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122-482: The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan , United States. The company was among the three largest chemical producers in the world in 2021. It is the operating subsidiary of Dow Inc. , a publicly traded holding company incorporated under Delaware law . With a presence in around 160 countries, it employs about 36,000 people worldwide. Dow has been called

244-417: A catalyst , but in modern production this has been replaced by zeolites . Around 80% of styrene is produced by the dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene . This is achieved using superheated steam (up to 600 °C) over an iron(III) oxide catalyst. The reaction is highly endothermic and reversible, with a typical yield of 88–94%. The crude ethylbenzene/styrene product is then purified by distillation. As

366-532: A dimer , and in 1866 the French chemist Marcelin Berthelot stated that "metastyrol" was a polymer of styrene (i.e. polystyrene ). Meanwhile, other chemists had been investigating another component of storax, namely, cinnamic acid . They had found that cinnamic acid could be decarboxylated to form "cinnamene" (or "cinnamol"), which appeared to be styrene. In 1845, French chemist Emil Kopp suggested that

488-766: A basis in a national ethos , being ultimate without a specific nationhood, and that this lack of an ethos appears in their ways of operating as they enter into contracts with countries that have low human rights or environmental standards . In the world economy facilitated by multinational corporations, capital will increasingly be able to play workers, communities, and nations off against one another as they demand tax, regulation and wage concessions while threatening to move. In other words, increased mobility of multinational corporations benefits capital while workers and communities lose. Some negative outcomes generated by multinational corporations include increased inequality , unemployment , and wage stagnation . Raymond Vernon presents

610-442: A class-action civil lawsuit won at a jury trial in 2013. Dow settled the suit in 2016 for $ 835 million. In the early 1990s, Dow embarked on a major structural reorganization. The former reporting hierarchy was geographically based, with the regional president reporting directly to the overall company president and CEO. The new organization combines the same businesses from different sites, irrespective of which region they belong (i.e.

732-508: A corporation invests in a country in which it is not domiciled, it is called foreign direct investment (FDI). Countries may place restrictions on direct investment; for example, China has historically required partnerships with local firms or special approval for certain types of investments by foreigners, although some of these restrictions were eased in 2019. Similarly, the United States Committee on Foreign Investment in

854-535: A day in 1902. Early in the company's history, a group of British manufacturers tried to drive Dow out of the bleach business by cutting prices. Dow survived by also cutting its prices and, although losing about $ 90,000 in income, began to diversify its product line . In 1905, German bromide producers began dumping bromides at low cost in the U.S. in an effort to prevent Dow from expanding its sales of bromides in Europe. Instead of competing directly for market share with

976-476: A deteriorated credit market and the collapse of the K-Dow Petrochemical deal as reasons for failing to timely close the merger. Around the same time, CEO Andrew Liveris said a first- time cut to the company's 97- year- old dividend policy was not "off the table". On 12 February 2009, the company declared a quarterly dividend of $ 0.15/share, down from $ 0.42 the previous quarter. The cut represented

1098-501: A first 750000 tonne per year unit, while other units would become available in the future. An ethylene production facility was expected to start up in the first half of 2017. On 27 March 2015, Dow and Olin Corporation announced that the boards of directors of both companies unanimously approved a definitive agreement under which Dow will separate a significant portion of its chlorine business and merge that new entity with Olin in

1220-429: A free market system where there is little government interference. As a result, international wealth is maximized with free exchange of goods and services. To many economic liberals, multinational corporations are the vanguard of the liberal order. They are the embodiment par excellence of the liberal ideal of an interdependent world economy. They have taken the integration of national economies beyond trade and money to

1342-604: A less pleasant odor. Styrene is the precursor to polystyrene and several copolymers, and is typically made from benzene for this purpose. Approximately 25 million tonnes of styrene were produced in 2010, increasing to around 35 million tonnes by 2018. Styrene is named after storax balsam (often commercially sold as styrax ), the resin of Liquidambar trees of the Altingiaceae plant family. Styrene occurs naturally in small quantities in some plants and foods ( cinnamon , coffee beans , balsam trees and peanuts ) and

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1464-452: A liquid or a gas, pure styrene will polymerise spontaneously to polystyrene, without the need of external initiators . This is known as autopolymerisation . At 100 °C it will autopolymerise at a rate of ~2% per hour, and more rapidly than this at higher temperatures. As the autopolymerisation reaction is exothermic it can be self-accelerating, with a real risk of a thermal runaway , potentially leading to an explosion. Examples include

1586-490: A million troops to help, and by February 1991, Iraqi forces were expelled from Kuwait. Due to the oil boycott from Kuwait and Iran, oil prices rose and quickly recovered. Saudi Arabia once again led OPEC, and thanks to assistance in defending Kuwait, new relations emerged between the USA and OPEC. Operation "Desert Storm" brought mutual dependence among the main oil producers. OPEC continued to influence global oil prices but recognized

1708-490: A possible leveraged buyout of Dow. The two executives have since filed lawsuits claiming they were fired for being a threat to CEO Liveris, and that the allegations were concocted as a pretext. However, in June 2008 Dow Chemical and the litigants announced a settlement in which Kreinberg and Reinhard dropped their lawsuits and admitted taking part in discussions "which were not authorized by, nor disclosed to, Dow's board concerning

1830-441: A possible or potential human carcinogen. The International Agency for Research on Cancer considers styrene to be "probably carcinogenic to humans". The neurotoxic properties of styrene have also been studied and reported effects include effects on vision (although unable to reproduce in a subsequent study ) and on hearing functions. Studies on rats have yielded contradictory results, but epidemiologic studies have observed

1952-648: A potential LBO" and acknowledged that it would have been appropriate to have informed the CEO and board of the talks. In summer 2008, Dow sold its zoxamide business to Gowan Company. Included in the sale were the trademarks for a potato and grape fungicide called Gavel (fungicide) . It is employed by potato growers to control early and late potato blight and is also registered in Canada for control of downy mildew in grapes , except in British Columbia . In

