Globalization

The JSW Group is a $3.7 billion worth conglomerate with interests in steel, energy, minerals and mining, aluminium, infrastructure and logistics, cement and IT. The Group projects its power sector company, JSW Energy, as one of its companies to watch out for. JSW's projects, notably its power plants in Jaigad, in the Western Indian state of Maharashtra, and its plans to set up aluminium smelters and mines in the tribal tracts of Andhra Pradesh have attracted significant resistance from local communities, including farmers.

Suez Environnement is one of a handful of global companies that dominate the contentious business of providing drinking water and waste collection services on a for-profit basis. Operating in about 30 countries, it provides water services to some 76 million people and trash services to 51 million. Suez Environnement was previously a part of the French services conglomerate Suez but was spun off in 2008 when Suez merged with Gaz de France to form GDF Suez, which retains a 35 percent holding in Suez Environnement.

Bechtel has probably done more than any other corporation to shape the built environment of the planet. For the past century it has overseen construction of many of the world’s largest bridges, dams, pipelines, refineries, smelters, nuclear power plants, subway systems and airports as well as entire cities in places such as Saudi Arabia. Its ability to win these contracts has been aided by the company’s large network of relationships with the power elites of the United States and many other countries.

ABN AMRO is an international bank with European roots. Focus is on consumer and commercial clients in local markets and global markets on selected multinational corporations and financial institutions, as well as private clients. ABN amro is active in four principal customer segments: Personal Banking, Private Banking, Business and Commercial and Corporate and Institutional.

ABN AMRO is a prominent international bank, history going back to 1824.

Sappi Ltd., a global player in the pulp and paper industry, is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa. Sappi Ltd is comprised of two divisions: Sappi Fine Paper (domiciled in London), and Sappi Forest Products (domiciled in Johannesburg), and employs some 16,000 people in Southern Africa, North America, and Europe; it bills itself as "the world's leading producer of coated fine paper and chemical cellulose" on its corporate website.

Cargill is one of the world's agribusiness giants and one of the largest privately held companies based in the United States. It began as a grain trader and has expanded into many forms of food processing and other industries such as steel and coal. Amid soaring commodity prices, Cargill's profits have been growing at an astounding rate.

Cargill is not shy about using its size and power to affect public policy.

Caterpillar Inc. is the world's largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, and industrial gas turbines. Famous for their products featuring caterpillar tracks and a distinctive yellow paint scheme, Caterpillar produces a wide range of heavy equipment, mainly engineering and demolition vehicles, including the Caterpillar D9 bulldozer. Among other controversies Caterpillar has been accused of human rights abuses in the Israeli Palestinian conflict by selling demolition equipment to the Israeli Defense Force.

Decatur, Illinois-based Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) is one of the world's largest agricultural conglomerates. Its business is primarily structured around the processing and trading of oilseeds (e.g. soy, palm), corn, wheat and cocoa. ADM is also a leading manufacturer of protein meal, corn sweeteners, flour, ethanol and vegetable oil.

Although it is dwarfed by the likes of Exxon Mobil and Chevron, Hess Corporation (formerly Amerada Hess) is a sizeable integrated oil company with a half-share in a big refinery in the Virgin Islands, some 1,250 gas stations in the eastern United States, and exploration and production activities in the Gulf of Mexico, the North Sea, Africa, Russia, Azerbaijan, and Southeast Asia. Leon Hess built the company over the course of half a century and also owned the New York Jets professional football team.