Globalisation Case Studies Flashcards
When was Easy Jet founded?
1995
How many passengers was Easy Jet carrying by 2020?
96 million
How many airplanes did Easy Jet have to start with?
Just 2
How many airplanes did Easy Jet have in 2020 and what was their revenues?
337 and nearly £6.4 billion
What had happened in China before 1978?
The country was poor and politically isolated and ‘switched-off’ from the global economy
What are China’s ‘open door’ approaches to global flows?
- FDI from China and its TNCs is predicted to total US$1.25 trillion between 2015 and 2025.
- China agreed to export more ‘rare earth’ minerals to other countries, in line with WTO ruling.
- Foreign TNCs are now allowed to invest in some of China’s domestic markets, including its rail freight and chemical industries.
What are China’s ‘close door’ approaches to global flows?
- Google and Facebook have little or no access to China’s market (instead, Chinese companies like Youku provide social network services).
- China’s government set up a strict quota of only 34 foreign films to be screened in cinemas each year.
- There are strict controls on foreign TNCs in some sectors. China’s government blocked Coca-Cola’s acquisition of Huiyan Juice in 2008.
What happened in 1978 in China?
Radical ‘open door’ reforms began, which allowed China to embrace globalisation while remaining under one-party authoritarian rule.
Glocalisation: Stats about McDonald’s?
Had 37,000 restaurants in over 100 countries in 2018
Glocalisation: Where has McDonald’s been challenged?
In Indian, to cater for Hindus and Sikhs, who are traditionally vegetarian and also Muslims who do not eat pork.
Glocalisation: How has McDonald’s addressed the challenges in Indian?
Chicken burgers are served alongside the McVeggie and McSpicy Paneer (an Indian cheese patty). In 2012, McDonald’s opened a vegetarian restaurant for Sikh pilgrims visiting Amritsar, home to the Golden Temple.
What are the costs of global outsourcing of services to India- call centres?
- Some business process wokers report they are being exploited.
- Their work can be highly repetitive. Business is often conducted at night- due to time zone differences between India and customer locations in the USA or UK- sometime in ten-hour shifts, six days a week.
- Despite overall growth, the gap between the rich and poor has widened sharply. India has more billionaires than the UK, yet it also has 86.8 million people living in poverty (around 6% of its total population). In 2018 only 65% of households had access to a toilet.
What are the benefits of global outsourcing of services to India- call centres?
- India’s calls centre workers earn good middle-class wages by Indian standards. Nightclubs and 24 shopping malls in Bangalore testify to relatively high purchasing power of a new Indian ‘techno-elite’ typically earning 3500 rupees (£40) a week.
- Indian outsourcing companies have become extremely profitable. Founded in 1981, Infosys had revenues of US$9 billion in 2015. It is one of the top 20 global companies for innovation.
What are the costs of global outsourcing of manufacturing to China?
- In early years, many workers were exploited in sweatshops. Around 2500 metal-workers in Yongkang lost a limb or finger each year due to dangerous factory conditions. Since then, the conditions have improved for many Chinese workers, although there are still workers who continue to be exploited.
- The environment continues to suffer greatly. Air pollution in cities reduces Chinese life expectancy by 5 years. The WHO is concerned with high levels of small particulate matter known as PM2.5. These deadly participles settle deep in the lungs, causing cancer and strokes.
What are the benefits of global outsourcing of manufacturing to China?
- As improvements improve, people are enjoying large income gains. More people can afford smartphones and fridges. Car ownership has risen from 1 in 100 families to 1 in 5 since 2000. This increase in domestic consumption has also driven China’s economic growth.
- Local companies have adopted technologies and management techniques brought to China by TNCs. Increasingly, Chinese companies are developing their own prices e.g. smartphone maker Huawei.
What has the global shift in manufacturing played an important role in?
In reducing extreme poverty in China from 88% of the population in 1981 to only 0.7% of the population in 2018
Switched off place: Who is North Korea ruled by and since when?
Since 1948, North Korea has been ruled as an autocracy by a single family (Kim Jong-un is its current leader).
Switched off place: What have North Korea choosen to do?
Deliberately politically isolate themselves from the rest of the world.
Switched off place: How has North Korea isolated itself?
- Ordinary citizens do not have access to the internet or social media
- There are no undersea data cables connecting North Korea with anywhere else
- A visiting journalist observed that it was the only country he had ever travelled to where nobody knew the song ‘Yesterday’ by The Beatles.
Switched off place: What is the differnece between North and South Korea?
Since they divided in 1948, South Korea has since become a developed country which is home to Samsung and other global brands. A comparsion of the two countries, and the policies of their governments illustrates clearly how political decision-making affects globalisation.
Growth in megacities: Lagos: What was the population in 1970 and 2018?
Population of just over 1 million in 1970, but by 2018 estimated between 13 and 21 million (depending on where the city boundary was drawn).
Growth in megacities: Lagos: How much does the population increase by each year and who are they?
Population increases by 300,000 people, many of them rural-urban migrants escaping poverty in rural Nigeria and the Boko Haram conflict in the north of the country.
Growth in megacities: Lagos: What is the age of the city?
A city of the young, with over 40% of its population being aged 0-14 years old.
Growth in megacities: Lagos: What is the importance of Lagos?
It is crucial to Nigeria’s economy, as the country major port, and is a crucial telecommunication hub for West Africa.
