Nature of Globalisation

Nature of globalizationCritic correctlyy Consider The Nature Of Globalisation. In So Doing, I hideawaytify And Examine The Various Elements Associated With The Process Of Globalisation.It would be just to say that existence(a)isation had its beginnings just after the 2nd human race war, in December 1945, when 15 countries entered discussions to end blind customs obligations ( homo bargain Organisation). The rail of this move was to end the divisions or protectionism which had conduct up to WWII (World Trade Organisation). It was believed that the terrible sparing status of countries after WWI led to WWII. It was thought that if countries commerce and economies were more interlinked it would be possible to avoid war in the future day tense ( europiuman Commission). This was the basis for creating the European Community (EC), where the aim was to create a communal barter place economy.The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was to a fault created at ab come to the fore this clock pursuit a first round of negotiations. This smell was a relatively sm all told one as the agreement nurture affected 1/5 of the orbit foxiness (World Trade Organisation), even so it was an secondant first step in trade liberalization. There were further discussions in an attempt to create the supranational Trade Organisation in conjunction with the Havana Charter however this was not supported by the United States, spelling its end (World Trade Organisation). GATT was the only way of authorities world trade until the creation of the World trade organisation.Although GATT was relatively confine in its powers, its reductions in tariffs and general trade liberalization helped to spur on world trade growth by 8% a year among 1950 and 1960 (World Trade Organisation). A good sign that this GATT was working was that trade growth continued to outpace production growth (World Trade Organisation). This means that countries were trading, not because they ha d a giant surplus of product but because the future bring ins slightly frugal growth were clear. However GATT was not without its problems, economic recessions amidst 1970-1980 caused Governments to use other methods to protect sectors facing increasing external enthronization (World Trade Organisation). With the closure of factories and an increase in un interlocking, the governments of America and Western Europe counterbalance out to subsidise agriculture in order to defend biggish trade (World Trade Organisation). This practice made it economically unwanted to export agricultural produce to these subsidised countries as the price of the local anaesthetic goods was largely brought down by the government, meaning it would be very unenviable to attract consumers to the same, more expensive product. This was effectively a barrier to world trade and would have been damaging to the GATT agreement. With increased globalization, the limitations of the GATT started to be seen. The trade in services was not governed by the GATT, but it was increasing in richness to world economies.Loop holes were being exploited in The GATT agreements (World Trade Organisation), and this led world leaders to believe that there was a need for a more unilateral agreement. The World trade organisation was born and has bring into being the unilateral trade governing body.The GATT was not the sole point of this global push, another(prenominal) organisation, The Organisation for economical Co-operation and Development (OECD), started in 1961, with the aim to fiscal backing sustainable economic growth, boost employment, raise living standards, maintain financial stability, assist other countries economic instruction contribute to growth in world trade (Organisation for sparing Co-operation Development). These initiatives argon a summary of the policy-making will of the time which had much(prenominal) a driving force on globalisation.The speed of spay has been facilit ated by rapid scientific change. Technological change has had a issue of steps. The first satellite-delivered basic cable service was called the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) later The Family Channel was launched in 1977. From 1981 to 1985, the big-dish C-Band satellite market began to take off. System sales soared as hardware prices fell. The increased glide slope that this brought rough the globe allowed TV images to be transmitted to the world (Marples, 2008). This motion allowed one nations culture and principles to be transmitted very quickly around the globe, therby changes in one untaught, typically the USA would influence changes elsewhere, where people sensed others to be living better.The demand for information and growth in telephonic intercourse led to a growth in the 1970s of the telecommunications network, with more trunk lines linking major countries. This both facilitated and satisfied the growing need to pass away crosswise countries (Webb Associate s).IBM introduced the desktop personal computer (IBM PC) in 1981. This led to the volatile growth in the computer industry which facilitated the development of global give chains, where computers linked together in a network could deem the precaution of stock worldwide. The benefits of this were quickly recognised and required the infrastructure to support large information transmissions (Webb Associates).This caused a huge expansion in the 80s of fibre center cables required for rapid data transmission. As a precede legion(predicate) companies invested in the manufacture of this revolutionary cable (Ivan P. Kaminow, 2002), however with the sheer number of companies producing the cable its value dropped enormously, which in turn caused more of the cable to be used in networking (Ivan P. Kaminow, 2002). The next step in this chain chemical reaction was the introduction of fleet computers to deal with this massive increase in data transmission Moores laws states that the num ber of chips in a computer doubles every(prenominal) 18 months (Encyclopdia Britannica). This ever increasing demand and supply of straightaway computers has driven the development of centralised computer facilities which in turn has promoted the use of profuseer wideband. This is cognize as the network effect which drives technology (Nordhaus, 2000). This led to the development of the World Wide Web in the early nineties which gave a further boost to rapid global communications and the need for faster data transmission. The internet spawned a saucily generation of on-line businesses that traded across the globe, eg Amazon in 1995 (Internet Story).In order to get the closely benefit from technology it is best if everyone has it. For workout the social networking site Facebook, would be abortive if only a few people used it. Similarly technologies such as mobile phones require a high degree of integrating as the technologies become useless if limited to those who have the same hand point as each other (Dix). One markets use of a granted object drives another finished seeing the use of it and wanting it themselves (Dix).These scientific changes created greater awareness in one market of what was available in another and finally liberal charge access to it via on-line trading. This was creating what has been referred to as The Global Village (Absolute Astronomy). McLuhan describes how the globe has been contracted into a village by galvanic technology and the instantaneous movement of information from every posterior to every point at the same time. In bringing all social and political functions together in a sudden implosion, electric speed has heightened human awareness of responsibility to an intense degree.Alongside this scientific development was the opening up of china in 1978, with the launch of its economic reform program (Huchet, 2006). This allowed China to become the global mention of manufacturing (Huchet, 2006). more companies saw the opportunity to manufacture high value, small electrical items at a low cost. This brought down the price of technology overall, which helped to bring favourite electrical items like computers to the masses. It is important to see why the opening up of China was such a large world event in the process of globalisation. China had been isolated from the transnational world from 1949-1979 (Woo, 2003), so 1/5th of the worlds population had not participated in world trade and enthronization schemas (Woo, 2003), leaving a large void to be filled. This caused the massive motion of promote intensive industries to China to take advantage of this sudden new opportunity. It is the suddenness of this opportunity which has really caused the dramatic increase in the tread of globalisation. To highlight this increasing rate of globalisation the direct financial coronation of a country offer be examined. In 1997 China had $44.2 billon of direct investment, in 2002 this figure had risen to $52.7 billion (Woo, 2003), this dramatic increase shows that in the space of 5 years the amount of investment entering China has increased dramatically, showing that growth is not slowing. Due to Chinas massive population, it is also responsible for a large number of world imports, with the growth in Chinese importing between 2002 and 2003 growing by 30% (Stetten, 2005).arguably culture has been most affected by globalisation. Peoples culture is affected by what they see every day. The export of American movies has dramatically changed most cultures by the assimilation of elements of western culture (Flynn). This exposure especially affects attitudes to women, birth figure and the demand for certain products (eg Coca Cola). The exposure to global media has also caused world fads to arise through and through product exposure (Lechner) products such as Pokmon and Tamagotchi are a good example of this.Massive increases in the amount of world-wide travel and tourism have cau sed countries to learn the culture of another through greater exposure to their people (Freesun invigorateds, 2009). in-migration from one country to another has introduced one countrys culture to another, which is then passed down to subsequent generations (The University of Iowa Centre For planetary Finance and Development). The popularity of World sports events such as the Olympics or The Football World Cup are definitely due to increased global communication and generalised culture attracting support from around the world (Freesun News, 2009).In termination the process of globalisation was underpinned by the belief that to avoid future wars it was advantageous to promote sustainable economic growth and thereby boost employment and raise living standards, whilst maintaining financial stability to assist other countries economic development and thereby contribute to growth in world trade.This brainpower led to the creation of world trade governing bodies, such as the World Tr ade Organisation and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and The European Union. These organisations set out to liberalize trade through the removal of import/export tariffs and protectionism by governments. The rapid increase in the rate of globalisation has been facilitated by the introduction of technology which has allowed fast communication and transport between geographically distant places. The admission of China into the world trade market has increased supply and demand for finished products which is further boosting industry around the world.ReferencesDix, A. (n.d.). eBulletin. Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from Network Effects and foodstuff Engineering http//www.hiraeth.com/alan/ebulletin/network-effects/Encyclopdia Britannica. (n.d.). Encyclopdia Britannica. Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from Moores constabulary http//www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/705881/Moores-lawEuropean Commission. (n.d.). EUROPA. Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from The history of the European Union http//europa.eu/first principle/history/index_en.htmFlynn, D. A. (n.d.). Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from Revisiting Globalisation through the movie and digital games industries http//web.mit.edu/cms/Events/mit2/Abstracts/KerrFlynn.pdfFreesun News. (2009, 09 29). perish Tourism Unity through Diversity in the eld of globalization. Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from Travel Tourism Unity through Diversity in the Age of Globalization http//www.freesun.be/news/index.php/travel-tourism-unity-through-diversity-in-the-age-of-globalizationHuchet, J.-F. (2006). Social Research. Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from The emergence of capitalism in China an historical perspective and its impact on the political system http//findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2267/is_1_73/ai_n26878471/Ivan P. Kaminow, T. L. (2002). Optical Fiber Telecommunications IV B. Systems and impairments. London Academic Press.Lechner, J. B. (n.d.). Globalization and World Culture. Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from Globalization and World Cult ure http//www.sociology.emory.edu/jboli/isb408026.pdfNordhaus, W. D. (2000, June 13). Technology, Economic Growth, and the New Economy. Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from http//www.econ.yale.edu/nordhaus/homepage/sweden%20061300c.PDFOrganisation for Economic Co-operation Development. (n.d.). About OECD. Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from Organisation for Economic Co-operation Development http//www.oecd.org/pages/0,3417,en_36734052_36734103_1_1_1_1_1,00.htmlStetten, M. D. (2005). China and Globalisation. Intereconomics , 40 (4), 226-234.The University of Iowa Centre For International Finance and Development. (n.d.). Immigration Globalization. Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from Immigration Globalization http//www.uiowa.edu/ifdebook/issues/globalization/readingtable/immigration.shtmlWoo, W. T. (2003, 12 04). The Economic dissemble of Chinas Emergence as a Major Trading body politic. Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from The Economic Impact of Chinas Emergence as a Major Trading Nation http//www.econ.ucdavis.ed u/faculty/woo/Woo.US-China%20statement.1Feb04.pdfWorld Trade Organisation. (n.d.). The GATT years from Havana to Marrakesh. Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from World TRade Organisation http//www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/fact4_e.htmSelect A international Company That Has Existed For At Least 20 Years. Assess How The Process Of Globalisation Has Influenced The Development Of Your Chosen CompanyUnilever is one of the largest global players in the fast moving consumer goods sector with annual sales of 40,5bn (Company Accounts 2008). However, it started from humble beginnings in Bolton in 1886 when William prise established a soap manufacturing order called prise Brothers with his chum James. In this essay I will attempt to set out how the process of globalisation has influenced this company.Unilever was started in the 1890s by the Lever brothers, who introduced Sunsilk easy lay to Victorian England. Within a short time Lever was marketing soap throughout the UK, as well as in Continental Europe, North America, Australia, and South Africa (Unilever).Lever began a tradition at this time that lasted well into the 20th centurythat of producing all its raw components. Lever Brothers, a vertically integrated company, grew to include milling operations used to crush seeds into vegetable oil for margarine as well as packaging and transporting businesses for all of its products, which then included Lux, Lifebuoy, Rinso, and Sunlight soaps. In the early 1900s, Lever was victimization palm oil produced in the British West African colonies. Lever was therefore an early example of a global company (Unilever).In 1914, as the German Navy began to threaten the delivery of food importsparticularly danish pastry butter and Dutch margarine, the British government asked Lever to produce margarine. This was thirstily accepted as the margarine business was thought to be harmonious with the soap business because the products both required oils and fats as raw materials. L ever Brothers successful diversification, however, put the company in competition with Jurgens and Van den Bergh, two leading, long established Dutch margarine companies. This is an early example of global competition (Unilever).Jurgens and Van den Bergh merged to form the margarine Unie and after two years of discussion, Lever Brothers and The Margarine Unie decided that an compact wasted less of everybodys substance than hostility and merged on folk 2, 1929 and Unilever was born. This was an early example of cross border mergers.The reason for this merger being that both companies used animal fats and oils as their raw materials. The end result of the merger was a company that bought and processed more than a ternion of the worlds commercial oils and fats and traded more products in more places than any other company in the world an early example of global scale.The decade following World War II was a stream of recovery for Unilever, culminating by the early 1950s in rapid e conomic growth in much of the Western world with the development of the various global trade bodies discussed earlier. Until 1955 demand in Unilevers markets continued to rise and competition was not a major issue. However as markets grew the demand sucked in global competitors, particularly from the USA and Germany and profit margins dropped and success was less assured. Unilevers strategy through this period was to use its global financial scale to acquire companies in new areas, particularly food and chemical manufacturers. Among the postwar acquisitions were U.K. frozen foods maker Birds nerve center (1957) and U.S. ice cream novelty maker Good Humor (1961) (Jones).The advent of the European Economic Community created new opportunities for Unilever. Since the late 19th century, when