MULTI-NATIONAL BUSINESSES OF THE GLOBALISATION

Analyse and evaluate the advantages and disadvantages for multi-national businesses of the globalisation of their markets

Analyse and evaluate the advantages and disadvantages for multi-national businesses of the globalisation of their markets

Introduction

'Globalization' is a favourite catchphrase of journalists and politicians. It has also become a key idea for business theory and practice, and entered academic debates. However, what people mean by 'globalization' is often confused and confusing. Here we examine some key themes in the theory and experience of globalization. 'Globalization' is commonly used as a shorthand way of describing the spread and connectedness of production, communication, and technologies across the world. That spread has involved the interlacing of economic and cultural activity. Rather confusingly, 'globalization' is also used by some to refer to the efforts of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and others to create a global free market for goods and services. This political project, while being significant - and potentially damaging for many poorer nations - is really a means to exploit the larger process. Globalization in the sense of connectivity in economic and cultural life across the world has been growing for centuries. However, many believe the current situation is of a fundamentally different order to what has gone before. The speed of communication and exchange, the complexity and size of the networks involved, and the sheer volume of trade, interaction and risk give what we now label as 'globalization' a peculiar force.

That spread has involved the interlacing of economic and cultural activity. Rather confusingly, 'globalization' is also used by some to refer to the efforts of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and others to create a global free market for goods and services. This political project, while being significant - and potentially damaging for a lot of poorer nations - is really a means to exploit the larger process. Globalization in the sense of connectivity in economic and cultural life across the world has been growing for centuries. However, many believe the current situation is of a fundamentally different order to what has gone before. The speed of communication and exchange, the complexity and size of the networks involved, and the sheer volume of trade, interaction and risk give what we now label as 'globalization' a peculiar force.

With increased economic interconnection has come deep-seated political changes - poorer, 'peripheral', countries have become even more dependent on activities in 'central' economies such as the USA where capital and technical expertise tend to be located. There has also been a shift in power away from the nation state and toward, some argue, multinational corporations. We have also witnessed the rise and globalization of the 'brand'. It isn't just that large corporations operate across many different countries - they have also developed and marketed products that could be just as well sold in Peking as in Washington. Brands like Coca Cola, Nike, Sony, and a host of others have become part of the fabric of vast numbers of people's ...