Skype hit by global service crash

Skype has moved quickly to fix problems that hit users around the world.

Many people started to report that they had problems making calls via the net-based phone system earlier today.

The problem did not seem confined to one group, with users on machines running Windows, OS X and Linux all reporting trouble.

Scholar offers tips for major firms in China

China's nonstop economic growth presents multiple opportunities for companies that understand the ins and outs of China, said scholar Kenneth Lieberthal during a discussion on his new book Managing the China Challenge: How to Achieve Corporate Success in the People's Republic.

The event, held on Tuesday night at the New York Times Building, was organized by the National Committee on United States-China Relations.

Chinese firms gain ground

Many multinational corporations believe their Chinese rivals will pose an increased threat due to improving brand recognition levels, wider product portfolios and stronger marketing capabilities.

Trade body the European Chamber, representing 1,600 regional firms active in China, worked with consultancy Roland Burger to survey 598 of its members. In all, 79% of featured organisations agreed the outlook for their category in China should remain positive over the next two years.

Multinational Companies Riding China’s Economic Wave Take a Hit in the Talent Market

Organizations from the US and around the world who expanded into China to leverage its powerful economy are lagging behind their local competitors when it comes to leadership talent, according to a trend research report from Development Dimensions International (DDI).

Multinational firms in Turkey owe success to local staff

A recent poll carried out by Msearch INAC among 70 top-level executives of multinational companies operating in Turkey has found that 75.7 percent of the executives preferred hiring local people with multinational work experience, a major factor that the company heads cited behind success both in Turkish and surrounding markets.

GE Joins Intel to Advise Obama as Overseas Holdings Expand

Seven publicly traded U.S. corporations represented on President Barack Obama’s advisory council for jobs and competitiveness -- including General Electric Co. (GE) and Intel Corp. (INTC) -- have devoted a growing pool of their non-U.S. earnings to investments in other countries.

As a group, multinational companies with current or former chief executive officers on Obama’s jobs council have, over the past four years, almost doubled the cumulative amounts they’ve reinvested overseas, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Drug MNCs play safe on licensing

Drug multinationals are treading with caution on the molecules to license from Indian companies, meaning Glenmark’s deal with France’s Sanofi may not be a forerunner to a clutch of similar agreements benefiting local firms.

Indian pharmaceutical companies outlicense a drug under development to foreign players with deep pockets as it is an expensive process. The latter undertakes trials to develop the drug.

Baxter Canada closes Sherbrooke, Que., plant and lays off 135 workers

Medical device company Baxter Canada will close its Sherbrooke, Que., plant on Dec. 9, putting 135 people out of work.

The company plans to relocate production to other plants in the United States, Costa Rica and Singapore that are already making its products.

Companies warned over bribery precautions

Overzealous cuts to compliance departments after the financial crisis have left multinational companies exposed to fraud prosecutions, according to data released on Wednesday.

Compared with 2009, twice as many employees of multinationals surveyed by Ernst & Young reported that their company had no anti-fraud measures in place, even as the Bribery Act is due to take effect this summer.

US multinationals acquire foreign companies to avoid tax

US MULTINATIONAL companies are putting more of their overseas earnings into cross-border mergers and acquisitions to avoid tax.

A Financial Times report claimed that the companies are concerned over tax bills incurred through repatriating so-called "trapped cash" in other jurisdictions. This has prompted a debate about whether companies are prioritising tax issues over business decisions.

Multinationals Push Key Services Into The Cloud

It’s no longer just SMBs that are keen on the cloud. Multinational companies want a piece of the action too

Cloud services are gaining momentum among large organisations, marking an expansion from the traditional user base of small and medium-size businesses (SMBs), according to new research.

Securing global economic security

Inflation is a significant factor of global economic security and has the innate capacity to upend carefully laid plans

Market agency plans to woo more multinationals

Following the delisting plan of the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC), the bottlers of Coca Cola products, from the Nigerian capital market, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), stock market regulator, said part of its "key plans" this year is to woo more multinationals to the market.

