MULTINATIONAL

CORPORATIONS
Joint Stock Company

The joint-stock company was the forerunner of the modern corporation. In a joint-
stock venture, stock was sold to high net-worth investors who provided capital and
had limited risk.
British East India Company

Allegorical, oval shaped ceiling

piece commissioned by the East
India Company for the Revenue
Committee room in East India
House.
Brought tea, silk, porcelain, cotton
indigo to England.
What is the other side?

Examine the history of the British

East India Company to critique the
negative effects of the company.
Company turned military

The company transitioned from

trading to taking control of key
Indian states, maintaining its own
standing army and collecting taxes.
Bengal Famine

From 1870-73 approximately 10

million people die in India because
the British have transformed the
Indian economy to developing cash
crops like opium and indigo.
Opium Trade

The sale of tea is highly profitable,

but the British do not have anything
but silver in exchange. In order to
balance their trade with China, the
British sell opium despite it being
banned.
Conflict of Interests

While the government had no direct

shares in the company, many
government officials did.
The company had financial
problems that the government was
to bail out.
Eventually India was taken into the
control of the governmentthe
British Raj.
Slavery Footprint

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