2074-423: A process known as POSM ( Lyondell Chemical Company ) or SM/PO ( Shell ) for styrene monomer / propylene oxide . In this process, ethylbenzene is treated with oxygen to form the ethylbenzene hydroperoxide . This hydroperoxide is then used to oxidize propylene to propylene oxide, which is also recovered as a co-product. The remaining 1-phenylethanol is dehydrated to give styrene: Extraction from pyrolysis gasoline

2196-469: A proprietary zeolitic catalyst. It is reported that an approximately 9:1 mixture of styrene and ethylbenzene is obtained, with a total styrene yield of over 60%. Another route to styrene involves the reaction of benzene and ethane . This process is being developed by Snamprogetti and Dow. Ethane, along with ethylbenzene, is fed to a dehydrogenation reactor with a catalyst capable of simultaneously producing styrene and ethylene. The dehydrogenation effluent

2318-527: A range of insecticides (such as Lorsban ), herbicides and fungicides . Seeds from genetically modified plants are also an important area of growth for the company. Dow AgroSciences sells seeds commercially under the following brands: Mycogen ( grain corn , silage corn , sunflowers , alfalfa , and sorghum ), Atlas ( soybean ), PhytoGen ( cotton ) and Hyland Seeds in Canada (corn, soybean, alfalfa, navy beans and wheat ). The Dow AgroSciences business unit

2440-481: A share) on 9 March 2009. On 12 April 2007, Dow dismissed two senior executives for "unauthorized discussions with third parties about the potential sale of the company". The two figures are executive vice president Romeo Kreinberg , and director and former CFO J. Pedro Reinhard. Dow claims they were secretly in contact with JPMorgan Chase ; at the same time, a story surfaced in Britain's Sunday Express regarding

2562-567: A tank containing 2,4,5-T , one of the composites that is used in the production of Agent Orange. The settlement of the case included $ 9 million for the cleanup of affected homes in the area, and $ 84 million to cover the medical monitoring and treatment of people affected by the explosion, as well as legal costs for the claimants. No care has been given for the in state damage done by the Headquarters in Midland, Michigan, and they refuse to give

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2684-557: A transaction that will create an industry leader, with revenues approaching $ 7 billion. Olin, the new partnership, became the largest chlorine producer in the world. On 11 December 2015, Dow announced that it would merge with DuPont , in an all-stock deal. The combined company, which was known as DowDuPont , had an estimated value of $ 130 billion, was equally held by the shareholders of both companies, and maintained their respective headquarters in Michigan and Delaware. Within two years of

2806-509: A wide range of crops including cotton , beans , canola , cereals , crucifers , cucurbits , and vegetables. Dinitroanilines, are also known as " DNA herbicides ", and have been commercialised at least since 1970. Dow is a large producer of plastics, including polystyrene , polyurethane , polyethylene , polypropylene , and synthetic rubber . It is also a major producer of ethylene oxide , various acrylates , surfactants , and cellulose resins. It produces agricultural chemicals including

2928-562: Is Dow's largest site, and the largest integrated chemical manufacturing site in the country. The site grew quickly – with power, chlorine, caustic soda and ethylene also soon in production. Growth of this business made Dow a strategic company during World War II, as magnesium became important to manufacture lightweight parts for aircraft . Based on 2002–2003 data, the Freeport plants produced 27 billion lbs of product – or 21% of Dow's global production. In 1942, Dow began its foreign expansion with

3050-526: Is a business unit which manufactures Filmtec reverse osmosis membranes which are used to purify water for human use in the Middle East. The technology was used during the 2000 Summer Olympics and 2008 Summer Olympics . The DW&PS business unit remained with DowDuPont following the April 2019 spin-off. Agricultural Sciences, or ( Dow AgroSciences ), provides 7 percent of sales and is responsible for

3172-554: Is also found in coal tar . In 1839, the German apothecary Eduard Simon isolated a volatile liquid from the resin (called storax or styrax (Latin)) of the American sweetgum tree ( Liquidambar styraciflua ). He called the liquid "styrol" (now called styrene). He also noticed that when styrol was exposed to air, light, or heat, it gradually transformed into a hard, rubber-like substance, which he called "styrol oxide". By 1845,

3294-443: Is cooled and separated and the ethylene stream is recycled to the alkylation unit. The process attempts to overcome previous shortcomings in earlier attempts to develop production of styrene from ethane and benzene, such as inefficient recovery of aromatics, production of high levels of heavies and tars, and inefficient separation of hydrogen and ethane. Development of the process is ongoing. A laboratory synthesis of styrene entails

3416-481: Is largely metabolized into styrene oxide in humans, resulting from oxidation by cytochrome P450 . Styrene oxide is considered toxic , mutagenic , and possibly carcinogenic . Styrene oxide is subsequently hydrolyzed in vivo to styrene glycol by the enzyme epoxide hydrolase . The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has described styrene to be "a suspected toxin to the gastrointestinal tract, kidney, and respiratory system, among others". On 10 June 2011,

3538-410: Is often handled through international arbitration . The actions of multinational corporations are strongly supported by economic liberalism and free market system in a globalized international society. According to the economic realist view, individuals act in rational ways to maximize their self-interest and therefore, when individuals act rationally, markets are created and they function best in

3660-438: Is performed on a limited scale. Styrene can be produced from toluene and methanol , which are cheaper raw materials than those in the conventional process. This process has suffered from low selectivity associated with the competing decomposition of methanol. Exelus Inc. claims to have developed this process with commercially viable selectivities, at 400–425 °C and atmospheric pressure, by forcing these components through

