GLOBALIZATION AND THE CORPORATIONS - THE CASE OF THE CALIFORNIA FORTUNE GLOBAL 500

This article argues that there is a genuine process of globalization t aking place among the Fortune Global 500 corporations domiciled in Cal ifornia. Globalization is assessed in terms of four criteria: (1) fore ign direct investment; (2) benchmarking and world best practice; (3) g lobal corporate citizenship; and (4) global vision. The study is based on interviews in ten of the fifteen Global 500 corporations in Califo rnia, plus one private corporation with comparable revenues. The inter views focused on the uses and meanings of globalization in corporate v ocabularies and practices, and the salience of these four criteria. Th e interview findings and company, business press and scholarly publica tions provide substantial support for the thesis that a genuine proces s of globalization is taking place, even if it is more advanced in som e corporations than others, and that this globalization has important effects on local and regional economies.