An Overview on Multinational Corporations INTRODUCTION
Multinational corporations (MNCs) are firms that engage in some form of international business. Their managers conduct international financial management which involves international investing and financing decisions that are intended to maximize the value of the MNC. Management is motivated to achieve a number of goals and objectives, some of which conflict with each other. However, the commonly accepted objective of an MNC is to maximize stockholder wealth on a global basis, as reflected by stock price.
Managers of an MNC may make decisions that conflict with the firm’s goal to maximize shareholder wealth. This conflict of goals between firm’s managers and shareholders’ is often referred to as the agency problem. For the firm to achieve its goals, it needs to put in place mechanism for control of agency problem.
MNCs are recognized as the main actors of e international business, international business financing and global economies. According to Goshen and Bartlett, MNC is a firm that has substantial direct investment in foreign countries that it actively manages.2 the value of their sales in host countries overpasses the value of trade (imports and exports) in today’s
World economy. Multinational companies attracted scientific and public attention from the moment of their appearance, and especially from the beginning of their intensive growth (during the 1960s). There are many interesting and important issues concerning MNC that have been elaborated in the literature such as motives of internationalization, forms and strategies of internationalization, effects on host and home countries, political aspects of MNC activities,
Emerging forms of international business financings, corporate social responsibility of MNC, relationship between the headquarters and MNCnaffiliates, etc.

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