Misplaced Pages

#845154

105-482: Harvey Norman is an Australian multinational retailer of furniture, bedding, computers, communications and consumer electrical products. It mainly operates as a franchise , with the main brand and all company-operated stores owned by ASX -listed Harvey Norman Holdings Limited . As of 2022, there are 304 company-owned and franchised stores in Australia , New Zealand , Europe and South-East Asia operating under

210-446: A digital modem  – one that connects directly to a digital telephone network interface, such as T1 or PRI – could send a signal that utilized every bit of bandwidth available in the system. While that signal still had to be converted back to analog at the subscriber end, that conversion would not distort the signal in the same way that the opposite direction did. The first 56k (56 kbit/s) dial-up option

315-1086: A Harvey Norman, the guys on the floor have a real reason to help you. You walk away happy at the end of the day having spent money with them. And so do the staff because some of the money you left in the store goes to them... for helping you solve a problem in your life." Harvey Norman is the flagship brand of Harvey Norman Holdings. Harvey Norman is mainly a household goods retailer – with items being sold in their stores including major appliances , small appliances , information technology (such as computers, printers and mobile phones), furniture, bedding, hardware (bathrooms) and flooring among other things. There are 193 franchise-operated Harvey Norman stores located throughout Australia, as at 23 April 2020, with separate franchisees owning and operating separate departments. The majority of Harvey Norman stores are located in New South Wales (56), followed by Victoria (45), Queensland (44), Western Australia (27), South Australia (10), Tasmania (7), Northern Territory (2) and

420-766: 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

525-508: 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

630-429: 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

735-408: A given unit of time , usually expressed in bits per second (symbol bit/s , sometimes abbreviated "bps") or rarely in bytes per second (symbol B/s ). Modern broadband modem speeds are typically expressed in megabits per second (Mbit/s). Historically, modems were often classified by their symbol rate , measured in baud . The baud unit denotes symbols per second, or the number of times per second

840-518: A medium with less than ideal characteristics, such as a telephone line that is of poor quality or is too long. This capability is often adaptive so that a modem can discover the maximum practical transmission rate during the connect phase, or during operation. Modems grew out of the need to connect teleprinters over ordinary phone lines instead of the more expensive leased lines which had previously been used for current loop –based teleprinters and automated telegraphs . The earliest devices which satisfy

945-490: 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

1050-543: A name for the new business, with Harvey and Lord reluctant to take on the other's name. They eventually decided to retain Norman's name and that of its first store manager, Peter Ross. This spawned the retail chain Norman Ross. Norman Ross became one of the largest appliance retail chains and by 1979 controlled 42 stores with sales of more than $ 240 million. In the early 1980s, Alan Bond and Grace Bros sought to acquire

1155-970: A number of stores, but it was discontinued at a number of them within two years. Some stores also opened early for the Windows 98 launch, which included a number of offers, including an SPC CD with Harvard Graphics and Quicken . Other products, such as modems and printers , were promoted at $ 98. Harvey Norman has relied on 'bricks & mortar' stores as its strength. When suppliers such as Compaq and IBM started supplying direct, Harvey Norman stopped selling those products in-store. After Compaq later stopped selling direct, Harvey Norman returned to selling Compaq PC products in 2001. Harvey Norman's growth occurred organically until it acquired Joyce Mayne in 1998. A number of electrical stores in Western Australia, some of which were owned by Wesfarmers , were purchased. Further acquisitions followed and by 2000

SECTION 10

#1732780311846

1260-510: A separate entity of management. Thus many superstores are a combination of three or four separate businesses managed independently contributing revenue to Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd. through lease payments and a portion of sales. Overseas, Harvey Norman stores are directly owned and operated by the ASX-listed, Sydney-based parent company, Harvey Norman Holdings Limited. However, sales commissions are still heavily used across all departments of

1365-601: A series of popular modems for the S-100 bus and Apple II computers that could directly dial out, answer incoming calls, and hang up entirely from software, the basic requirements of a bulletin board system (BBS). The seminal CBBS for instance was created on an S-100 machine with a Hayes internal modem, and a number of similar systems followed. Echo cancellation became a feature of modems in this period, which allowed both modems to ignore their own reflected signals. This way both modems can simultaneously transmit and receive over

