Westernisation has mean that western cultures have been adopted by other nations to include & follow technologies, values, politics, lifestyles, industries and even language. Like the other terms they all interlink with each other but it’s only a single part of Globalisation.
Although through these wordings it is easy to see how many get confused with globalisation, but there are clear border between the terms and although it doesn’t answer in full what globalisation is not it might easier from this perspective to say this is what globalisation is not.
Globalisation can have two main forms that it impacts on, globalisation of markets & globalisation of production, by looking at these two areas it can help to understand the process & how it works.
Globalisation of markets took place throughout 1980’s & 90’s when more nations opened their markets to overseas investments, this led to a global marketplace for products that are more standardised.
Globalisation of markets has meant that certain markets have begun to merge with each other hence creating a global market. This has allowed organisations to sell their products internationally & allow brands to develop to the extent that organisations can be distinguished around the globe, firms like Nike, Microsoft & Coca Cola can be recognised by most nations and their products are used by consumers around the world.
With such convergence it can be that consumer preferences are beginning to change with this. As peoples beliefs can never be identical its only really basic and standardised products that could meet a global market, more complex offerings are offered on a more National or geographic basis to meet their target audiences demands, with firms tailoring & marketing products differently in countries to reach its audience.
Cultures have been affected by this with national cultures being accused of diminishing because of this, with global preferences forming it can be seen that not only national but geographical areas within countries have been impacted by the change. The condemning of such occurrence has been expressed in France where they certain people feel they’re culture has been eroded by having an emerging global marketplace. An example of how its been effected is with the development of French Cinema with more and more Hollywood films overtaking French films, something many in the country are against.
Smaller firms bear an impact of the convergence of markets with so many firms competing they don’t have the power or finances that the larger multi national firms do which enables the bigger firms to reduce their prices, this has meant many smaller firms ever having to sell to a larger firm or just go out of business.
An advantage of markets being globalised is that there is more competition between firms to get there product to the consumer, this has led to reductions in pricing and also meant product quality as people are desperate to gain any sort of competitive advantage.
With the convergence of the markets from national to a global basis helps companies to take the most valuable assets and use them to there advantage overseas, meaning they can use similar marketing strategies, operating strategies and developmental strategies.
Globalisation of production has developed through reaction to the more developed countries facing competition from overseas in the form of low cost imports. Through taking production overseas to less developed countries there able to reduce their costs, and due to the reduction in costs & time for transporting goods it means they can it in several different countries at any one time.
The key elements for this to be successful rely on the cost for labour, supplies, communication & transport in the less developed countries. If successful it can mean the firms can be more competitive against the lower cost imports but it also helps the developing countries to prosper.
Along with lowering in global market barrier it meant firms could setup production in other countries at half the cost; this started with the US due to its high wages & later was followed by Western Europe & Japan. With the legal barriers that were in place earlier it means firms can get around legal issues involved in production lot easier in other countries causing fewer delays.
With the standard production work being done in other countries this means that highly skilled production can still be done in the developed countries due to these activities being more intensive and needed a more skilled worker. This said more developing countries have established themselves as being able to attend to the higher skills as well, an example of this is with India whose technological advancements has seen the countries economy grow dramatically, to the extent now where there GDP is increasing year on year.
An alternative to sending production to another country would be to reduce the amount of imports allowed into the country. This tactic has been used most countries where they have put quotas on imports at times & restricted certain goods at times.
The globalisation of products has still caused problems with many arguing developing countries have & are being exploited, but it also affects the developed nations whose jobs & economy are affected by production going overseas.
Not only production is being outsourced other business functions are being sent overseas with customer services an example, this is again due to the reduced costs that are available in those countries with staff on a lot less wages & resources cheaper. With the development of Information systems in India many banks are setting up call centres there to enable them to use for customer service, although this is again cheaper because of labour cost it can also have it problems with cultural differences leaving consumers at time frustrated.
Two of the main reasons for the development & sheer pace of Globalisation have been the lowering of global market barriers and the technological changes that have developed especially over the last 30 years.
The market barriers that were in place after the war were meant to prevent national convergence & protect industries from competition abroad. This said after the Second World War multinational companies were looking to produce & sell products in the domestic markets of countries around the world. These barriers were very restricting this adding to the misery at the time following the war.
With the emergence of Global Institutions like International Monetary Fund (IMF), General Agreement on Tariffs (GATT) & World Bank the began to progress with economic global development and reduce the barriers that were in place with the goal of a global market. They set out to reduce the tariffs & trade to allow the free of goods & services amongst nations.
Technological change has come on leaps & bound over the last 40 years, including the way in which we communicate, do business, transportation technology & information processing.
Within the last 15 years the internet has revolutionised the way in which lots of things are done, it’s had a huge impact on business & meant it is easier for organisations to communicate with each other, suppliers & also its customers. The amount of people that now have access to the internet is 1.5 billion (AMD, 2009), which means that organisations have been able to communicate to countries that wouldn’t have been able to previously. An example of this is with the production being outsourced and firms communicating with the countries where production has been placed, before it would have been harder for forms in America to keep in touch with countries like India, Bangladesh & South American countries, but with the Internet it means they can do so not only quicker but at much reduced cost than a telephone call.