3782-865: Is usually a large corporation incorporated in one country that produces or sells goods or services in various countries. Two common characteristics shared by MNCs are their large size and centrally controlled worldwide activities. MNCs may gain from their global presence in a variety of ways. First of all, MNCs can benefit from the economy of scale by spreading R&D expenditures and advertising costs over their global sales, pooling global purchasing power over suppliers, and utilizing their technological and managerial experience globally with minimal additional costs. Furthermore, MNCs can use their global presence to take advantage of underpriced labor services available in certain developing countries and gain access to special R&D capabilities residing in advanced foreign countries. The problem of moral and legal constraints upon

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3904-589: The Environmental Protection Agency to remove 50,000 cubic yards (38,000 m) of sediment from three areas of the riverbed and levees of the river that had been found to be contaminated. In November 2008, Dow Chemical along with the United States Environmental Protection Agency and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality agreed to establish a Superfund to address dioxin cleanup of

4026-613: The Financial crisis of 2007–2008 , it would accelerate job cuts resulting from its reorganization. The announced plan included closing 20 facilities, temporarily idling 180 plants, and eliminating 5,000 full-time jobs (about 11 percent of its work-force) and 6,000 contractor positions. Citing the global recession that began in the latter half of 2008, the Kuwaiti government scuttled the K-Dow partnership on 28 December 2008. The collapse of

4148-490: The Rocky Flats Plant near Denver, Colorado . Rocky Flats was a nuclear weapons production facility that produced plutonium triggers for hydrogen bombs . Contamination from fires and radioactive waste leakage plagued the facility under Dow's management. In 1957 a fire burned plutonium dust in the facility and sent radioactive particles into the atmosphere. The Department of Energy transferred management of

4270-644: The Swedish Africa Company founded in 1649 and the Hudson's Bay Company founded in 1670. These early corporations engaged in international trade and exploration and set up trading posts. The Dutch government took over the VOC in 1799, and during the 19th century, other governments increasingly took over private companies, most notably in British India. During the process of decolonization ,

4392-512: The US National Toxicology Program has described styrene as "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen". However, a STATS author describes a review that was done on scientific literature and concluded that "The available epidemiologic evidence does not support a causal relationship between styrene exposure and any type of human cancer". Despite this claim, work has been done by Danish researchers to investigate

4514-549: The United States , have subsequently found that silicone breast implants do not cause breast cancers or any identifiable systemic disease. The Bhopal disaster occurred at a pesticide plant owned by Union Carbide India Ltd., a subsidiary of Union Carbide , in 1984. A gas cloud containing methyl isocyanate and other chemicals spread to the neighborhoods near the plant where more than half a million people lived. The government of Madhya Pradesh confirmed 3,787 deaths related to

4636-471: The Vietnam War until 1973. Dow was one of several manufacturers who began producing the napalm B compound under government contract from 1965. After experiencing protests and negative publicity, the other suppliers discontinued manufacturing the product, leaving Dow as the sole provider. The company said that it carefully considered its position, and decided, as a matter of principle, "its first obligation

4758-511: The common equity interest of Rohm and Haas Co. for $ 15.4 billion, which equated to $ 78 per share. The buyout was financed with equity investments of $ 3 billion by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and $ 1 billion by the Kuwait Investment Authority . The purpose of the deal was to move Dow Chemical further into specialty chemicals , which offer higher profit margins than the commodities market and are more difficult to enter for

4880-687: The decarboxylation of cinnamic acid : Styrene was first prepared by this method. The presence of the vinyl group allows styrene to polymerize . Commercially significant products include polystyrene , acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), styrene-butadiene (SBR) rubber , styrene-butadiene latex, SIS (styrene-isoprene-styrene), S-EB-S (styrene-ethylene/butylene-styrene), styrene- divinylbenzene (S-DVB), styrene-acrylonitrile resin (SAN), and unsaturated polyesters used in resins and thermosetting compounds . These materials are used in rubber, plastic, insulation, fiberglass , pipes, automobile and boat parts, food containers, and carpet backing. As

5002-781: The history of colonialism . The first multi-national corporations were founded to set up colonial "factories" or port cities. The two main examples were the British East India Company founded in 1600 and the Dutch East India Company (VOC) founded in 1602. In addition to carrying on trade between Great Britain and its colonies, the British East India Company became a quasi-government in its own right, with local government officials and its own army in India. Other examples include

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5124-920: The pesticide Lorsban and consumer products including Styrofoam . Some Dow consumer products, including Saran wrap, Ziploc bags, and Scrubbing Bubbles were sold to S. C. Johnson & Son in 1997. Performance plastics make up 25% of Dow's sales, with many products designed for the automotive and construction industries . The plastics include polyolefins such as polyethylene and polypropylene , as well as polystyrene used to produce Styrofoam insulating material. Dow manufactures epoxy resin intermediates including bisphenol A and epichlorohydrin . Saran resins and films are based on polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC). The Performance Chemicals (17 percent of sales) segment produces chemicals and materials for water purification , pharmaceuticals , paper coatings , paints and advanced electronics . Major product lines include nitroparaffins, such as nitromethane , used in

5246-517: The "chemical companies' chemical company", as its sales are to other industries rather than directly to end-use consumers. Dow is a member of the American Chemistry Council . In 2015, Dow and fellow chemical company DuPont agreed to a corporate reorganization involving the merger of Dow and DuPont followed by a separation into three different entities. The plan commenced in 2017, when Dow and DuPont merged to form DowDuPont, and

5368-643: The 1921 winner of the Indianapolis 500 used the Dowmetal pistons in his vehicle. In the 1930s, Dow began producing plastic resins, which would grow to become one of the corporation's major businesses. Its first plastic products were ethylcellulose , made in 1935, and polystyrene , made in 1937. From 1940 to 1941, Dow built its first plant in Freeport, Texas , to produce magnesium extracted from seawater rather than underground brine . The Freeport plant

