4 ms·

The title says 'a digital colonization thread' - so foreign ownership or control of companies is colonization? Does that apply to, for example, US-owned compani

by deogeo 8y ago

The title says 'a digital colonization thread' - so foreign ownership or control of companies is colonization? Does that apply to, for example, US-owned companies in Europe? Or Chinese-owned companies in the US?

gumby 8y ago
Many people do feel that way, though I personally find the idea of any significant multinational as being from a specific country silly.
- deogeo 8y ago
  From the recent front-page story https://www.politico.eu/blogs/the-coming-wars/2019/04/how-europe-learned-to-fear-china/ https://www.politico.eu/blogs/the-coming-wars/2019/04/how-eu...: "Then there was Kuka, the crown jewel of German robotics, which was taken over by Chinese home-appliance maker Midea in 2016. What happened next has become part of a now recognizable pattern: Once a firm is acquired by a Chinese company, its European suppliers are abandoned for Chinese value chains." Silly or not, Chinese firms will favor other Chinese firms. This behavior isn't limited to China.
  - gumby 8y ago
    Kuka is small potatoes. I really should have been clearer that by "significant" I think of most of the Global 200: Exxon, Apple Nestlé, Danone, Google et al: Their revenues are global and their interests are global, as are their hiring, lobbying, usw.
rising-sky 8y ago
If you read past the title, I think the author's point is that, this is from a legal and business perspective a patently German company that is presenting itself as African solely because it currently does its business there exclusively. US-owned or registered companies in Europe don't typically masquerade as European because they operate there
- deogeo 8y ago
  > US-owned or registered companies in Europe don't typically masquerade as European because they operate there Yet when GM bought Opel, the branding didn't change. An uninformed consumer could easily think they're buying from a German-owned firm. And it's getting increasingly hard to keep track of the complex webs of ownership of corporations. But yes, the author has a point.
duxup 8y ago
I worked for a foreign owned company. I guess I was a collaborator. I agree that I think a bit too much weight is being put on who owns it. When I worked for that foreign owned company the only folks who cared about such things was when they called support.... that I was in the US if only because the service level was better, and a few customers for security reasons had such concerns. Otherwise I don't think anyone cared.
- dmix 8y ago
  People have been sold a certain 18th-century German myth that the value a company provides is strictly limited to who owns shares in the parent company. Which demonstrates a severe misunderstanding of how businesses generate economic value to the regions it operates in through salaries to locals, improving locals lives by providing value through some service/product, taxation of property + salaries + VAT/retail sales tax + customs + municipal fees (parking, business licenses) + etc, etc, etc. Additionally most of the revenue businesses make is reinvested into the company. For most startups that means 100% of the money. They are only extracted from startups to original investors at IPO or acquisition. But even then the company is merely just transferring ownership to other people. The entire business value mentioned earlier is still being generated.

by deogeo 8y ago

gumby 8y ago

Many people do feel that way, though I personally find the idea of any significant multinational as being from a specific country silly.

deogeo 8y ago
From the recent front-page story https://www.politico.eu/blogs/the-coming-wars/2019/04/how-europe-learned-to-fear-china/ https://www.politico.eu/blogs/the-coming-wars/2019/04/how-eu...: "Then there was Kuka, the crown jewel of German robotics, which was taken over by Chinese home-appliance maker Midea in 2016. What happened next has become part of a now recognizable pattern: Once a firm is acquired by a Chinese company, its European suppliers are abandoned for Chinese value chains." Silly or not, Chinese firms will favor other Chinese firms. This behavior isn't limited to China.
- gumby 8y ago
  Kuka is small potatoes. I really should have been clearer that by "significant" I think of most of the Global 200: Exxon, Apple Nestlé, Danone, Google et al: Their revenues are global and their interests are global, as are their hiring, lobbying, usw.

rising-sky 8y ago

If you read past the title, I think the author's point is that, this is from a legal and business perspective a patently German company that is presenting itself as African solely because it currently does its business there exclusively. US-owned or registered companies in Europe don't typically masquerade as European because they operate there

deogeo 8y ago
> US-owned or registered companies in Europe don't typically masquerade as European because they operate there Yet when GM bought Opel, the branding didn't change. An uninformed consumer could easily think they're buying from a German-owned firm. And it's getting increasingly hard to keep track of the complex webs of ownership of corporations. But yes, the author has a point.

duxup 8y ago

I worked for a foreign owned company. I guess I was a collaborator. I agree that I think a bit too much weight is being put on who owns it. When I worked for that foreign owned company the only folks who cared about such things was when they called support.... that I was in the US if only because the service level was better, and a few customers for security reasons had such concerns. Otherwise I don't think anyone cared.

dmix 8y ago
People have been sold a certain 18th-century German myth that the value a company provides is strictly limited to who owns shares in the parent company. Which demonstrates a severe misunderstanding of how businesses generate economic value to the regions it operates in through salaries to locals, improving locals lives by providing value through some service/product, taxation of property + salaries + VAT/retail sales tax + customs + municipal fees (parking, business licenses) + etc, etc, etc. Additionally most of the revenue businesses make is reinvested into the company. For most startups that means 100% of the money. They are only extracted from startups to original investors at IPO or acquisition. But even then the company is merely just transferring ownership to other people. The entire business value mentioned earlier is still being generated.