Globalization %u2013 Is it a good thing or not?

Globalization – Is it a good thing or not?

What is globalization? Wikipedia describes economic globalization as “…integration of national economies into the international economy through trade, foreign direct investment, capital flows, migration, and the spread of technology”. Globalization could be traced back to the old times from where people crossed lands in exploration of new territory to the creation of trade routes during the industrial revolution. However, the year 1985, marks an important date in the so called “confident globalization phase”, where the very first live music concert was viewed globally by 1.5 billion people via satellite. Also, many presently global companies and franchises were just a single outlet in one location. For example, Starbucks, that was only a single coffee shop in Seattle. Also that was the period in which the creation of the mobile/cellular phone had just begun and the launch of the 1^st windows operating system took place.

So then, in a matter of less than 25 years, how have we come so far as to where we currently are? During the years of 1985 to 2001 the pace of globalization became much faster. Things such as outsourcing, off shoring, supply chaining and globalized trade evolved and brought change to the way markets around the world work. This meant lower production costs and more efficient business processes for companies. On the down side though was the loss of jobs in countries such as the US. However, after 9/11, people started to have a pessimistic opinion about globalization and some even fear it.

Thomas Friedman, an American journalist, describes economic globalization, which causes the worldwide integration of cultures, as an effect of ‘flattening’ the globe. What he means by this concept of ‘flattening’ of the globe is simple, that is, it creates a level playing field for all, thus eliminating any particular advantage and creating free competition. However, he does have his critics.

Although globalization does have its good and bad sides, I personally believe the process of globalization has brought about more good than it has bad. In the video we watched in my Multicultural Literature class, of Thomas Friedman going to India to observe the effects of outsourcing, we saw how the youngsters who were working at the outsourced call centers, were happy with their jobs. They even go to the extent having to go by American aliases and ‘neutralizing’ their accent in order to be able to be understood better by their customers. Although this might seem like ‘Americanism’ is being forced upon them, it is not. This could be seen from the way in which they happily embrace it. Coming from a third-world country myself, I feel this is what the youngsters want, that is, to become as they see in the movies, which now, as a result of globalization, has become a possibility. In other words, with the money they earn, they now have the purchasing power to buy the brands that they once could only see in the movies. On the other side of the coin, the US is better off with cheaper customer service costs, although at a cost of the loss of jobs though. But as the saying goes you cannot have the cake and eat it too. My final thought on globalization is that it has created an inter-dependency between countries that I believe is a good thing.