1470-535: A telegram telling me I was sacked". Norman Ross went into liquidation in 1992. In October 1982, Harvey and Norman purchased a new shopping centre in the outer Sydney suburb of Auburn for A$ 3 million, and opened the first Harvey Norman store. The enterprise was intended to be a single store but its success led to the opening of others. Harvey Norman Holdings Limited was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange on 3 September 1987. In

1575-1043: Is a furniture, bedding, flooring, computers, electrical and homewares chain independently operated by franchisees (and whose brand is owned by Harvey Norman Holdings). They focus on fashion and design in their furniture range, with their hallmark being their range of contemporary, Australian-made furniture. While their focus is on furniture and bedding, certain outlets (such as former Joyce Mayne stores) also stock higher-end cooking appliances. As of 9 June 2016, there are 17 Domayne franchised complexes Australia-wide, with 10 in New South Wales ( Alexandria , Auburn, Belrose , Caringbah , Castle Hill , Liverpool , North Ryde , Penrith , Warrawong , West Gosford ), 3 in Queensland ( Bundall , Fortitude Valley , Maroochydore ), 2 in Victoria (Melbourne QV, Springvale ) and Western Australia (City West Perth, Osborne Park ), and 1 each in

1680-438: Is near the theoretical Shannon limit of a phone line. While 56 kbit/s speeds had been available for leased-line modems for some time, they did not become available for dial up modems until the late 1990s. In the late 1990s, technologies to achieve speeds above 33.6 kbit/s began to be introduced. Several approaches were used, but all of them began as solutions to a single fundamental problem with phone lines. By

1785-410: 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

1890-865: 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

1995-568: The 2016 Bathurst 1000 now run by Nissan Motorsport using a Nissan Altima L33 and sporting the new number #360. In 2017 Harvey Norman became the major backer for Simona de Silvestro in the #78 Nissan Motorsport Nissan Altima L33. At the end of 2019 the partnership between Harvey Norman and Kelly Racing ended. 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

2100-569: The Australian Capital Territory (2). Harvey Norman Design and Renovations is a subsidiary of Harvey Norman Holdings Limited. The design and renovations arm of the company specialises in bathroom , kitchen , wardrobe , home office , bars and home theatre renovations, and featured showroom franchises in Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales. The Victorian and South Australian outlets have since closed, leaving five New South Wales outlets in operation. Domayne

2205-698: The Harvey Norman , Domayne and Joyce Mayne brands in Australia, and under the Harvey Norman brand overseas. Gerry Harvey and Ian Norman opened their first store in 1961, that specialised in electrical goods and appliances. Harvey and Norman had first met when both were working as door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesmen. The store's success prompted Harvey and Norman to expand the business and conduct talks with retailer Keith Lord, who sought to expand his own retail group. They could not settle on

SECTION 20

#1732780311846

2310-644: 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 ,

2415-698: The VA3400 which performed full-duplex at 1,200 bit/s over a normal phone line. In November 1976, AT&T introduced the 212A modem, similar in design, but using the lower frequency set for transmission. It was not compatible with the VA3400, but it would operate with 103A modem at 300 bit/s. In 1977, Vadic responded with the VA3467 triple modem, an answer-only modem sold to computer center operators that supported Vadic's 1,200-bit/s mode, AT&T's 212A mode, and 103A operation. A significant advance in modems

2520-781: 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

2625-757: The 1970s, independently made modems compatible with the Bell 103 de facto standard were commonplace. Example models included the Novation CAT and the Anderson-Jacobson . A lower-cost option was the Pennywhistle modem , designed to be built using readily available parts. Teletype machines were granted access to remote networks such as the Teletypewriter Exchange using the Bell 103 modem. AT&T also produced reduced-cost units,

2730-465: The Australia-based online store of Harvey Norman. Flexirent has had very close ties to Harvey Norman since 1995 and is heavily marketed in stores. Flexirent is alleged to have strong elements of predatory lending practices. In addition, Gerry Harvey has himself asserted on primetime Australian television in a January 2008 airing of Today Tonight that Flexirent should be turned down by

2835-662: The Australian Capital Territory ( Fyshwick ) and South Australia ( Marion ). As of December 2019, some Domayne stores are listed as 'Harvey Norman @ Domayne'. Joyce Mayne is a retail chain offering similar products to Harvey Norman. They mainly offer whitegoods, small appliances, stationery and IT products (such as mobile phones, computers and printers). There are seven Joyce Mayne stores in Australia as of 1 November 2018 – four in Queensland ( Maroochydore , Chancellor Park , Toowoomba and Townsville ), two in New South Wales ( Nowra and Warrawong ) and one in

