organizations. Table 3.2 presents the two main levels of analysis of the MNC-nation-state relationship, along with the name of each school of thought, the entity that school designates as main actor in the interaction, and the main proponents of the school.
| School | Main Actor | Main Proponents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academic Level | Sovereignty at Bay | MNC | Raymond Vernon |
| Dependencia | MNC | Stephen Hymer | |
| Mercantilism | Nation-State | D. Calleo and B. Rowland | |
| Practitioner Level | Optimists | MNC Manager | Henry Kissinger |
| Pessimists | MNC Manager | Ronald Müller and Richard Barnet | |
| Meliorists | MNC Manager/Government Leaders | A. G. Kefalas |
As the table shows, the first two schools of the academic level assign the protagonist role to the MNC, whereas the last one puts the nation-state at the center of the conceptual framework. At the practitioner level, the emphasis is on the MNC's ability and willingness to contribute to world development by instructing its managers to adopt new philosophies and policies that reflect new world realities. A new world economic order would entail a shift toward a more equitable distribution of the world's wealth. The quest for a more equitable distribution of wealth calls for an increase in the participation of the developing nations in the creation of wealth via greater industrialization and local knowledge generation through such means as R&D.
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