Globalisation: Small Is Beautiful - Essay Example

Globalisation: Small is Beautiful Globalisation Starting of it is imperative that one defines what true globalisation is and what is meant by the term in its literal sense and also give credit to the people initially coined the term and what are the true implications of globalisation in the contemporary world. Globalisation in one of its truest and most literal meanings means the process that is used to make a local phenomena or a concept a global or a globally accepted one and to market it through out the world in order to achieve certain organizations or for that matter any sort of goal. The term 'global village; is also being used to describe the process of Globalisation because true Globalisations unites the people of the world into a singular society by making all sorts of goals and thought processes available through out the world at one point in time and hence makes it beneficial for the people of the world because every one can gain from it simultaneously. Globalisation is usually linked with the economic aspect of a society but in reality it is not just the economy that it effects but it effects all aspects of the society for example democracy and the way that it is being promoted after the 9/11 has become a global phenomenon and people and societies in general are striving to achieve this political system so that they can be in line with the world and that is the true essence of Globalisation. The rate at which this concept has been spread is phenomenal and is one of the primary reasons that people have wanted to know more of it in the recent past. The word Globalisation itself was first used in 1981 and spread through out the world in the late 1980's and early 1900's and is still thought to be as a new field altogether. The question that needs to be answered is that why was there a need for Globalisation The answer lies in the fact that the costs that were associated with protectionism and closed societies was a very high one, not only for the societies that had the policies of protectionism but for the world on the whole because countries, just like individuals, cannot survive in pure isolation and there needs to be some sort of communication and transfer of goods and thought processes and this gave rise to Globalisation, it was mainly a western idea but the advantages associated with Globalisation have been so appealing that the rest of the world has inevitably followed but it must be kept in mind that it was not just because of the advantages but also because of the way that it was being promoted through out the world by the countries that were for the notion and since the west plays a major role in all economies of the world it was inevitable that the rest of the world followed in their footsteps. The four basic ways of measuring Globalisation is through goods and services i.e. the amount of goods exported and imported within a country for a certain amount of time, labour i.e. how many people moved from that country to go work in other countries and how many people moved in to work, the capital that was received by the country and the capital that has been invested by the country in other economies and last but not the least technology i.e. how many major innovations took place in that country and what major technologies were exported to the world and what technologies were brought in by that country from other countries for a fixed amount of time. As mentioned above the advantages associated with Globalisation are widespread and are not only limited to the economical aspect of any society but rather it influences the political, cultural, informational and social aspect of all the societies that are associated with the concept of Globalisation . In my opinion Globalisation has been affected by a lot of variables over the past decade but there have been some very significant factors which will be discussed and explained during the course of this paper but it needs to be understood that this is a very subjective matter. Media and Associated Technology As we all have witnessed that the media industry all over the world has grown considerably over the past decade and it has made rapid progress owing to the technological growth that has taken place all over the world and that is why I believe that the media has had a very important role to play in the promotion of the whole concept of Globalisation. First and foremost the media has promoted the concept of Globalisation by means of promoting the term it self and increasing the awareness levels all around the world so that people are aware what Globalisation is and what benefits can be reaped from the process of Globalisation and hence this has made a large chunk of the world pro Globalisation rather than against the whole concept. Secondly media has been able to influence the process of Globalisation by means of providing people with information which is very timely, reliable and can be used as a means of decision making, this has made people feel much more empowered and they believe that they can take decisions which are very cost effective and will be very accurate because the information, which is the basis of the decision making process, comes from reliable sources for example a country considering setting up a plant in a developing country as Pakistan would not have to go into great details to get the correct political or socio economic situation a report from the BBC would be enough to give them a general idea about the country's political , socio economic and cultural aspects. Lastly, media has been able to influence technology, for example reporting has taken on a totally new meaning after the 9/11 and reporters have been able to process real time information from war fronts to their channels, this just show cases the technology that is being used and this has been a very influential factor because people now know it as it happens. With regards to media it has to be mentioned that the media all over the world has been specializing in the economical front i.e. that they have been reporting much more on the economies and the stock exchanges of the countries, this information is readily available on all the websites of these news channels and news papers and hence they are a very good source of first hand information for any one who wants it. The Internet The internet has been one of the technologies that have spread through out the world over the past decade and the speed by which it has progressed has been phenomenal and today this technology is on offer in every nook and corner of the world. What this technology has done that it has been able to provide each and every