GLOBALIZATION

Globalization

Globalization

Thesis Statement

Globalization is an international extension of free markets and open societies.

Introduction

Globalization is the most significant change taking place in today's work environment. It connotes the economic interdependence among countries that develops through cross-national flows of goods and services, capital, know-how, and people. This entry covers mainly the organizational and human aspects of globalization (Wallerstein, 2007).

Globalization has come into common use since the 1980s, reflecting technological advances and electronic communication that have made it easier to create economic interdependence across countries (Herod, 2008). Globalization is not just a recent phenomenon. But today commerce and financial services are far more developed and deeply integrated than they were in the past. The most striking aspect of this has been the integration of financial markets made possible by modern electronic communication (Wallerstein, 2007).

Discussion

The question of whether globalization is good or evil continues to be debatable. One of its disadvantages is the growing income gap between high- and low-income countries and the increased number of world citizens who live in poverty. There are fierce protests against globalization during the G8 summits. Strong opposition to globalization usually originates from developing countries that have been hurt by the de stabilizing effects of globalization, including Central Asia and Eastern Europe, parts of Latin America, Africa, and parts of South Asia (Herod, 2008).

Yet, on the positive side, as globalization has progressed, the quality of life and life expectancy have improved significantly in virtually all countries, with the strongest improvement in the developed countries. The indexes of globalization have strengthened over the last two decades with respect to the following: world trade increased 10%, and more so in the newly industrialized economies, in Asia; capital movements, and in particular, flow of private capital to developing countries, increased significantly; workers moving from one country to another increased dramatically, and the foreign born proportion of labor forces around the world increased by approximately 50%; and the spread of knowledge and technology is increasing (Wallerstein, 2007). Knowledge transfer is accelerated via multinational corporations and global alliances, and company Intranets and the free Internet provide access to knowledge of management techniques, as well as professional and technical know-how.

The question of whether globalization is leading toward a cultural convergence stirs hot debates. A major argument against cultural convergence is that traditionalism and modernity may be unrelated. Strong traditional values, such as group solidarity, interpersonal harmony, paternalism, and familism, can coexist with modern values of individual achievement and competition. However, research evidence such as that produced by (Herod, 2008) points to some convergence in some areas. For example, firms trading globally are likely to imitate each other's practices to boost their own performance. Furthermore, international organizations set the normative expectations, and in this way they play a prime role as agents of world society. Finally, education and science are seen as setting the foundation for economic development, standardization of national practices, and institutionalization of environmental policies, leading toward convergence across countries (Wallerstein, 2007).

A common stereotype pertaining to globalization is that it is purely economic in ...