There have also been numerous highly publicized developments that have put companies and NGOs at odds. Given the range of the issues involved, it is no wonder some NGOs have turned their fire on the corporate sector. Globalization remains incomplete. But its partial development has had consequences that are setting much of the wider context for the relationship between companies and NGOs. It has weakened traditional policymaking structures and limited the power of governments.
Individuals feel less in control of their lives.
Global companies, by contrast, are perceived to have acquired power - in particular, the power to choose where and when to invest and to apply technology. Globalization has expanded the scale of companies. The 20 largest corporations have market capitalizations greater than the gross domestic product of all but 20 members of the United Nations. Restructuring in the past three years has reinforced this impression of power. More than 100 companies have been taken out of the Fortune 500 group by merger or acquisition - Dollars 8,000bn of transactions.