individual a very cost effective and a very efficient means of exploring the whole world with the help of just a computer, this has been very influential in terms of cultural information that people have gained and have understood other cultures. It has also been one of the most influential factors in the availability of information because people have been relying on it as a source of information for the past decade or so. The internet has also provided people the facility of buying and selling goods of the internet and hence companies have set up sites where there consumers can come and shop, this is relevant for business to business organizations as well as business to consumers, this has also promoted the use of international supplier and outsourcing because people can now check the various rates that are prevalent in a country at a time, previously with out the internet people actually had to go to different countries to find out what were the rates that different organizations were offering, for example a tire producing company might have to go to 10 different suppliers of rubber before they can make a decision from whom to buy the basic raw material but now since the inception of internet companies can check the rates of different suppliers in 25 different countries all at the same time with out spending a single penny and all of this by just a simple click on their computers. Consumers have also been able to pay online due to the more efficient banking and credit availability systems that are prevalent now in most of the countries and credit card payment is now one of the most used methods for payment over the internet and this has given the consumers the ease of shopping from there homes, all of this coupled with the fact that all sorts of consumer goods are present over the internet and there is no shortage of variety of goods or brands and hence making it a very viable and secure option. Transportation The changes that have occurred in the transportation industry over the past decades has been phenomenal, this has been largely due to the changes that have been made in the shipping sector and also the air transport industry has been very active in bringing about the change, infrastructural changes in many countries due to the openness in the world market has also played a major role in determining the shape that the transport industry has finally taken. Why is transportation so very important for Globalisation to take place This is because people have been using the internet more and more to purchase products and timely delivery of goods is required for the internet option to be very viable, for this purpose courier services and the shipping industry have played a vital role. The role of the shipping industries the world over has been of significance because of the amount of goods that they are able to ship from one destination to the other at one point in time. Production Technology One of the most major features of Globalisation is that it requires availability of goods through out the world markets at one point in time, how have companies been able to achieve this Companies have been able to do this by innovating and spending on technology that is far more efficient and far more quick than what they previously were, companies have set up plants in countries where they want there goods to available and at times they have used the regional approach for example a company might set up its production facilities in one of the middle eastern countries and supply from that production unit to the whole of the middle east and even the Asian markets, what this enables them to do is to take advantage of every country's policy and use newer technology so that goods are produced and distributed in a timely and efficient manner. Globalisation's Affect on an Individual Globalisation has affected every one in each and every part of the world and yet as individuals we hardly realize it till we consciously think about it and in today's era it is very difficult to pin point how we have been affected by Globalisation because what ever has changed in the world around us has been, more or less, taken for granted and has been associated with a 'change process' but the truth is that Globalisation has affected us, for the better and at times for the worse as well. The first and the foremost way that it has affected me is by way of the availability of goods and services that are being provided in this contemporary world. Be it shoes and clothing or be it a hi-fi laptop, everything is available and that too at a very viable price and hence this has given fuel to the consumption culture in all the countries, open markets mean more competition and competition means rivalry on the basis of price as well as variety and hence as a consumer I am now exposed to lower prices with a wider range of variety and this has certainly had an impact on the way I shop and spend my money. Secondly, with true Globalisation of fast food chains such as KFC and McDonalds the food consumption pattern for me and the whole country has changed drastically because good quality fast food is available at affordable prices, this is a very important factor because the whole health situation of a country can change and change drastically with the inception of such fast food chains and this has been the case with me as well. The quality of life has also increased considerably because of all types of goods being available, for example at first an imported car was not a viable option because of the high prices that they wee being sold at but now because the market is much more open than it previously was the prices have gone down and I can afford to drive an imported car. The technological aspect cannot be forgotten when mentioning the changes that Globalisation has brought about in my country, for example the changes that have been brought about in the telecommunications industry, specially in the mobile phone industry has been phenomenal over the past five years, first the cell phones came with a camera and now they are evolving further with email features and this has enabled me to achieve more while I am on the move and thus they have helped me to be much more efficient with managing each and every aspect of my life. References 1. Stiglitz. J (2003) Globalisation: Globalisation and its discontents 2. Friedman. T (2006) The world is flat: A brief history of the twenty first century 3. Steger. M (2003) Globalisation: A very short introduction 4. Robertson. R (1992) Globalisation: Social theory and global culture 5. Bhagwati. J (2004) In Defense of Globalisation 6. Scholte. J (2000) Globalisation: A critical introduction Read More