Globalization Has Come Out as a Winner in the Present Times - Essay Example

Globalization Question In the context of production and marketing globalization, carefully discuss four drivers, which in your view have accelerate the process of these types of globalization in the past ten years Answer: Globalization has come out as a winner in the present times. Its advantages have easily outnumbered the negligible disadvantages that come along with it. This is because globalization has touched upon deeply within the lives of the people left, right and center. When one speaks of globalization, the aspects of production and marketing come about in an easy and free flowing way. The reason for this is based on the tremendous amount of positives that come hand in hand with the facets of globalization. Hence in order to fully understand the intricate details related with globalization, one must base a sound belief on the strengths related with production and marketing. Once again, it is important to touch upon the exact definition of globalization before moving ahead any further (Hersh 2000). I define globalization as “the cumulative basis of strengths, transferred from one world region to another, in a capacity that derives opportunities for all the major and minor stakeholders, time and time again.” When one tries to establish the exact basis of production and marketing globalization, the four significant drivers need to be understood in a proper fashion, as these form the core essence of globalization in the first place. These four drivers are the use of Information Technology, the Just in Time and Total Quality Management business processes to speed up work activities, the Sales Force Automation quarters, and lastly the Outsourcing mechanisms which have had a huge say in building growth and development within the globalization auspices on a proactively consistent basis. The four drivers have played their essential roles within the acceleration processes of globalization in the last decade or so. This has happened with the influx of resources and budget more importantly. This has also happened because the top management domains within the organizations that have chosen globalization for their own selves, have understood that globalization indeed is a force to reckon with (Taylor 2002). They have accepted the challenges thrown their way and have clearly realized the potential of globalization within the broader contexts. These four drivers are essentially the instigating mechanisms of change within the modern day organizations. Their roles have had a huge say in outlining the proper structure of the organizations and how they have invested heavily within the globalization realms of late. Thus it would be apt to state here that globalization has brought quite a number of incentives for the people and these four drivers are just a series of similar drivers that are there for the taking, on the part of the proponents and advocates of globalization in the long run. A number of other drivers are also being developed with the passage of time that will take care of the globalization studies in the times ahead. With so much happening with the global institutions in the recent past, it is only natural to suggest here that globalization will have a huge say within the shaping up of organizations in the future. The need is to properly understand where the strengths could be cashed upon and how the weaknesses could be turned into the specific areas of strength. Moving ahead, one must see that globalization should bring in the much touted benefits for the sake of the consumers, the stakeholders and the different business concerns. The four drivers must act in unison to bring about a change that is based on the long term scenario of prosperity and a complete adherence to standards that need to be understood within the related scheme of things. These four drivers are indeed the four pillars upon which globalization premise is built upon in essence. What is needed essentially is a character on the part of the top management hierarchies to discern the strengths and how these could be turned into opportunities with the passage of time. Proper consideration needs to be paid towards the resources that are made available for the sake of deriving the change that is expected out of these four drivers. Furthermore, an effort should be incorporated by the people who are at the helm of affairs to have a positive say about the globalization ranks and the effects that will be produced for the sake of one and all within the related settings (Wooldridge 2001). There is a dire need to comprehend how globalization will work hand in hand with these four drivers as the latter essentially take care of the underlying aspects which make the very domain of globalization a success in the long run. In essence, proper consideration must be paid towards the realms which are deemed as significant from the long term standpoint and which are basically going to play an important role within the globalization studies in the end. The role of Information Technology under the aegis of globalization comes about in a very apparent fashion. The different offices at the various locations of the world are connected through the linkage mechanisms of Information Technology. Without the incorporation of computer networks around the world, it would be a very difficult process to have connectivity at different locations of the world (Tansey 2002). This would mean more problems whilst getting in touch with the different stakeholders and customers