5490-615: The 2019 explosion of the tanker Stolt Groenland , explosions at the Phillips Petroleum Company in 1999 and 2000 and overheating styrene tanks leading to the 2020 Visakhapatnam gas leak , which killed several people. The autopolymerisation reaction can only be kept in check by the continuous addition of polymerisation inhibitors . Styrene is regarded as a "known carcinogen ", especially in case of eye contact, but also in case of skin contact, of ingestion and of inhalation, according to several sources. Styrene

5612-495: The Bhopal disaster. William S. Stavropoulos served as president and chief executive officer of Dow from 1995 to 2000, then again from 2002 to 2004. He relinquished his board seat on 1 April 2006, having been a director since 1990 and chairman since 2000. During his first tenure, he led the purchase of UCC, which proved controversial, as it was blamed for poor results under his successor as chief executive officer, Mike Parker. Parker

5734-551: The English language. Senior officials, although mostly still Swedish, all learned English and all major internal documents were in English, the lingua franca of multinational corporations. After the war, the number of businesses having at least one foreign country operation rose drastically from a few thousand to 78,411 in 2007. Meanwhile, 74% of parent companies are located in economically advanced countries. Developing and former communist countries such as China, India, and Brazil are

5856-608: The European colonial charter companies were disbanded, with the final colonial corporation, the Mozambique Company , dissolving in 1972. Mining of gold, silver, copper, and oil was a major activity early on and remains so today. International mining companies became prominent in Britain in the 19th century, such as the Rio Tinto company founded in 1873, which started with the purchase of sulfur and copper mines from

5978-432: The German chemist August Wilhelm von Hofmann and his student John Buddle Blyth had determined styrene's empirical formula : C 8 H 8 . They had also determined that Simon's "styrol oxide" – which they renamed "metastyrol" – had the same empirical formula as styrene. Furthermore, they could obtain styrene by dry-distilling "metastyrol". In 1865, the German chemist Emil Erlenmeyer found that styrene could form

6100-443: The German producers, Dow bought the cheap German-made bromides and shipped them back to Europe. This undercut his German competitors. Even in its early history, Dow set a tradition of rapidly diversifying its product line. Within twenty years, Dow had become a major producer of agricultural chemicals, elemental chlorine , phenol and other dyestuffs , and magnesium metal. During World War I , Dow supplied many war materials that

6222-575: The International Energy Agency (IEA), enabling states to coordinate policy, gather data, and monitor global oil reserves. In the 1970s, OPEC gradually nationalized the Seven Sisters. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as the only largest world oil producer, could leverage this. However, Saudi Arabia opted for the correct approach and maintained consistent oil prices throughout the 1970s. In 1979, the "second oil shock" came from

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6344-574: The Netherlands has become a popular choice, as its company laws have fewer requirements for meetings, compensation, and audit committees, and Great Britain had advantages due to laws on withholding dividends and a double-taxation treaty with the United States. Corporations can legally engage in tax avoidance through their choice of jurisdiction but must be careful to avoid illegal tax evasion . Corporations that are broadly active across

6466-558: The OLI framework. The other theoretical dimension of the role of multinational corporations concerns the relationship between the globalization of economic engagement and the culture of national and local responses. This has a history of self-conscious cultural management going back at least to the 60s. For example: Ernest Dichter, architect, of Exxon's international campaign, writing in the Harvard Business Review in 1963,

6588-586: The Spanish government. Rio Tinto, now based in London and Melbourne , Australia, has made many acquisitions and expanded globally to mine aluminum , iron ore , copper , uranium , and diamonds . European mines in South Africa began opening in the late 19th century, producing gold and other minerals for the world market, jobs for locals, and business and profits for companies. Cecil Rhodes (1853–1902)

6710-464: The Third World colonies. That changed dramatically after 1945 as investors turned to industrialized countries and invested in manufacturing (especially high-tech electronics, chemicals, drugs, and vehicles) as well as trade. Sweden's leading manufacturing concern was SKF , a leading maker of bearings for machinery. In order to expand its international business, it decided in 1966 it needed to use

6832-707: The Tittabawassee River, Saginaw River and Saginaw Bay . In December 2015, Dow Chemicals agreed to sell part of its global herbicide business, which had reported falling sales for nearly a year. A portfolio of weed killers known as dinitroanilines was sold to privately held Gowan Company , a family owned company located in Yuma , Arizona , which markets a variety of pesticides to the agricultural and horticultural industries. The global trademarks for Treflan (pesticide) ®, which can be sprayed on field corn , cotton and some fruit and vegetables, were included in

6954-636: The U.S. applies its corporate taxation "extraterritorially", which has motivated tax inversions to change the home state. By 2019, most OECD nations, with the notable exception of the U.S., had moved to territorial tax in which only revenue inside the border was taxed; however, these nations typically scrutinize foreign income with controlled foreign corporation (CFC) rules to avoid base erosion and profit shifting . In practice, even under an extraterritorial system, taxes may be deferred until remittance, with possible repatriation tax holidays , and subject to foreign tax credits . Countries generally cannot tax

7076-551: The U.S. military during the Vietnam War. In 2005, a lawsuit was filed by Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange against Dow and Monsanto Co. , which also supplied Agent Orange to the military. The lawsuit was dismissed. In 2012, Monsanto agreed to a $ 93 million settlement as a result of a case pursued by ex-Monsanto employees and citizens in the city of Nitro, WV. In 1949, a chemical plant in Nitro experienced an explosion that damaged

7198-541: The United States sanctions against Iran ; European companies faced with the possibility of losing access to the U.S. market by trading with Iran. International investment agreements also facilitate direct investment between two countries, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement and most favored nation status. Raymond Vernon reported in 1977 that of the largest multinationals focused on manufacturing, 250 were headquartered in