the companies that comprised Unilever had set up manufacturing facilities they had been located in various European countries to avoid tariff restrictions and where it was most economical. Under th e Common Market, many of the tariff restrictions that had spawned the transnational facilities were drawd, giving the company an opportunity to consolidate operations and concentrate production in lower-cost countries and thereby reduce its overall costs. During the 70s Unilever progressively consolidated its manufacturing operations across Europe, taking advantage of the economies of scale of the larger European Union Market (Unilever).As the world economy expanded during the sixties and seventies Unilever set about developing new products and entering new markets. It was Unilevers management and technological capability allied to great financial strength based on its success in Europe that made it possible to enter these markets. It unquestionable a global management structure facilitated by improved communications and the growth of air travel (Unilever).Throughout its history Unilever has grown through acquisitions, using its global financial scale to purchase local or regional companies that gave additional scale or access to new markets or adjacent markets, Ponds, Calvin Klein and Ben Jerrys to name a few. These acquisitions all represent foreign investment which without the process of globalisation would never be possible (Newinternatiomalist).As man-to-man markets blurred and a more international view of markets was taken we can see the emergence of global brands such as Sure deodorant, known as Rexona globally. This emergence of global brands required Unilever to restructure its business to watch warring. In the 1980s Unilever undertook a massive restructuring (Unilever). The company sold most of its service and ancillary businesses, such as transport, packaging, advertising, and other services that were promptly available on the market, and went on a buying spree, snapping up some 80 companies between 1984 and 1988 (Unilever). The restructuring was designed to concentrate the company in those businesses that we right on understand, in which we have critical mass, and where we believe we have a strong, competitive future, Unilever PLC C tomentum cerebriman M.R. Angus told Management Today in 1988 (International Directory of Company Histories). Specifically, Unilevers vegetable marrow businesses were detergents, foods, toiletries, and specialty chemicals. This was followed in late 1990s by a large review of Unilevers wide-ranging businesses in an effort to focus on the strongest lens nucleus areas ice cream, margarines, tea-based beverages, detergents, personal soaps, skin care products, and prestige fragrances with several other areas identified as developing core areas frozen foods, culinary products, hair care products, oral care products, deodorants, household care products, and industrial cleanup spot products (Unilever). Businesses outside of these areas were sold including its largest disposal the selling of its specialty chemicals business to purplish Chemical Industries PLC for about US$8 billion.As the pace of globalisation increased, Unilever had to focus more on global brands and in 1999 Unilever announced that it would eliminate about 1,200 of its brands to focus on around 400 regionally or globally powerful brandsa group that accounted for almost 90 percent of 1998 revenue. This brush overhaul of the product portfolio was aimed at increasing annual growth rate from four percent to six to eight percent and at eventually reaping annual savings of 1 billion. Unilever has focussed further in the twenty-first century on 12 1bn global brands (Unilever).Like with most multinational companies Unilever manufactures many of its products away from the destination market, in order to reap the benefits of cheaper labour and increased profit margins. It operates a global supply chain and, for example, a forecast planner in the UK will control the output from factories in Germany or France and a planner in Singapore may control a plant in China. It is due to the technological synchronisation of the worlds telecommunications and broadband systems that this has become possible, coupled with the ability to send expatriate managers out to foreign countries to develop new operations and transfer management know how.International organisations also have had an effect on the development of Unilever. In 2008 yard Peace targeted Unilever for obtaining palm oil for its soap from non sustainable sources (Jones). Unilever responded by announcing it would source all palm oil from sustainable sources. It is this flow of information from geographically distant countries, facilitated by international organisation, which has undoubtedly forced Unilever to develop to pillow in the public good.International competition has always been an issue for Unilever, with international competitors like Proctor and Gamble (USA), Nestle (Switzerland), Kao (Japan) to name but a few. This international pressure has shaped Unilever and its markets. This kind of international competition shows how the wor ld is no longer working on a country level, the entire globe is seen as a single market in cost of competition and as such Unilever faces many different competitors depending on which country it is marketing a product towards.ReferencesInternational Directory of Company Histories. (n.d.). Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from Unilever PLC Unilever N.V. http//www.encyclopedia.com/ mendelevium/1G2-2840600220.htmlJones, G. (n.d.). Working Knowledge. Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from UnileverA Case Study http//hbswk.hbs.edu/item/3212.htmlNewinternatiomalist. (n.d.). Newinternatiomalist. Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from History of Unilever http//www.newint.org/issue172/simply.htmUnilever. (n.d.). History. Retrieved 11 17, 2009, from http//www.unilever.com/aboutus/ourhistory/