2940-551: 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

3045-663: 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

3150-673: The Harvey Norman brand to Asia in 1999. Harvey Norman Ossia (Asia) bought 50.6% of Pertama Holdings, a Singapore electronics retailer that was publicly listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange for SGD$ 36 million. Goh was appointed as the Deputy Chairman of Pertama Holding Limited. Harvey Norman Ossia (Asia) acquired 14 electronics stores in Singapore, formerly known as Electric City and owned by Pertama Holdings, and rebranded them as Harvey Norman stores. As of 2022,

3255-572: The Harvey Norman website. As of 31 January 2023, Harvey Norman Holdings' overseas operations (all conducted under the Harvey Norman brand) are in: With the exception of Malaysia and Singapore, all overseas operations are directly owned and operated by Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd. or its associated companies. George Goh Ching Wah, founder and chairman of publicly-listed Singapore sporting goods and fashion distributor Ossia International Limited, partnered Gerry Harvey to form Harvey Norman Ossia (Asia) Pte Ltd as an SGD33 million joint venture vehicle to bring

Harvey Norman - Misplaced Pages Continue

3360-575: 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

3465-574: 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

3570-953: The Northern Territory ( Darwin ). In August 2007, market analysts suggested Harvey Norman would launch a rival "big-box" stationery and office supplies competitor to Officeworks before June 2008. Harvey Norman has registered the brand name OFIS and as a result of the acquisition of former Megamart and Retravision stores, has access to well-placed potential sites on which to open Officeworks-sized outlets. In December 2007, Harvey Norman announced it would be opening its first two OFIS stores in Albury and Auburn in March 2008.They aimed to have 100 stores within ten years. In all, five OFIS outlets were established, but proved unprofitable and in February 2009 Harvey Norman stated it would close all of

3675-558: 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,

3780-513: The SAGE director centers scattered around the United States and Canada . Shortly afterwards in 1959, the technology in the SAGE modems was made available commercially as the Bell 101 , which provided 110 bit/s speeds. Bell called this and several other early modems "datasets". Some early modems were based on touch-tone frequencies, such as Bell 400-style touch-tone modems. The Bell 103A standard

3885-521: The Smartmodem made communications much simpler and more easily accessed. This provided a growing market for other vendors, who licensed the Hayes patents and competed on price or by adding features. This eventually led to legal action over use of the patented Hayes command language. Dial modems generally remained at 300 and 1,200 bit/s (eventually becoming standards such as V.21 and V.22 ) into

3990-586: 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)

4095-464: 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

4200-636: 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

4305-541: 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

Harvey Norman - Misplaced Pages Continue

4410-506: 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

4515-614: 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

4620-461: 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

4725-477: 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

4830-696: 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

4935-629: 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

5040-456: 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

5145-487: The average family. This is why Harvey Norman promotes the product to its commercial customer base. Harvey Norman partnered with Tickford Racing to support the #200 Ford Falcon FG X wildcard driven by Simona de Silvestro and Renee Gracie under the name Harvey Norman Supergirls for the 2015 Bathurst 1000 . In 2016 Harvey Norman once again sponsored the Harvey Norman Supergirls wildcard entry for

5250-469: 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 ,

5355-407: The chain had 100 stores. In 2006, Retravision was struggling, and a number of Retravision stores were acquired by Harvey Norman. Many were later converted to either Harvey Norman or Joyce Mayne stores, but those that were not successful were closed down. Harvey Norman's operating structure is unusual in that each store department (flooring, bedding, furniture, computer and electrical) is operated by

SECTION 50

#1732780311846

5460-559: The chain, spawning a bidding war that saw Grace Bros incorporate the chain in 1982. Three weeks later however, a determined Alan Bond successfully convinced the Grace Bros director Michael Grace to sell the chain to Bond. Shortly after, Harvey and Norman were given notice and redundancy package of six months pay. Reasons for their sacking were not publicised, although Harvey later told The Daily Telegraph : "I said I wished Alan Bond would pack up his marbles and go back to Perth. Then I got

5565-742: 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

5670-654: 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

5775-542: The company owns 14 outlets in Singapore . Its flagship store is at Millenia Walk , which was opened in 2015, and is the largest electronics store in the city area with 100, 000 sq ft. Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd. and its associated companies effectively own 80.2% of Pertama, with Ossia International, holding 19.8%. Formerly listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), on 8 July 2013, it was finally delisted after