7320-506: The United States scrutinizes foreign investments. In addition, corporations may be prohibited from various business transactions by international sanctions or domestic laws. For example, Chinese domestic corporations or citizens have limitations on their ability to make foreign investments outside China, in part to reduce capital outflow . Countries can impose extraterritorial sanctions on foreign corporations even for doing business with other foreign corporations, which occurred in 2019 with

7442-614: The United States as the largest consumer and guarantor of the existing oil security order. Since the Iraq War, OPEC has had only a minor influence on oil prices, but it has expanded to 11 members, accounting for about 40 percent of total global oil production, although this is a decline from nearly 50 percent in 1974. Oil has practically become a common commodity, leading to much more volatile prices. Most OPEC members are wealthy, and most remain dependent on oil revenues, which has serious consequences, such as when OPEC members were pressured by

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7564-461: The United States from 2010. The USA became the leading oil producer, creating tension with OPEC. In 2014, Saudi Arabia increased production to push new American producers out of the market, leading to lower prices. OPEC then reduced production in 2016 to raise prices, further worsening relations with the United States. By 2012, only 7% of the world's known oil reserves were in countries that allowed private international companies free rein; 65% were in

7686-557: The United States had previously imported from Germany. Dow produced magnesium for incendiary flares, monochlorobenzene and phenol for explosives, and bromine for medicines and tear gas. By 1918, 90 percent of Dow's production was geared towards the war effort. At this time, Dow created the diamond logo that is still used by the company. After the war, Dow continued research in magnesium, and it developed refined automobile pistons that produced more speed and better fuel efficiency. The Dowmetal pistons were used heavily in racing vehicles, and

7808-477: The United States on the global oil market. In 1959, companies lowered the price of oil due to a surplus in the market. This reduction dealt a significant blow to the finances of producers. Saudi oil minister Abdullah Tariki and Venezuela’s Juan Perez Alfonso entered into a secret agreement (the Mahdi Pact), promising that if the price of oil was lowered a second time, they would take collective action against

7930-636: The United States turned to foreign oil sources, which had a significant impact on the recovery of the West after World War II. Most of the world's oil was found in Latin America and the Middle East, particularly in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. This increase in non-American production was enabled by multinational corporations known as the 'Seven Sisters'. The "Seven Sisters" was a common term for

8052-523: The United States, 115 in Western Europe, 70 in Japan, and 20 in the rest of the world. The multinationals in banking numbered 20 headquartered in the United States, 13 in Europe, nine in Japan and three in Canada. Today multinationals can select from a variety of jurisdictions for various subsidiaries, but the ultimate parent company can select a single legal domicile ; The Economist suggests that

8174-456: The West to the post-colonial South and invest either in foreign expenditures or ostentatious economic development projects. After 1974, most of the money from OPEC members ceased as payments for goods and services or investments in Western industry. In February 1974, the first Washington Energy Conference was convened. The most significant contribution of this conference was the establishment of

8296-469: The behavior of multinational corporations, given that they are effectively "stateless" actors, is one of several urgent global socioeconomic problems that has emerged during the late twentieth century. Potentially, the best concept for analyzing society's governance limitations over modern corporations is the concept of "stateless corporations". Coined at least as early as 1991 in Business Week ,

8418-483: The cancer-causing chemical dioxin in November 2006. The dioxin was located in sediments two to ten feet below the surface of the river, and, according to The New York Times , "there is no indication that residents or workers in the area are directly exposed to the sites". However, people who often eat fish from the river had slightly elevated levels of dioxin in their blood. In July 2007, Dow reached an agreement with

8540-742: The collapse of the Shah's regime in Iran. Iran became a regional power due to oil money and American weapons. The Shah eventually abdicated and fled the country. This prompted a strike by thousands of Iranian oil workers, significantly reducing oil production in Iran. Saudi Arabia tried to cope with the crisis by increasing production, but oil prices still soared, leading to the "second oil shock." Saudi Arabia significantly reduced oil production, losing most of its revenues. In 1986, Riyadh changed course, and oil production in Saudi Arabia sharply increased, flooding

8662-654: The companies. This occurred in 1960. Prior to the 1973 oil crisis , the Seven Sisters controlled around 85 percent of the world's petroleum reserves . In the 1970s, most countries with large reserves nationalized their reserves that had been owned by major oil companies. Since then, industry dominance has shifted to the OPEC cartel and state-owned oil and gas companies, such as Saudi Aramco , Gazprom (Russia), China National Petroleum Corporation , National Iranian Oil Company , PDVSA (Venezuela), Petrobras (Brazil), and Petronas (Malaysia). A unilateral increase in oil prices

8784-475: The company would not complete the Rohm & Haas transaction, as the cash from the former transaction was expected to fund the latter. The deal was expected to be finalized in early 2009 and was to form one of the nation's largest specialty chemicals firms in the U.S. However, on 26 January 2009 the company informed Rohm and Haas that it would be unable to complete the transaction by the agreed upon deadline. Dow cited

8906-411: The competition. The purchase was criticized by many on Wall Street who believed Dow Chemical overpaid (about a 75 percent premium on the previous day's market capital) to acquire the company; however, the high bid was needed to ward off competing bids from BASF. The transaction to purchase the outstanding interest of Rohm and Haas was closed on 1 April 2009. On 8 December 2008, Dow announced that due to

9028-510: The conception was theoretically clarified in 1993: that an empirical strategy for defining a stateless corporation is with analytical tools at the intersection between demographic analysis and transportation research. This intersection is known as logistics management , and it describes the importance of rapidly increasing global mobility of resources. In a long history of analysis of multinational corporations, we are some quarter-century into an era of stateless corporations—corporations that meet

9150-643: The creation of a "world customer". The idea of a global corporate village entailed the management and reconstitution of parochial attachments to one's nation. It involved not a denial of the naturalness of national attachments, but an internationalization of the way a nation defines itself. "Multinational enterprise" (MNE) is the term used by international economist and similarly defined with the multinational corporation (MNC) as an enterprise that controls and manages production establishments, known as plants located in at least two countries. The multinational enterprise (MNE) will engage in foreign direct investment (FDI) as

