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The ultimate goal for a growing business that wants to increase the scale of its operations is to compete abroad. Multinational companies or MNCs (also known as transnational corporations or TNCs) are companies that operate in a number of countries around the world. Globalisation has hugely increased the number of MNCs around the world.

Some of the biggest retail, technology, food, coffee and soft drinks brands operate in many different countries. These companies often adapt their products to suit consumers in the different countries while keeping their brand image recognisable around the world. For example, a fast food chain might sell beef burgers in the UK or the USA but develop a spicy taco to sell in Mexico. This is often also known as ‘glocalisation’. These types of businesses have provided consumers with a huge range of choice, and generally provide cheaper or competitive pricing against alternative options.

There are a number of reasons that businesses become MNCs, they generally include:

• increased market share
• cheaper production costs
• economies of scale
• avoiding barriers to trade
• potential government grants and other funding