5880-510: 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

5985-510: The connection between devices was normally manual, using an attached telephone handset . By the 1970s, higher speeds of 1,200 and 2,400 bit/s for asynchronous dial connections, 4,800 bit/s for synchronous leased line connections and 35 kbit/s for synchronous conditioned leased lines were available. By the 1980s, less expensive 1,200 and 2,400 bit/s dialup modems were being released, and modems working on radio and other systems were available. As device sophistication grew rapidly in

6090-643: 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

6195-554: The debate from a neo-liberal perspective in Storm over the Multinationals (1977). Modem A modulator-demodulator , commonly referred to as a modem , is a computer hardware device that converts data from a digital format into a format suitable for an analog transmission medium such as telephone or radio. A modem transmits data by modulating one or more carrier wave signals to encode digital information , while

6300-522: The definition of a modem may have been the multiplexers used by news wire services in the 1920s. In 1941, the Allies developed a voice encryption system called SIGSALY which used a vocoder to digitize speech, then encrypted the speech with one-time pad and encoded the digital data as tones using frequency shift keying. This was also a digital modulation technique, making this an early modem. Commercial modems largely did not become available until

6405-417: The digitization itself placed constraints on the types of waveforms that could be reliably encoded. The first problem was that the process of analog-to-digital conversion is intrinsically lossy, but second, and more importantly, the digital signals used by the telcos were not "linear": they did not encode all frequencies the same way, instead utilizing a nonlinear encoding ( μ-law and a-law ) meant to favor

SECTION 60

#1732780311846

6510-488: The early 1990s, Harvey Norman adopted the superstore format then successful in the United States , and entered the computer and furniture markets. The first computer superstore was opened at Bennetts Green , Newcastle , in late 1993 with much fanfare. That was followed several weeks later by the opening of a larger superstore at Auburn. Many stores later expanded their computer sections. The launch of Windows 95

6615-481: 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

6720-432: The full spectrum of the phone line, improving the available bandwidth. Additional improvements were introduced by quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) encoding, which increased the number of bits per symbol to four through a combination of phase shift and amplitude. Transmitting at 1,200 baud produced the 4,800 bit/s V.27ter standard, and at 2,400 baud the 9,600 bit/s V.32 . The carrier frequency

6825-416: 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

6930-415: 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

7035-460: 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)

7140-710: The late 1950s, when the rapid development of computer technology created demand for a method of connecting computers together over long distances, resulting in the Bell Company and then other businesses producing an increasing number of computer modems for use over both switched and leased telephone lines. Later developments would produce modems that operated over cable television lines , power lines , and various radio technologies , as well as modems that achieved much higher speeds over telephone lines. A dial-up modem transmits computer data over an ordinary switched telephone line that has not been designed for data use. It

7245-601: The late 1980s, many modems could support improved standards like this, and 2,400-bit/s operation was becoming common. Increasing modem speed greatly improved the responsiveness of online systems and made file transfer practical. This led to rapid growth of online services with large file libraries, which in turn gave more reason to own a modem. The rapid update of modems led to a similar rapid increase in BBS use. The introduction of microcomputer systems with internal expansion slots made small internal modems practical. This led to

7350-418: The late 1990s and the emergence of smartphones in the 2000s led to the development of ever-faster radio-based systems. Today, modems are ubiquitous and largely invisible, included in almost every mobile computing device in one form or another, and generally capable of speeds on the order of tens or hundreds of megabytes per second. Modems are frequently classified by the maximum amount of data they can send in

7455-431: The late 1990s, telephone-based modems quickly exhausted the available bandwidth , reaching 56 kbit/s. The rise of public use of the internet during the late 1990s led to demands for much higher performance, leading to the move away from audio-based systems to entirely new encodings on cable television lines and short-range signals in subcarriers on telephone lines. The move to cellular telephones , especially in

7560-474: 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 ,

7665-466: The lengthy introduction of the 28,800 bit/s V.34 standard. While waiting, several companies decided to release hardware and introduced modems they referred to as V.Fast . In order to guarantee compatibility with V.34 modems once a standard was ratified (1994), manufacturers used more flexible components, generally a DSP and microcontroller , as opposed to purpose-designed ASIC modem chips. This would allow later firmware updates to conform with

