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Globalization and Transnational Corporations: Procter & Gamble (P&G)

Procter & Gamble (P&G) is a marketer of fast-moving consumer goods founded in America in 1837. They mainly operate through five industry-based Sector Business Units including Baby, Feminine, and Family Care; Beauty; Health Care; Grooming; and Fabric and home care. They pride themselves on their quality products to improve the lives of their consumers. 

The operations of this company have extended to the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Europe. The 6,000-square-meter facility is located in the Forum Industrial Park in Santa Ana, Costa Rica, 1 of the 25 sites plotted in America. “We are glad to know that multinational companies are relying on Costa Rican talent to expand their operations”, stated President Luis Guillermo Solis in response to the facility’s opening. In opening sites its site in Costa Rica, P&G was hopeful to increase levels of satisfaction and further specialization for the citizens in that particular region. as well as promote jobs in the area. Procter and Gamble won it’s earliest stages in Costa Rica in the 2010s originally had 500 jobs available: calling for engineers, business administrators, and logistics and customs specialists. Currently, in 2024, P&G in Costa Rica has grown to have 2,000 employees. P&G commercializes products in “19 categories in Costa Rica and is the market leader in several of them, including Hair Care, Shave Care, and Fabric Care, with #1 brands like Gilette, Pantene, and Ariel (PGCareers 2023). The implementation of this site has both provided citizens in Costa Rica with jobs, as well as provided the community with grocery needs.

P&G’s establishment within Costa Rica in the 21st century has led to many different outcomes economically, socially, and environmentally. From an economic standpoint, P&G’s operations have created plenty of employment opportunities through its workforce and indirectly through the supply chain network. P&G additionally stimulated economic growth through its contribution to GDP in the country. Socially, the implementation of the product availability within the area points to a direct impact on the consumers. The company is responsible for the safety and appropriateness of certain items being on the shelf, however. It can be concluded that the company is promoting diversity within its workplace, with the website acknowledging the “Black Lives Matter” protests, as well as LGBTQ+ community through awareness events. Furthermore, the company markets products towards women’s healthcare, convenient for the livelihood of women at any stage in their lives (babies, toddlers, teens, adults, etc…). Overall, P&G centralizes its company around a more equal future.

P&G has established four pillars of science guiding its sustainability goals, namely Climate, Waste, Water, and Nature. They assert that true company progress involves benefitting both people and the environment, emphasizing an irresistible superiority in sustainability. In September 2021, P&G set an ambitious target to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across its operations and supply chain by 2040. As part of this commitment, the company is actively working to design all consumer packaging to be recyclable or reusable by 2030. 

Furthermore, P&G has a set goal for 2030 to restore more water than is consumed at its manufacturing sites. This involves seeking partnerships and implementing restoration projects to enhance the management and protection of water sources. Additionally, P&G pledges to ensure responsible sourcing of key commodities like wood pulp, palm oil, and paper packaging. 

P&G’s presence in Costa Rica is more aligned with neoliberalism rather than neo-colonialism. Neoliberalism is an economic and political ideology that emphasizes free-market capitalism, limited government intervention, and the promotion of private enterprise. The company itself takes social responsibility to acknowledge social issues and markets products tailored to women’s healthcare, aligning with neoliberal values. Sustainability initiatives that are also taken into account by the company can suggest the neo-liberalistic alignment of the company.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/procter–gamble-inaugurates-its-modern-facilities-in-costa-rica-for-its-latin-american-supply-chain-planning-center-264798911.html

https://www.pgcareers.com/global/en/locations/costa-rica#:~:text=P%26G%20commercializes%20products%20in%2010,like%20Gillette%2C%20Pantene%20and%20Ariel.

https://www.boldbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/PG-innovative-strategy.jpg

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