Turbulent environments,corporate strategies and local employment perspectives

The paper attempts to bridge some of the gaps between (macro) regional-economic and (micro) corporate-geographic perspectives and research approaches. Local stakeholders of large manufacturing activities are tied to the corporate environment through complex linkages. Large corporations tends to perform various gate-keeping roles for the local community. External turbulence (e.g. in export markets) may be mitigated or accentuated by the decisions, strategies and spatial structures of the gate-keeping corporation. Examples are drawn from the aircraft industry and its particularly turbulent environments and significant local employment impacts.