9272-438: The deal dealt a blow to Dow CEO Andrew Liveris ' vision of restructuring the company to make it less cyclical . However, on 6 January 2009 Dow Chemical announced they were in talks with other parties who could be interested in a major joint venture with the company. Dow also announced they that it would be seeking to recover damages related to the failed joint venture from PIC. After the K-Dow deal collapsed, some speculated that

9394-553: The debate from a neo-liberal perspective in Storm over the Multinationals (1977). Styrene Styrene is an organic compound with the chemical formula C 6 H 5 CH=CH 2 . Its structure consists of a vinyl group as substituent on benzene . Styrene is a colorless, oily liquid , although aged samples can appear yellowish. The compound evaporates easily and has a sweet smell, although high concentrations have

9516-532: The decision. On 23 April 2009 a Los Angeles judge threw out two cases against Dole and Dow due to fraud and extortion by lawyers in Nicaragua recruiting fraudulent plaintiffs to make claims against the company. The ruling casts doubt on $ 2 billion in judgments in similar lawsuits. In February 2013 a federal court rejected two tax shelter transactions entered into by Dow that created approximately $ 1 billion in tax deductions between 1993 and 2003. The court wrote that

9638-426: The difference in boiling points between the two compounds is only 9 °C at ambient pressure this necessitates the use of a series of distillation columns. This is energy intensive and is further complicated by the tendency of styrene to undergo thermally induced polymerisation into polystyrene, requiring the continuous addition of polymerization inhibitor to the system. Styrene is also co-produced commercially in

9760-873: The direct parent company of The Dow Chemical Company. Also in 2019 Dow employees won an Adhesives and Sealants Council Innovation Award for "UV Curable Primer that Enables Hard to Bond INFUSE Olefin Block Copolymer Midsole Foams in High Performance Footwear". Dow Chemical has begun to shed commodity chemical businesses, such as those making the basic ingredients for grocery bags and plastic pipes, because their profit margins only average 5–10%. Dow is, as of 2015, focusing its resources on specialty chemicals that earn profit margins of at least 20%. Areas along Michigan's Tittabawassee River , which runs within yards of Dow's main plant in Midland , were found to contain elevated levels of

9882-538: The evidence to the community. A major manufacturer of silicone breast implants , Dow Corning (Dow Chemical's Joint Venture with Corning Inc. ) was sued for personal damages caused by ruptured implants. On 6 October 2005, all such cases pending in the District Court against the company were dismissed. A number of large, independent reviews of the scientific literature, including the Institute of Medicine in

10004-409: The facilities will employ about 3000 people, and 5000 people during construction. The plants will manufacture materials for several of its growing segments, including hygiene and medical, transportation, electrical and telecommunications, packaging, consumer durables and sports and leisure. Dow's new propane dehydrogenation (PDH) facility in Freeport, Texas, was expected to come online in 2015, with

10126-525: The facility to Rockwell International in 1975. In 1990, nearby residents filed a class action lawsuit against Dow and Rockwell for environmental contamination of the area; the case was settled in 2017 for $ 375 million. According to the Appellate Court, the owners of the 12,000 properties in the class-action area had not proved that their properties were damaged or they had suffered bodily injury. The United States military used napalm bombs during

10248-405: The falsification of test results and the recruitment of plaintiffs who had never worked at Dole plantations. While Nicaraguan courts awarded the plaintiffs over $ 600 million in damages, they have been unable to collect any payment from the companies. A group of plaintiffs then sued in the United States, and, on 5 November 2007, a Los Angeles jury awarded them $ 3.2 million. Dole and Dow vowed to appeal

10370-481: The firm makes direct investments in host country plants for equity ownership and managerial control to avoid some transaction costs . Sanjaya Lall in 1974 proposed a spectrum of scholarly analysis of multinational corporations, from the political right to the left. He put the business school how-to-do-it writers at the extreme right, followed by the liberal laissez-faire economists, and the neoliberals (they remain right of center but do allow for occasional mistakes of

10492-405: The first time the company had diminished its investor payout in the dividend's 97-year history. The transaction to purchase the outstanding interest of Rohm and Haas closed on 1 April 2009. After negotiating the sale of preferred stock with Rohm and Hass' two largest stockholders and extending their one-year bridge loan an additional year, the company purchased Rohm and Haas for $ 15 billion ($ 78

10614-513: The formation of Dow Chemical of Canada in Sarnia, Ontario , to produce styrene for use in styrene-butadiene synthetic rubber . Also during the war, Dow and Corning began their joint venture, Dow Corning , to produce silicones for military and, later, civilian use. The Ethyl-Dow Chemical Co. plant at Kure's Beach, NC , the only plant on the East Coast producing bromine from seawater,

10736-463: The formation of a joint venture, later named K-Dow, with Petrochemical Industries Co. (PIC), a subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation . In exchange for $ 9.5 billion, the agreement included Dow selling 50-percent of its interest in five global businesses: polyethylene, polypropylene and polycarbonate plastics, and ethylenamines and ethanolamines . The agreement was terminated by PIC on 28 December 2008. On 10 July 2008, Dow agreed to purchase all of

10858-533: The fourth quarter of 2014, Dow announced new operating segments in response to its previously announced leadership changes. The company stated it would give further support to its end-market orientation and increase its alignment to Dow's key value chains – ethylene and propylene. Several plants on the Gulf Coast of the US have been in development since 2013, as part of Dow's transition away from naphtha. Dow estimates

10980-463: The gas release. The leak caused 558,125 injuries, including 38,478 temporary partial injuries and approximately 3,900 severely and permanently disabling injuries. Union Carbide was sued by the Government of India and agreed to an out-of-court settlement of US$ 470 million in 1989. Dow Chemical acquired Union Carbide in 2001. Activists want Dow Chemical to clean up the site which is now controlled by

