Name of the module: Business and management essay. [Globalization is a force for good. Discuss]
Submission date: 9th November, 2014
Word:1088 words
Title: Globalization is a force for good. Discuss.
Today, it is not difficult to purchase a cup of coffee from Starbucks in most cities on the Earth. That is one of the results of Globalization. Globalization has different definitions in different areas. For business, it can refer to the processes of incorporation, operation, and competition of organizations in worldwide economy (Mullins,2013). For sociology, Albrow and King(1990) claimed that globalization is the processes by which world human beings are integrated into a global society. Now, it is widely believed that globalization has a positive influence on the world. This essay will illustrate benefits and disadvantages of globalization by examples and discuss some issues about corporate social responsibilities(CSR) in the context of globalization.
For most countries in the world, the benefits brought by globalization are various. Firstly, with the process of globalization accelerating, companies in developed countries obtain more factories to produce products by offshoring. As Friedman (2006.P138) claimed that, when a company moved one of factories to a developing countries, such as China, it could produce a same product in the same way with a lower manufacturing cost because of lower taxes, cheaper labour, and preferential policy. For example, after 2001 when China joined the World Trade Organization, China opened its market to world, which means off-shore companies can transfer factories to China and sell any products in any places in China. At the same time, according to Friedman(2006,P139), China agreed that foreign citizens and companies will be treated as if they were native citizens or companies, since China joined WTO. That provides a relative fair platform and larger markets for off-shore companies. Likewise, domestic firms in China can export their goods and sell in foreign countries as in home country (Mourdoukoutas,2011). For instance, according to a report contributed by Backaler (2014) on Forbes website, Huawei Technology Corporation which is one of the largest global business pioneers among Chinese companies, gained approximately two thirds of revenues from other countries.
Secondly, for consumers, Riley (2012) holds the view that , globalization brings more choices when consumers buy goods or service. For example, Americans can fly British airways and drive cars produced in Japan. And a Chinese student in the UK can buy rice from China or noodles from Korea in the local supermarket.
Moreover, because of globalization, advanced information technology has developed quickly, which leads to the world become smaller. For example, stockholders can receive the latest news about stock market from their smart phones and it is not difficult for a woman at home to watch TV drama programs from other countries by using satellite TV or Internet. However, what globalization brings is not only benefits, but also some problems.
There is no denying that globalization causes some problems. First of all, according to Stiglitz (2002), developed countries set trade barriers and try to compel developing countries to lower or even remove trade barriers, but they maintain their own barriers, which hurts developing countries and deprives them export income. For example, in 1996, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Thailand initiated a dispute settlement process with the World Trade Organization. Because American government pointed that when some countries use shrimp trawls, they didn't take the protective measures to protect sea turtles whose quantities declined because of shrimp trawls, then America banned imports of shrimps from those countries. This trade barrier affected some developing countries' export income, which is not beneficial for the their development of economy.
Secondly,