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In recent decades, Postinternationalism has developed into an influential perspective in International Relations (IR). Core concepts such as the "sphere of authority" (Rosenau) or "polity" (Ferguson) have been applied to analyze transformative developments in global politics with regard to diverse actors and issues as well as system structure and interaction processes. This paper suggests that a postinternational approach can also provide helpful insights into the field of International Political Economy (IPE) by examining Multinational Corporations (MNCs) and their role in and impact on technological evolution. As a complex polity, MNCs have to accommodate various socio-political stakeholders, technological evolution, markets and national / global as well as public / private governance frameworks. The paper develops an integrative framework to critically investigate the challenges that MNCs face in managing the interconnected issues of technology, markets, regulatory governance and corporate identity in a rapidly changing global environment. It focuses on a case study of the German Siemens AG, one of the oldest and largest MNCs in the world and a leader in the information and communication technology (ICT) sectors of the 20th and 21st centuries. By analyzing Siemens' struggles to adapt to rapidly changing technology, new public policies (liberalization) and new corporate governance models during the 1990s and 2000s, the paper highlights the complex interconnectedness of technology, economics, politics and identity that make up the study of MNCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporate Responsibility (CR) firms engagement for social and environmental ends beyond the legally mandated minimum is probably the dominant rhetorical frame for the legitimation of contemporary capitalism. In my paper, I ask why CR has become salient at different times and has assumed different qualities across various European countries since 1980. Great Britain and Germany are my in-depth country cases, for it is claimed they represent extremes in the contemporary CR landscape. Britain, it is claimed, is European (if not global) CR leader, while Germany is a laggard among large European countries. My paper describes the institutionalization of CR in both countries in order to understand what factors contributed to these outcomes. Three stand out. First, urban dereliction and social unrest helped to bring CR up to speed in the UK in the 1980s; these pressures were largely absent in Germany. Second, the importance of state officials and policy entrepreneurs for promoting and subsidizing CR cannot be underestimated. Ironically, the British state has been very activist in this regard, while its German counterpart has remained largely inactive. Third, firms perceptions of their regulatory and welfare-state environment have a strong influence on the nature of their CR engagement, with perceived institutional constraints inversely related to engagement. Thus, CR gained momentum as Thatcher freed British businesses from their fetters, while this dynamic has only recently taken hold in Germany. Notwithstanding the insistence of mainstream CR literature that business objectives and societal responsibility imply and necessitate each other, sociological ambivalence a concept which focuses on the ways in which ambivalence comes to be built on to the structure of social statuses and roles is useful for highlighting some of the neglected contours of the CR landscape across Europe. Ambivalences are especially apparent where corporate responsibilities have tended to be institutionalized, legally binding, and constraining, as they have been in Germany. Corporate association officials there have at times pushed for the retrenchment of institutionalized forms of responsibility, such as corporate taxation, co-determination, and the welfare state, at the same time as they proclaim their far-reaching voluntary engagements as corporate citizens. As the substance if not always the form of institutions become ever more market-conforming and market-driven, these demands may become less audible. But firms may find that they have won a pyrrhic victory, as reconciling societal demands for responsibility with capitalism's imperative of profit maximization and its tendency to externalize costs is difficult without the hard backing of of˜beneficial constraints. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the identity, alterity and international relations (IR) theory cited at the International Studies Association annual convention in 2005. It notes that corporate identities are considered as self-organizing, homeostatic structures that make actors distinct entities and uncomplex social entities. It shows how it is possible to map IR theory's conceptualization of the identity and alterity nexus. It discusses the importance of travel literature to IR theory.

The article focuses on the reputation of multinational corporations in an era of globalization. It states that multinational corporations are responsible for most of the world's trade and investment. According to the authors, multinational corporations have come under growing pressure to enhance their performance on social, political and environmental issues. Several strategies employed by corporations to improve their reputation in the community are cited, such as new corporate images and logos, ethical codes of conduct and targeted philanthropy.

In his book, The Corporation, Joel Bakan famously argued that the company is pathological in its pursuit of power. In contrast, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is premised on the notion that the company is a responsive social animal. These contrast ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]