11102-416: The hands of state-owned companies that operated in one country and sold oil to multinationals such as BP, Shell, ExxonMobil and Chevron. Down through the 1930s, about 80% of the international investments by multinational corporations were concentrated in the primary sector, especially mining (especially oil) and agriculture (rubber, tobacco, sugar, palm oil , coffee, cocoa, and tropical fruits). Most went to

11224-415: The internationalization of production. For the first time in history, production, marketing, and investment are being organized on a global scale rather than in terms of isolated national economies. International business is also a specialist field of academic research. Economic theories of the multinational corporation include internalization theory and the eclectic paradigm . The latter is also known as

11346-460: The largest recipients. However, 70% of foreign direct investment went into developed countries in the form of stocks and cash flows. The rise in the number of multinational companies could be due to a stable political environment that encourages cooperation, advances in technology that enable management of faraway regions, and favorable organizational development that encourages business expansion into other countries. A multinational corporation (MNC)

11468-474: The laws and regulations of both their domicile and the additional jurisdictions where they are engaged in business. In some cases, the jurisdiction can help to avoid burdensome laws, but regulatory statutes often target the "enterprise" with statutory language around "control". As of 1992 , the United States and most OECD countries have the donot legal authority to tax a domiciled parent corporation on its worldwide revenue, including subsidiaries. As of 2019 ,

11590-434: The market with cheap oil. This caused a worldwide drop in oil prices, hence the "third oil shock" or "counter-shock." However, this shock represented something much bigger—the end of OPEC's dominance and its control over oil prices. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein decided to attack Kuwait. The invasion sparked a crisis in the Middle East, prompting Saudi Arabia to request assistance from the United States. The United States sent

11712-480: The marketplace such as externalities). Moving to the left side of the line are nationalists, who prioritize national interests over corporate profits, then the "dependencia" school in Latin America that focuses on the evils of imperialism, and on the far left the Marxists. The range is so broad that scholarly consensus is hard to discern. Anti-corporate advocates criticize multinational corporations for being without

11834-558: The merger was pushed back a second time pending regulatory approvals. The same day, Dow also announced that it had reached a deal to acquire Corning Incorporated 's stake in their joint venture Dow Corning for $ 4.8 billion in cash and a roughly 40% stake in Hemlock Semiconductor Corporation . In 2019, DowDuPont de-merged, forming Dow Inc. The spin-off was completed on 1 April 2019, at which time Dow Inc. became an independent, publicly traded company, and

11956-426: The merger's closure, DowDuPont was set to split into three separate public companies, focusing on the agriculture, chemical, and specialty product industries. Shareholders of each company held 50% of the combined company. In the new entity, Dow Chemical chief executive officer Andrew N. Liveris became executive chairman and DuPont chief executive officer Edward D. Breen became chief executive officer. In January 2017,

12078-408: The pharmaceutical industry and manufactured by Angus Chemical Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Co. Important polymers include Dowex ion-exchange resins , acrylic and polystyrene latex , as well as Carbowax polyethylene glycols . Specialty chemicals are used as starting materials for production of agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals. Dow Water and Process Solutions (DW&PS)

12200-560: The price collapse in 1998–1999. The United States still maintains close relations with Saudi Arabia. In 2003, U.S. forces invaded Iraq with the aim of removing the dictatorship and gaining access to Iraqi oil reserves, giving the United States greater strategic importance from 2000 to 2008. During this period, there was a constant shortage of oil, but its consumption continued to rise, maintaining high prices and leading to concerns about "peak oil". From 2005 to 2012, there were advances in oil and gas extraction, leading to increased production in

12322-611: The realities of the needs of source materials on a worldwide basis and to produce and customize products for individual countries. One of the first multinational business organizations, the East India Company , was established in 1601. After the East India Company came the Dutch East India Company , founded on March 20, 1603, which would become the largest company in the world for nearly 200 years. The main characteristics of multinational companies are: When

12444-477: The relationship between occupational exposure to styrene and cancer. They concluded, "The findings have to be interpreted with caution, due to the company based exposure assessment, but the possible association between exposures in the reinforced plastics industry , mainly styrene, and degenerative disorders of the nervous system and pancreatic cancer, deserves attention". In 2012, the Danish EPA concluded that

12566-501: The sale, as well as a formulation and packaging facility in Fort Saskatchewan , Alberta , Canada. Edge (pesticide) ®, Team (pesticide) ®, Bonalan (pesticide) ® and Sonalan (pesticide) ®, intellectual property and labels for herbicides based on the molecules trifluralin , benfluralin and ethalfluralin were also included in the sale. Annual grasses and small seeded broadleaf weeds can be controlled with these products in

12688-462: The seven multinational companies that dominated the global petroleum industry from the mid-1940s to the mid-1970s. The nationalization of the Iranian oil industry in 1951 by Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh and the subsequent boycott of Iranian oil by all companies had dramatic consequences for Iran and the international oil market. Iran was unable to sell any of its oil. In August 1953,

12810-521: The state of Madhya Pradesh . Until the late 1970s, Dow produced DBCP (1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane), a soil fumigant, and nematicide , sold under the names the Nemagon and Fumazone. Plantation workers who alleged that they became sterile or were stricken with other maladies subsequently sued both Dow and Dole Foods in Latin American courts. The cases were marred by extensive fraud, including

12932-516: The styrene data do not support a cancer concern for styrene. The US EPA does not have a cancer classification for styrene, but it has been the subject of their Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) program. The National Toxicology Program of the US Department of Health and Human Services has determined that styrene is "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen". Various regulatory bodies refer to styrene, in various contexts, as

