The Arab Spring, MNEs, and virtual public spheres

Abstract

PurposeAlthough multinational enterprises (MNEs), according to John Dunning's work, are driven by motives of ownership, location, internalization and, ultimately, higher returns, these business entities, by virtue of their transnational products and services, and extensive reach and resources, provide direct and indirect mechanisms that can shape political and social outcomes. This paper seeks to explore those mechanisms in the context of the so‐called “Arab Spring”, the popular uprising that has ensued in a number of Arab countries. The paper also aims to explore virtual public spheres, the platform from which the Arab Spring was launched, and which owes much to the presence of MNEs.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis is grounded on the theoretical construct of the virtual public sphere. The approaches taken are that of a general review and secondary research.FindingsThe main findings of this paper are three‐fold. First, in the examination of the role of MNEs and the virtual public sphere in the Arab Awakening, it is found that the new information and networking technologies have already made a sizable impact in terms of paving the way toward political and social changes. Second, it is found that foreign investments in Arab media, mobile, and internet markets are dominantly regional. Third, behind the social media phenomenon in the Arab world are “born‐global” American firms (MNEs), notably Facebook, Inc., Twitter, Inc., and Google, Inc.Originality/valueMost research on the Arab Spring has not incorporated the likely distinctive influence of MNEs. In addition, the paper highlights the association between regional and transnational orientations of business activities of multinational firms and political outcomes.

Partial participation towards collective action: To stifle or instigate

“…Clearly, it is not the case that each and every member of a society perceives such a thing non-ambiguously and inter-subjectively. Nevertheless, in the case of revolutionary upheavals, the literature does suggest that the Internet creates a new communicative space: a Verbindungnetzschaft (Dartnell, 1999), a virtual (Benmamoun et al, 2012), global (Kyriakopoulou, 2011) or amplified (Nanabhay and Farmanfarmaian, 2011) public sphere that speeds up communication, enables organization of protests, and encourages media coverage. Against this background, it seems reasonable to model a societal commitment level that is a function of individual social signaling functions.…”

“…1999), a virtual (Benmamoun et al, 2012), global (Kyriakopoulou, 2011) or amplified (Nanabhay and Farmanfarmaian, 2011) public sphere that speeds up communication, enables organization of protests, and encourages media coverage. Against this background, it seems reasonable to model a societal commitment level that is a function of individual social signaling functions.…”

International Business in the Information and Digital Age

“…The regulatory dimension: more generic and governance-related concepts like "cyberspace" (Ching & ellis, 2006;Kobrin, 2001) or "industry 4.0" (strange & Zucchella, 2017) have been haphazardly covered by IB scholars. the most popular concept has been that of "platform," which has traditionally been used in the context of "export platforms," but has recently been linked to the Internet revolution, either from the perspective of companies (ojala, evers, & rialp, 2018) or from the perspective of activists who organize themselves digitally against mnes (Benmamoun, Kalliny, & Cropf, 2012;fiorito, 2005;lewis, 2005). more controversial governance concepts, such as "net neutrality," have not received any attention in the IB discourse yet.…”

The Impact of Social Media Technologies on the Revolutions

“…According to Lim (2012) Looking beyond the citizens' use of social media, business firms have also benefitted from having a firm presence in countries because of it. One of the advantages such firms have is that they can advocate their technologies (social media, mobile & tablet technologies, Google maps) without having a physical presence in a particular country, thus establishing a borderless virtual sphere (Benmamoun et al, 2012). Although the extent of social media in the revolutions has subsided since the events of 2011, (it was a driver but not the main driver in the Egyptian and Libyan revolutions), online mediums such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter will continue to be readily available and therefore virtual sphere multinational firms (e.g.…”