With it constantly growing & having more users the Internet has not only helped large firms but helped smaller firms to market globally with them not having the huge costs that wouldn’t have been before the net, also means they can find buyers & sellers for their products.
The advances in transportation have also helped firms market around the globe, the learjet, super freighters & the introduction of containerisation has meant firms can now transport goods in half the time previous & at a much lower cost. This has helped with the globalisation of production with many different countries developing components for products & having to ship them it still is cheaper to produce overseas.
Out of all the technological developments arguably mot important has been the microprocessors. It’s enabled business to process data much quicker at a much lower cost, saving time & meaning they can adapt to change quicker. Near enough every firm will now own a microprocessor in the computers; these are the reason why majority of other technologies work, the internet, transportation & telecommunications all depend on microprocessors.
The way technology has advanced in the last 40 years it can only be seen that it is only going to become more advanced & develop further, enabling firms to connect with more customers, help to develop new products & increase the level of quality.
Part of the development & more frequent use of the term Globalisation have been down to the publicity & establishment of anti-globalisation. With anti-globalisation although the phrase is fairly new, people have protested against the process for years. It has involved many different people including environmentalists; human rights activists, anarchists & unionists, these people have expressed there distaste against the process & have lead to riots & revolts on large scales.
Many believe that globalisation is developing at the cost of undeveloped countries & that the large nations are benefiting more. With this gain it has lead to some suggesting they now use this influence & power to get what thy want. Protestors have been incensed by these organisations with accusations of political influences in governments & greater care for shareholders than communities & customers. This said it can be argued that in today world with the competitive nature organisations are going to put shareholders at the forefront of their objectives. Small businesses & individual freedom have been hit by globalisation, with the mega rich considering less about them & more about themselves.
Its not just protestors supporting the less developed countries but many have argued that the outsourcing of job to other countries like India & South America has meant the decline in their communities. This can be seen in the case of Detroit where it was previously a hotbed for the car industry, over the last 5-10 years more wok has been sent overseas with many of the car firms in the area also having financial difficulties; this has led to job cuts of up to 70,000 in Detroit. The need for manual workers in certain areas like Detroit can be argued as being a problem, but one the other side another country will be benefiting from the change like the South American countries where the production has gone to, particularly in Mexico who have benefited from the decline in the car production in America.
Many of the protestors complaining about the Western Countries profiting at the expense of the developing countries, without the outsourcing and income from these countries they may struggle to grow. The trouble with this argument is that similar less developed countries although the income doesn’t seem much, in relation to the there circumstances it would probably work out reasonable, so it is hard to find an equal balance between the two sides on this issue because both have become dependent on the other.
With the sheer development & complexity involved in Globalisation it’s near impossible to get one clear definition, using any definition doesn’t give a reflection of the processes involved. Each scholar takes their own individual slant on the term, with Sklair referring to it as ‘emergence of globalised economy based on new systems of production, finance & consumption’. (Sklair, 1999) Others stress the importance it has had on our lives, ‘to have stopped globalisation would have done irreparable harm to the progression of humanity’. (Amartya Sen 2002)
The doesn’t explain the complexity of the process, the players involved & the implications it has & with so many people giving their individual views the definitive issue will be know one can have a clear answer.
Majority of research done around the process lends it hand to incorporating other processes like Internationalisation, Liberalisation & Westernisation, this can be confusing & just adds further to the debate of what the true meaning is. In 1998 alone, 2822 (Globalisation Guide, 2002) papers were published on Globalisation, from these papers each would of given their own take & viewpoint on the subject.
This viewpoint is underlined when discussing the reason for having one definition, ‘the object of definition is not to discover one understanding that secures universal acceptance, but to generate insight that can be effectively communicated to, and debated by others’. (Scholte, 2002)
The fundamental acceptance that globalisation enables financial & investments markets to operate globally due to lowering of regulations & environments with technology can be seen as a mere starting point for the subject, to understand the true meaning of much research is needed to enable understanding of the complexity involved.
References
Anthony Giddens, 1996 - ‘On Globalisation’, excerpts from a Keynote at the UNRISD Conference on Globalisation and Citizenship, 1 December 1996 – at (under ‘viewpoints’).
Collins Dictionary, 9th Edition, Globalisation
P. Hirst & G. Thompson, Globalisation in Question: The international Economy & the possibilities of Governance (Cambridge: Policy, 1999 2nd edn), pp. 7-13.
AMD, 2009 -
Sklair, L. 1999. "Globalization." In: Taylor, S. (ed.) Sociology: Issues and Debates. London: Macmillan.
Amartya Sen - Rationality and Freedom, Harvard, Harvard Belknap Press, 2002
Globalisation Guide 2002 – http://www.globalisationguide.org/sb02.html
Jan A Scholte - Globalisation? The definitive issue – Again, Dept of Politics & international Studies, University of Warwick, CSGR Working Paper 109/02, December 2002
Bibliography
Textbooks
International Business – McGraw-Hill Higher Education; 7 edition (1 Mar 2008)
International Business: Competing in the Global Marketplace, McGraw-Hill College; 6th edition (Dec 2005)
Journals
; Volume: 24 ; 2005
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Websites
http://