13054-429: The styrene that was obtained by distilling storax resin was due to a contaminant. The vast majority of styrene is produced from ethylbenzene , and almost all ethylbenzene produced worldwide is intended for styrene production. As such, the two production processes are often highly integrated. Ethylbenzene is produced via a Friedel–Crafts reaction between benzene and ethene ; originally this used aluminum chloride as

13176-459: The then-prime minister was overthrown by a pro-American dictatorship led by the Shah, and in October 1954, the Iranian industry was denationalized. Worldwide oil consumption increased rapidly between 1949 and 1970, a period known as the 'golden age of oil'. This increase in consumption was caused not only by the growth of production by multinational oil companies but also by the strong influence of

13298-470: The transactions were "schemes that were designed to exploit perceived weaknesses in the tax code and not designed for legitimate business reasons". The schemes were created by Goldman Sachs and the law firm of King & Spalding , and involved creating a partnership that Dow operated out of its European headquarters in Switzerland. Dow stated that it had paid all tax assessments with interest. The case

13420-454: The two compounds were identical, and in 1866, Erlenmeyer suggested that both "cinnamol" and styrene might be vinylbenzene. However, the styrene that was obtained from cinnamic acid seemed different from the styrene that was obtained by distilling storax resin: the latter was optically active . Eventually, in 1876, the Dutch chemist van 't Hoff resolved the ambiguity: the optical activity of

13542-410: The vice president for Polystyrene is now in charge of these plants all over the world). At the beginning of August 1999, Dow agreed to purchase Union Carbide Corp. (UCC) for $ 9.3 billion in stock. At the time, the combined company was the second largest chemical company, behind DuPont. This led to protests from some stockholders , who feared that Dow did not disclose potential liabilities related to

13664-573: The world without a concentration in one area have been called stateless or "transnational" (although "transnational corporation" is also used synonymously with "multinational corporation" ), but as of 1992, a corporation must be legally domiciled in a particular country and engage in other countries through foreign direct investment and the creation of foreign subsidiaries. Geographic diversification can be measured across various domains, including ownership and control, workforce, sales, and regulation and taxation. Multinational corporations may be subject to

13786-503: The worldwide revenue of a foreign subsidiary, and taxation is complicated by transfer pricing arrangements with parent corporations. For small corporations, registering a foreign subsidiary can be expensive and complex, involving fees, signatures, and forms; a professional employer organization (PEO) is sometimes advertised as a cheaper and simpler alternative, but not all jurisdictions have laws accepting these types of arrangements. Disputes between corporations in different nations

13908-580: Was against the Internal Revenue Service seeking a refund of the taxes paid. The case was appealed to the 5th Circuit court, where Dow's claims were again rejected. Dow has petitioned for an en banc hearing by the 5th Circuit, arguing that the decision was contrary to established case law. Dow Chemical was implicated in a price-fixing scheme that inflated the cost of polyurethane for customers. The U.S. Justice Department closed an investigation in 2007 without charges or recommendations, but

14030-542: Was attacked by a German U-boat in 1942. In the post-war era, Dow began expanding outside of North America, founding its first overseas subsidiary in Japan in 1952, and in several other nations soon thereafter. Based largely on its growing plastics business, Dow opened a consumer products division, beginning with Saran wrap in 1953. Based on its growing chemicals and plastics businesses, Dow's sales exceeded $ 1 billion in 1964 and $ 2 billion in 1971. From 1951 to 1975, Dow managed

14152-536: Was dismissed and Stavropoulos returned from retirement to lead Dow. On 31 August 2006, Dow announced that it planned to close facilities at five locations: In 2006, Dow formed the Business Process Service Center (BPSC). In December 2007, Dow announced a series of moves to revamp the company. A 4 December announcement revealed that Dow planned to exit the automotive sealers business in 2008 or 2009. Within several weeks, Dow also announced

14274-489: Was finalized in April 2019, when the materials science division was spun off from DowDuPont and took the name of the Dow Chemical Company. Dow was founded in 1897 by chemist Herbert Henry Dow , who invented a new method of extracting the bromine that was trapped underground in brine at Midland, Michigan. The company originally sold only bleach and potassium bromide , achieving a bleach output of 72 tons

14396-448: Was fully aware that the means to overcoming cultural resistance depended on an "understanding" of the countries in which a corporation operated. He observed that companies with "foresight to capitalize on international opportunities" must recognize that " cultural anthropology will be an important tool for competitive marketing". However, the projected outcome of this was not the assimilation of international firms into national cultures, but

14518-546: Was labeled as "the largest nonviolent transfer of wealth in human history." The OPEC sought immediate discussions regarding participation in national oil industries. Companies were not inclined to object as the price hike benefited both them and OPEC members. In 1980, the Seven Sisters were entirely displaced and replaced by national oil companies (NOCs). The rise in oil prices burdened developing countries with balance of payments deficits, leading to an energy crisis. OPEC members had to abandon their plan of redistributing wealth from

14640-501: Was one of the few businessmen in the era who became Prime Minister (of South Africa 1890–1896). His mining enterprises included the British South Africa Company and De Beers . The latter company practically controlled the global diamond market from its base in southern Africa. In 1945, the United States was the world's largest oil producer. However, their reserves were declining due to high demand. Therefore,

14762-539: Was spun off into Corteva Inc , on 3 June 2019. Basic plastics (26 percent of sales) end up in everything from diaper liners to beverage bottles and oil tanks. Products are based on the three major polyolefins – polystyrene (such as Styron resins), polyethylene and polypropylene . Multinational corporation Most of the current largest and most influential companies are publicly traded multinational corporations, including Forbes Global 2000 companies. The history of multinational corporations began with

14884-600: Was to the government". Despite a boycott of its products by anti-war groups and harassment of recruiters on some college campuses, Dow continued to manufacture napalm B until 1969. Agent Orange , a chemical defoliant containing dioxin , was also manufactured by Dow in New Plymouth , New Zealand, and Midland, Michigan, in the United States for use by the British military during the Malayan Emergency and

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