who are spread far and wide. With the advent of time, Information Technology has had serious advancements and this goes to show that quite a lot of success has already been achieved within the relevant quarters of late. The networking tools and technological representations have made it possible to connect the far-off locations in a pretty easy way. This has made the task easier of the top management domains who need to discern the exact basis of communication between the different offices and thus decide which course of action to go with in the future. All these undertakings have become very easier with the changing technological domains and credit must be given to the top management realms that have understood the notion of a positive change within the Information Technology tenets and have thus gone ahead with the said implementation procedures within their workplace regimes. This is a very interesting phenomenon because the technological manifestations are being made more advanced with each passing day. This puts the top management quarters under a fix as they have to determine which technological tool would work best for them, whilst also keeping in mind the cost-effectiveness issue at hand (Wehn 1998). When they balance off both these aspects in a fair enough manner, then only could they move ahead with the implementation of these technological domains within their offices in entirety. In essence, Information Technology has played a huge role at boosting the globalization studies and this would keep on getting advanced if and only if the resources to meet the challenges are made available. The second driver to have played a significant role at accelerating the process of growth within the globalization ranks in the last ten years is related with the production side. The Just in Time and Total Quality Management techniques are some of the most important ones when one discusses the facets of increasing production domains within the business organizations. Globalization has benefited immensely in the wake of these two techniques coming to the help of the companies in the last decade or so. The top management circles have understood that the resources needed for the proper implementation of norms and procedures within the workplace realms would be important because these resources would pave the way for a better understanding and comprehension of a number of different things within the workplace dynamics. It is necessary that the related departments within the organizations understand that globalization’s success can only be attained when these production techniques are employed to good effect (Ludin 1994). What this means is the fact that a complete scrap of the business units might not be needed on all occasions, as is the case with Business Process Re-engineering. However it has been seen that Just in Time and Total Quality Management techniques played the same (if not in an equal capacity) role on most of the occasions. There is a dire need to comprehend which business process would be given more preference when the decision to have a sound technique in place is deemed as significant. But then again, it is really up to the top management domains as to how they understand the notion of incremental change as well as a strategic turnover (in terms of change) on a proactive basis. There is immense significance of understanding how companies would solve the anomalies related with these techniques so that similar issues do not crop up in the future (Casey 2002). Sales Force Automation forms up as the third quintessential driver behind accelerating the process of growth within the globalization quarters. This has been made possible by having a clear cut strategy on hand to look after the needs of the customers who are once again dependent on the organizations for the meeting of their needs and requirements. The organizations, on the other hand, look up to these customers to make the final cut, as far as their sale and the eventual profit making exercise is concerned. It is important to note that Sales Force Automation helps in making easier the work processes of the sales force working in an organization. The channel members, which comprise of the third party vendors and manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers also benefit from an automated system that works hand in hand with the organization’s different departments. What this does in essence is to speed up the very process of work amongst the different departments and units, and the stakeholders derive confidence from the profits that exponentially multiply over a period of time (Halal 2001). In the time and age of today, there is a dire need to have Sales Force Automation as it makes the tasks of the sales force very easier and the internal issues get solved in an amicable way nonetheless. The sales force members also witness a change within the work domains as more proactive work routines are witnessed within the lengths and breadths of the organizational hierarchy. The globalization studies have paid a lot of emphasis on the manner in which Sales Force Automation has come out as a winner within the present day work scenarios. It would be an advantage for nearly everyone within the workplace domains to have automated work systems that speed up the tasks and make the same flow in a very systematic fashion. There is immense scope for development of Sales Force Automation in the times ahead. The fourth and last driver of accelerating globalization in the past ten years has been the field of outsourcing. There