7770-824: The market around February 1997; although problems with K56Flex modems were noted in product reviews through July, within six months the two technologies worked equally well, with variations dependent largely on local connection characteristics. The retail price of these early 56k modems was about US$ 200 , compared to $ 100 for standard 33k modems. Compatible equipment was also required at the Internet service providers (ISPs) end, with costs varying depending on whether their current equipment could be upgraded. About half of all ISPs offered 56k support by October 1997. Consumer sales were relatively low, which USRobotics and Rockwell attributed to conflicting standards. In February 1998, The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) announced

7875-518: The market when V.32bis was standardized, which operated at 14,400 bit/s. Rockwell International 's chip division developed a new driver chip set incorporating the V.32bis standard and aggressively priced it. Supra, Inc. arranged a short-term exclusivity arrangement with Rockwell, and developed the SupraFAXModem 14400 based on it. Introduced in January 1992 at $ 399 (or less), it was half

7980-434: 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

8085-480: 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

8190-469: The mid-1980s. Commodore's 1982 VicModem for the VIC-20 was the first modem to be sold under $ 100, and the first modem to sell a million units. In 1984, V.22bis was created, a 2,400-bit/s system similar in concept to the 1,200-bit/s Bell 212. This bit rate increase was achieved by defining four or sixteen distinct symbols, which allowed the encoding of two or four bits per symbol instead of only one. By

8295-602: The modem sends a new signal. For example, the ITU-T V.21 standard used audio frequency-shift keying with two possible frequencies, corresponding to two distinct symbols (or one bit per symbol), to carry 300 bits per second using 300 baud. By contrast, the original ITU-T V.22 standard, which could transmit and receive four distinct symbols (two bits per symbol), transmitted 1,200 bits by sending 600 symbols per second (600 baud) using phase-shift keying . Many modems are variable-rate, permitting them to be used over

8400-400: The nonlinear response of the human ear to voice signals. This made it very difficult to find a 56 kbit/s encoding that could survive the digitizing process. Modem manufacturers discovered that, while the analog to digital conversion could not preserve higher speeds, digital-to-analog conversions could. Because it was possible for an ISP to obtain a direct digital connection to a telco,

8505-428: The originate-only 113D and the answer-only 113B/C modems. The 201A Data-Phone was a synchronous modem using two-bit-per-symbol phase-shift keying (PSK) encoding, achieving 2,000 bit/s half-duplex over normal phone lines. In this system the two tones for any one side of the connection are sent at similar frequencies as in the 300 bit/s systems, but slightly out of phase. In early 1973, Vadic introduced

8610-560: 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

8715-564: The price of the slower V.32 modems already on the market. This led to a price war, and by the end of the year V.32 was dead, never having been really established, and V.32bis modems were widely available for $ 250 . V.32bis was so successful that the older high-speed standards had little advantages. USRobotics (USR) fought back with a 16,800 bit/s version of HST, while AT&T introduced a one-off 19,200 bit/s method they referred to as V.32ter , but neither non-standard modem sold well. Consumer interest in these proprietary improvements waned during

8820-888: The proportion of shares in free float fell below 10%. Under the former ownership structure, as of July 2013 Harvey Norman Singapore (a wholly owned subsidiary of ASX-listed Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd.) and Harvey Norman Ossia (Asia) Ltd.—a 60/40 joint-venture with Ossia International—had held over 83% of Pertama's shares. Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd previously operated Norman Ross stores in New Zealand. The first store opened on 4 December 2007 in Lower Hutt . All Norman Ross stores were rebranded as Harvey Norman in February 2013. On 22 December 2011, Harvey Norman launched Harvey Norman Direct Import based in Ireland to ship games to buyers in Australia. The prices for video games are cheaper than

8925-466: The purpose of being a clearance centre. That had mixed results, and was closed within 12 months. However, the Bennetts Green store expanded into larger premises in 1996, where it operates today. Part of the relocation was a dedicated educational centre, named Kidscape. Specialist employees from Dataflow provided advice to parents on which software was best for their child. Kidscape was installed at

9030-611: 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

9135-476: The receiver demodulates the signal to recreate the original digital information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded reliably. Modems can be used with almost any means of transmitting analog signals, from LEDs to radio . Early modems were devices that used audible sounds suitable for transmission over traditional telephone systems and leased lines . These generally operated at 110 or 300 bits per second (bit/s), and

