The world we live in today is going through enormous changes in economics, technology, culture, politics, etc. The effects of the changes are not so clear, since it is hard to predict how each sector would affect the other and how society will be affected. However, analyzing past and present occurrences provides some information for experts to interpret society’s reaction in the future to different transformations. Globalization can be seen as a process in which societies around the world come together and expand through the combination of different forces. This paper will explore the effects of globalization on US companies, US society and economy, and the implications for other countries in the post-industrial world. …show more content…
These forces are the direct result of advanced technology. Moreover, the forces were made possible thanks to the World Wide Web (which is another force Friedman mentions). Technology and Internet are the real reasons our world became flat, and the reason the above flattener forces evolved. Companies, groups, and individuals – all connected together to form one global village. US companies started to outsource the back rooms of accounting firms and forwarding Dell customers to the 24/7 call center located in India. US companies were able to reduce cost, while making India a “customer service nation” and China a “low labor cost nation”.
Implications of a Flat World
US and other developed countries have moved their production structures from agriculture to industry to services. Once reaching a peak, US employment has started to decline. The continued progress in manufacturing and productivity, income growth, and international outsourcing brought the US economy to a tough position in the post-industrial world: while manufacturing plant investment abroad has continued, many engineers in the US lost their positions. The decline in research contribution by US industry ”raises questions about implications for the future of US competitiveness in international markets and for the future existence of highly skilled jobs at home” (National Science Board, 2008).
But free trade and globalization have their benefits as well. The theory of
Globalization impacts every area of American life: from the products we buy to the way we do things. One of the ways globalization affects individual communities is by making those communities more diverse. Globalization makes the migration of people, as well as products and stores, more possible. There are some negative aspects of globalization. For example, globalization makes it more likely that we will see less variety of stores. The proliferation of the same stores in every neighborhood, even throughout the world, makes for a more homogenized society. I see a Starbucks everywhere, as well as McDonalds. One impact of globalization that has both pros and cons is that English has become the predominant language. English enables people from different countries to communicate, but it also means that people in the English speaking countries have an advantage.
He refers to a term used by Samuel Huntington to describe the shifting of powers in the world. Zakaria states that the international system is more accurately described by Samuel Huntington’s term “uni-multipolarity.”(Zakaria 413) The meaning in this is that in coming new world that there will be other countries that hold significant power with one superpower still remaining. Zakaria remains optimistic that the United States will still hold the spot as the most powerful country even as other countries rise, as long as the U.S. can accept the changes of no longer being the only country with power and learn to compromise with other countries in order to succeed in what he claims to be the post-American world. Zakaria shows concern for America if they are unable to adapt. He states “The irony is that the rise of the rest is a consequence of American ideas and actions.”(418) By that Zakaria means that that the United States has pushed for other countries to open up to new concepts concerning politics, trade, and technology and now that other countries have embraced these ideas and America failed to use its own advice. Overall, Zakaria has a realistic ideology of the effect globalization will have on The United States of America. On the other hand Friedman sees globalization as a flattening of the world, a level ground for all countries to compete for power, global knowledge, and advancement. His main emphasis is on the technology that we
US globalization changed not only the United States, but the world, since anybody can sell to anyone, anywhere in the world. It has opened opportunity to many people across the globe that would have never been able to have a successful business without it. Another way it has changed is in the way people communicate with each other. People can immediately talk to somebody in another country, or post to a social website, reaching many people at once and instantaneously, globalization has definitely made the world a lot smaller.
Contemporary globalization is an exceptionally multifaceted phenomenon and can be defined as "an intensification of cross-national cultural, economic, political, social and technological interactions that lead to the establishment of transnational structures and the global integration of cultural, economic, environmental, political and social processes on global, supranational, national, regional and local levels" (Huynen, Martens & Hilderink, 2005). The very nature of the American society has experienced insightful and compound changes due to globalization that has brought with it both new opportunities and risks. Similarly, the impacts of globalization
There are various theoretical frameworks that create the foundation for understanding of any social or economic phenomenon. Since globalization occurs on several levels there are different theories that explain various aspects of it. The analysis of various factors that facilitate the creation of interconnected and
Brinkerhoff, Weitz, and Ortega (2014) define globalization of culture as “the process through which cultural elements (including musical styles, fashion trends, and cultural values) spread around the globe (p. 49). Furthermore, the cultural impact globalization has imparted on American society is clearly evident in the enormous number of choices available, which includes choices concerning food, fashion, and the arts of film, dance, and music (The Impact of Globalization on the Consumer, 2014). For instance, when I dine out and have the choice of a type of cuisine to eat, just in the small city I live, there are at least three of each type of Asian (Thai, Mongolian, Japanese, and Chinese), Mexican, and Italian restaurants.
In today’s society the amount of technological and all around global advancements that have been made within a mere decade are astonishing, let alone what has yet to be constituted. Although not only the United States, but the entire world has globalized, it’s been proven that first world countries have an advantage in being able to heighten themselves quickly, opposed to third world countries that trail behind. Former U.S. Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, stated, “What is called globalization is really just another name for the dominant role of the United States” (Prompt), proving that globalization sets a fine line between the perks of those fortunate enough in a capitalistic nation and those who are not.
