the existence of american corporations

The course I'm taking, Technology, Globalization, and Culture, requires regular responses to discussion questions, so I figured I'll start posting my responses on the blog, since they are typically topics I would rant about anyway.

Is there such a thing as a U.S. corporation?

I think there still exists such a thing as a US corporation. However, I believe that they will not be the most efficient operations because they will not have the access or desire to use global resources, just because of the nature of their business. I think these US corporations will mainly exist to serve the public, rather than maximize shareholder value and profit. A few examples of such corporations include: American Red Cross, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, National Public Radio, and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac). Note that these aren't charities, they aren't owned by the federal government, and they do exist to provide services and like any other corporation, try to maximize income while minimizing expenses. Some are non-profit or not-for-profit, and some are for-profit: Freddie Mac is a publicly traded company for instance, and Amtrak (although the federal government owns all of its preferred stock, is a for-profit organization).

Ok, so the above are probably more exceptions rather than the rule, but I still think American corporations will still exist -- just not the American mega-corporations that first came around in the industrial age. Corporation carries the connotation of a giant hefty company, but keep in mind, you only need one person to incorporate a business here in the US. From the Small Business Administration's website, the statistics show that small business is a major force in the American economy:

Small businesses:

• provide approximately 75 percent of the net new jobs added to the economy.
• represent 99.7 percent of all employers.
• employ 50.1 percent of the private work force.
• provide 40.9 percent of private sales in the country.
• account for 39.1 percent of jobs in high technology sectors in 2001.
• account for 52 percent of private sector output in 1999.
• represent 97 percent of all U.S. exporters.

Small businesses are nimble, and they understand their customers really well since they can be close to them and cater/understand their needs well. I wouldn't doubt that a good number of these small businesses exist in what Robert Reich termed the "local service economy," (restaurant chains, mom-and-pop shops, auto repair, house and office cleaning, etc...). These home-grown companies serve a niche as well since they understand their locale so well. One notion that can be a totally different topic of conversation altogether is the backlash against homogenization of culture, for instance when Wal-Mart comes to a small town. Some towns are protective of their culture, their way-of-life, so they resist Wal-Mart and insist on patronizing the local mom-and-pop shops. In a sense, local hangouts and services like the neighborhood ice cream shop, the family restaurant, and the local bar/pub are becoming fewer in numbers and are gaining a loyalty among locals who don't want to lose that something special they have in their community.

However, you know there are a fair number of small businesses that operate in the symbolic analyst (knowledge-worker) economy as well: local accounting firms, law firms, independent consultants, computer services, health care, etc... These businesses might use global services, but the core of their focus is local -- and they can provide in-person customer service which is kind of nice sometimes, and the fact that so many small businesses are thriving is a testament that lowest cost is not always what consumers want -- there's something to be said about personal customer service that can only exist locally.

In essence, I believe their is and will be a place for the American corporation. If we're talking about mega-corporations like GE and Disney, yeah, globalization is a must if one is to be competitive (high value with minimal cost), but if we look at the American corporation in terms of small business (as well as public service), it's clear that there will always be a (if not increasing) demand for these services, especially personal service and local tailoring, and a sense of being a part of the community.