9240-462: 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,

9345-467: The standards once ratified. The ITU standard V.34 represents the culmination of these joint efforts. It employed the most powerful coding techniques available at the time, including channel encoding and shape encoding. From the mere four bits per symbol ( 9.6  kbit/s ), the new standards used the functional equivalent of 6 to 10 bits per symbol, plus increasing baud rates from 2,400 to 3,429, to create 14.4, 28.8, and 33.6 kbit/s modems. This rate

9450-521: The store to motivate salespeople, drive sales and improve service. Retail marketing consultant Kevin Moore argues that this 'high reward-based remuneration structure' drives Harvey Norman's point of difference and is what contributes, at least partly, to its retail dominance. "Almost all the people in a Harvey Norman are there because they are great salespeople, can propose solutions for customers and are paid in line with what they sell... So when you walk into

9555-799: The stores by June 2009 and abandon the concept. School Locker is aimed at primary and high school students, selling school uniforms, stationery as well as sports and musical equipment. There are two big box -style retail stores in New South Wales and four in Queensland in addition to a dozen School Campus stores. There were five Big Buys stores in Australia (all now closed), located in Springvale, Victoria , Cambridge, Tasmania , Munno Para, South Australia , Auburn, New South Wales and Maroochydore, Queensland . They sold some of Harvey Norman's range, plus music instruments, camping gear, luggage, pet and baby products. Big Buys also had an online store via

9660-459: 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

9765-423: The time technology companies began to investigate speeds above 33.6 kbit/s , telephone companies had switched almost entirely to all-digital networks. As soon as a phone line reached a local central office, a line card converted the analog signal from the subscriber to a digital one and conversely. While digitally encoded telephone lines notionally provide the same bandwidth as the analog systems they replaced,

9870-573: 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

9975-503: 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

10080-499: Was 1,650 Hz in both systems. The introduction of these higher-speed systems also led to the development of the digital fax machine during the 1980s. While early fax technology also used modulated signals on a phone line, digital fax used the now-standard digital encoding used by computer modems. This eventually allowed computers to send and receive fax images. In the early 1990s, V.32 modems operating at 9,600 bit/s were introduced, but were expensive and were only starting to enter

10185-401: Was a huge success, with a few Sydney stores opening at midnight, and some regional areas opening at 6 a.m. Harvey Norman sold Apple Computer products for several years. Apple decided to stop supplying the chain in the late 1990s, but returned in 2004 with the iPod range, which later expanded into iPads , iPhones and iMacs . A Norman Ross store was opened at Bennetts Green in 1995, with

10290-469: Was a proprietary design from USRobotics , which they called "X2" because 56k was twice the speed (×2) of 28k modems. At that time, USRobotics held a 40% share of the retail modem market, while Rockwell International held an 80% share of the modem chipset market. Concerned with being shut out, Rockwell began work on a rival 56k technology. They joined with Lucent and Motorola to develop what they called "K56Flex" or just "Flex". Both technologies reached

10395-448: 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

10500-458: Was integrated into devices from many other manufacturers. Automatic dialing was not a new capability—it had been available via separate Automatic Calling Units , and via modems using the X.21 interface —but the Smartmodem made it available in a single device that could be used with even the most minimal implementations of the ubiquitous RS-232 interface, making this capability accessible from virtually any system or language. The introduction of

10605-412: Was introduced by AT&T in 1962. It provided full-duplex service at 300 bit/s over normal phone lines. Frequency-shift keying was used, with the call originator transmitting at 1,070 or 1,270  Hz and the answering modem transmitting at 2,025 or 2,225 Hz. The 103 modem would eventually become a de facto standard once third-party (non-AT&T modems) reached the market, and throughout

10710-546: 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

10815-548: Was once a widely known technology, mass-marketed globally dial-up internet access . In the 1990s, tens of millions of people in the United States alone used dial-up modems for internet access. Dial-up service has since been largely superseded by broadband internet , such as DSL . Mass production of telephone line modems in the United States began as part of the SAGE air-defense system in 1958, connecting terminals at various airbases, radar sites, and command-and-control centers to

10920-501: 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,

11025-536: Was the Hayes Smartmodem , introduced in 1981. The Smartmodem was an otherwise standard 103A 300 bit/s direct-connect modem, but it introduced a command language which allowed the computer to make control requests, such as commands to dial or answer calls, over the same RS-232 interface used for the data connection. The command set used by this device became a de facto standard, the Hayes command set , which

#845154