is absolutely no denying the fact that outsourcing has brought in many laurels for the globalization regimes than anything else discernible. It would be a pity to discard the potential advantages of outsourcing in the coming times, not to forget the same happening in the current ones. Outsourcing has come out as a benefiting factor for those companies which seemed to have issues whilst handling production and marketing costs. Now these costs have been cut down by handing over the reigns to the offshore locations, an aspect that has cut costs drastically. Outsourcing has helped the phenomenon of globalization in a magnanimous manner, and there is good enough evidence for this factor nonetheless (Bragg 1999). It is a field that has received much criticism from different quarters but has also received applause from other segments of the society at the same time. What is most important is the fact that outsourcing will touch those areas which were left unexplored by other departments when it came to the rising costs within the production tenet. The proponents of globalization have openly supported outsourcing because they have believed in the numerous advantages that outsourcing has brought in for the sake of business organizations. In the last decade or so, outsourcing has accomplished new heights and broken grounds that were considered impossible by different business organizations. Even the top management domains of some of the most sought after names in business did not quite believe in the idea, yet they had to give in to this phenomenon at a later stage, after they saw success was being achieved by their competitors whilst they went the outsourcing way. Hence outsourcing will provide more benefits than any other phenomenon in the coming times, rest assured. Question 2: Briefly assess how as an individual you may have been affected by the process of globalization Answer: As an individual, I believe I have been blessed enormously by the strengths of globalization. My life has become much more comforting than it used to be in the past. The different tools of communication have aided me endlessly. Add to that, my desire to reach new heights has been taken care of by globalization as now I can work from home whilst being a part of the educational curriculum, made possible by the outsourcing regimes nonetheless. I am of the view that cell phones and computers are direct recipients of the phenomenon of globalization because had there been no globalization in the first place, it would have been impossible to have such invaluable tools at all. Moving on, I have friends in different continents of the world with whom I stay in touch nearly all day long. I do not get to see them in a direct, one on one fashion, but I remain in touch with them through text messaging and calling them over the telephone. I also chat with them on different Instant Messaging programs on the Internet and often have teleconferences with them whilst sitting in the comfort of my own home. Even though I believe that globalization cannot solve all of our problems related with amenities that seem to increase with each passing day, I am negated on this notion by the endless possibilities that are coming on the technological front on a persistent basis. I am proved wrong nearly time and time again as I buy tools which reassure me that globalization is indeed a phenomenon which has brought more benefits for us than the other way around (Guillen 2001). In essence, my parents know that I am the right person to talk to whenever they find themselves surrounded by some technical issue which needs immediate attention. The role of science within their lives is made easier by my assistance and I am absolutely proud of this fact that I am able to make a serious difference within their lives, essentially. Sometimes, I have problems in taking notes while in the classroom and hence I get agitated but one thing that keeps me happy all this while is the fact that I have numerous websites from where I could access the knowledge that I have missed whilst being a part of the classroom. I, therefore go on these websites on the Internet and access the information to suit my study needs, which is a great help at the end of the day. In the end, I would propose to the proponents of globalization that they should bring in more technological tools so that our lives are made easier with each passing day. I am grateful for the wonders that they have bestowed upon us already (Pieterse 2004). Bibliography BRAGG, Steven. (1999). Managing Explosive Corporate Growth. John Wiley & Sons CASEY, M. (2002). How to Think about Globalization. First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life, October GUILLEN, Mauro. (2001). Is Globalization Civilizing, Destructive or Feeble? A Critique of Five Key Debates in the Social Science Literature. Annual Review of Sociology HALAL, William. (1996). The Rise of the Knowledge Entrepreneur. The Futurist, Vol. 30, November HERSH, Jacques. (2000). Globalization and Social Change. Routledge LUDIN, Irwin. (1994). Just-In-Time Systems for Computing Environments. Quorum Books PIETERSE, Jan. (2004). Globalization or Empire? Routledge TANSEY, Stephen. (2002). Business, Information Technology and Society. Routledge TAYLOR, Timothy. (2002). The Truth about Globalization. Public Interest, Spring WEHN, Uta. (1998). Knowledge Societies: Information Technology for Sustainable Development. Oxford University Press WOOLDRIDGE, Adrian. (2001). The Globalization Backlash. Foreign Policy, September Word Count: 2,530 Read More