Globalization is a freight train to be reckoned with; my position is for globalization. As we move forward into the future the technology is forcing us to become intertwined with one another and there is no escaping interlace. As Dr. Fisher’s presentation points out, “In the hyper competitive business environment, businesses are competing internationally as well as domestically” Fisher, K.(n.d.,) There is unquestionable certainty globalization will help the individual nations and world economy. However, there are legitimate arguments that powerful nations in the west such as the US will take advantage of third world country workers. When looking at this initially, it may seem true, but when we dig deeper, it will show the progress and success
The concept of globalization has become a prevalent phenomenon in the past two decades because of the changes it has brought and the adoption of its strategies by multinational corporations or companies. The economic changes of globalization include the strengthening of economic inter-dependence, internationalization of production, and enhanced mobility of transnational corporations. On the other hand, trade liberalization, privatization, and deregulation are the ideological changes emanating from this concept.
The world as we know it has been rapidly transforming due to the extremely large leaps in technology, the reduction of barriers into and out of countries, mind-boggling innovations, and the reinforcement of communication infrastructures. After reading The World is Flat, by Thomas Friedman, I feel that we are extremely lucky to have the chance to be a part of this unique era in human history. Globalization is a main cause for the convergence that is bringing the nations of the world together more and more every year. In a very short period of time, borders, walls, and tariffs have been, and continue to, fall all around us. This is a special time because nations are beginning to realize that building strong technological infrastructures,
There are many controversial about economic globalization which has brought the international strategies as technology and socioeconomic and environmental development from first world to expand business over the world. The economic is based on Neo-liberalism policy which creates inequality among of societies stated by (International Relations, 2016). The flowing of the product life cycle in the global economy is mostly interconnected with developing countries, because there are lots of opportunities for them. One of the main reasons for the global economic crisis in 2008 was printing the monetary policy, too much borrowing of money and buying houses with high price, but lower interest rates causing inflation as well as crated debt in which effects long-term around the world mentioned by (Petrov, 2008). As a result, global poverty has many negative effects on the global economy, especially in countries which are heavily relying on developed countries. The global economy can easily create finance stress that causing a country’s political unstable, social conflict, increase of illiterates and lack of healthcare system for a poor country. This essay will explore the effect the global economy on third poverty using dependency theory and show disadvantages such as foreign direct investment and International Monetary Fund (IMF) intervention and environmental degradation.
Globalization is an extremely important topic when it comes to present day business and the transformation of global markets and business operations, as well as the way in which businesses have had to adapt to new demands and increasing consumer awareness with the advancement in technology, it has ‘Globalization is a phenomenon that has remade the economy of virtually every nation’ and ‘reshaped almost every industry’ (Rosenberg, 2002). It is becoming more popular and the spread of this is moving at a fast-pace. There were trends that were forecasted when the article was written, Globalization seemed like an inevitable reality for the world at that moment in time. Due to increasing use of advancing technology, being the force driving ‘the world toward a converging commonality’ (Levitt, 1983). As Theodore Levitt previously forecast it in 1983,
The term globalisation describes the process of becoming worldwide in scope or application, and the increasing interdependency of nation-sates. At least - that gives us one loose definition for globalisation, but as Scholte (2000) realises, globalisation is a thoroughly contested subject, with arguments extend across the issue of definition as well as measurement, chronology, explanation and normative judgement. In fact, Scholte identifies five contrasting definitions for the word 'globalisation ' as used by a number of the subject 's commentators and critics - internationalisation, liberalisation, universalisation, western/modernisation and deterrioralisation are (2000: 13).
Technological advancements in the last few decades allowed a greater interconnectivity among people around the world. This phenomenon is called globalization. As humans continue to advance technologically, we, as humans, will become more unified. This unification has many benefits. We will be able to work together on an economical, political, and social level. The state-of-the-art capabilities in commerce and trading between countries globalization fosters immense economical growth. Consequently, this growth will lead to an increase in jobs and overall economic health. Nevertheless, some claim that globalization will have certain costs. Many argue that some local cultures will die as a result of globalization. As technology grows and we become more interconnected, all cultures, big and small, will become more homogenous. The global homogeneity that globalization induces unfortunately leads to the demise of uniqueness in culture, essentially destroying smaller cultures all together. Russ Rymer (2012), an author that has worked for many publications including National Geographic, New York Times, Smithsonian, etc., claims that the reach larger languages, such as Mandarin and English, is expanding to “seemingly every hamlet” (p. 7). Some do argue, however, that the global culture that is created will allow for humans to work together in a more efficient manner than ever before. The question that needs to be asked is do the economic benefits outweigh the cultural costs of
Across the world, globalization is one of the most significant aspects that has occurred over the last fifty years. It allows a country to integrate economically with other countries through a global network comprised of people, trade, and transportation. With the global landscape only becoming more intertwined, globalization and its inherent pros and cons seem to be here to stay. In many areas, global powers tend to lack in rectifying the negative aspects and only focus on the positive side. America, for example, is a leader in the globalization efforts, even though it has greatly effected job opportunities at home, widening income gaps, and an increased standard of living due to fluctuating world markets.