Daisy Ekineh, SEC's executive commissioner in charge of operations, said recently at a closed-door meeting with market operators that the Commission is working at "promoting more listings of oil and gas companies, telecoms companies, small scale enterprises, and privatised enterprises" while it will keep "encouraging companies to stay listed" in the market.

How Rasna is taking on competition from multinational companies

As the number of players in the mass end of the packaged beverage market keeps rising, Rasna, the largest and the oldest player in the powdered ready-to-drink market in the country, is sprucing up distribution and scouting for regional buys.

From being the first player in the powdered beverage segment over 25 years ago, the creator of iconic ‘I Love You Rasna’ marketing slogan now has multinational players such as Kraft Foods India, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo to fight in order to maintain its market leadership.

British Baptists urge end to tax-dodging by multinational corporations

An annual assembly of British Baptists called on the government to crack down on strategies used by multinational corporations to avoid paying taxes in the Third World.

While not illegal, a Baptist Union of Great Britain resolution said that tax-avoidance strategies cost developing countries about $160 billion in lost tax income that could help them build financial sustainability.

Mercer: Multinational employers must face up to healthcare reforms

Companies in the UK should consider taking advantage of increased state investment in cancer and cardiac care by amending their employee benefits, according to Mercer.

However, the firm is warning that multinational companies should also be aware that in many other European countries, state-funded care is in retreat, with responsibility for healthcare and rising costs “shunted onto employers and individual employees”.

'Private sector' includes small local business, not just multinationals

At the recent World Economic Forum in South Africa, Shanta Devarajan, the World Bank's chief economist for Africa, told a colleague of mine: "There is a palpable sense of optimism around Africa and the private sector at the Forum, with delegates referring to Africa as an investment destination."

The 2011 Africa Progress Report, launched at the forum, confirms this message, saying that private sector partnerships are experiencing a "well-deserved renaissance".

Corporate tax reform - lower rates, close loopholes

Tax the rich!

This rallying cry has long been a popular, populist solution to the national economic crisis except, as a new report suggests, it doesn't work, especially when applied to multinational corporations.

New Report Showcases Growth of African Multinational Corporations

The Initiative for Global Development in conjunction with Dalberg Global Development Advisors today released a groundbreaking report detailing how homegrown multinational corporations (MNCs) have expanded and flourished throughout Sub-Saharan Africa—despite an historic economic downturn in developed countries and slow growth in other emerging markets. The report, Pioneers on the Frontier: Sub-Saharan Africa’s Multinational Corporations, is the first of its kind to look at homegrown Sub-Saharan African MNCs and highlight steps taken by CEOs at some of the top companies to expand their businesses across the continent and beyond, while contributing to the development of the communities in which they operate.

New PCAOB Chairman Pushes for Audit Overhaul

Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Chairman James Doty plans to unveil a new model for the auditor's report and said he wanted to see disciplinary proceedings for auditing firms to be made public.

Doty took over the chairmanship of the government regulatory board that inspects and disciplines auditing firms earlier this year. During a speech Thursday at a Baruch College financial reporting conference, Doty also discussed problems he has seen with audits of multinational companies, particularly in China, and in the way that audit firms communicate with audit committees on public company boards.

Multinationals face more tax audits

The drive by governments around the world to collect taxes from corporations as they attempt to close yawning budget deficits has sparked a rise in the number of tax authority audits of multinationals, research shows.

A survey by Taxand, a network of global tax professionals, found 82 per cent of multinational companies saw a rise in the number of government audits they were subject to, and 84 per cent said that as a result they had experienced a rise in compliance costs.

Multinational Companies Target Developing Cities for Increased Profits

A recent article in Forbes highlighted the role that multinational companies play in improving quality of life for the lowest-income neighborhoods of developing countries. The rapid growth of cities and the expanding informal housing sections have proven to be a lucrative opportunity for companies like General Electric, Sweden’s ABB, France’s Alstom and Schneider Electric, and finally, Siemens, the German engineering conglomerate.

Rise of affluent middle class in India attracting upscale restaurants

Restaurateurs of upmarket and franchise chains are increasingly turning towards southeast Asia where the economy in India is growing at a breakneck pace.

And the brands that are eyeing the Indian market aren't just multinational corporations but trendy, fine dining establishments, points out a story in The Times of India.