The purpose of this session is to address the gap in the literature on our understanding of the impact of multinational enterprises in the transformation of the world economy from the mid-to-late nineteenth century until the present. It will show how important it is to factor in the multinational enterprise when we think of major developments and the contours of the modern world. Multinationals did not merely contribute capital. They also had a significant impact on a global scale in the management and allocation of human resources, technology, information, intellectual property, research and development, marketing, and other specialist knowledge such as engineering for mines and infrastructure projects. They spread manufacturing globally. Multinationals are neither heroes nor villains. Their contribution has been and continues to be that of a key entrepreneurial role in transforming the modern world, by reshaping economies, and changing social and cultural norms.