Globalization? Flashcards
What Is Globalization?
refers to the shift toward a more integrated
and interdependent world economy
Globalization of Markets
* Globalization of Production
* Globalization of Consumers
Globalization of Markets and Consumers
Refers to the merging of historically distinct and separate
national markets into one huge global marketplace.
* Falling barriers to cross-border trade have made it easier
to sell internationally.
* Tastes and preferences of consumers in different nations
converge on some global norm, thereby helping to create
a global market
* Consumer products such as Citicorp credit cards, Apple
iPhones, offer a standardized product worldwide, helping
create a global market.
Globalization of Production
Refers to the sourcing of goods and services from
locations around the world to take advantage of national
differences in costs and quality of factors of
production(labor, energy, land and capital).
* Companies lower overall cost structure and/or improve
quality or functionality of product offering, thereby allowing
them to compete more effectively.
Global Institutions
Global institutions help manage, regulate, and police the global
marketplace;
* Promote the establishment of multinational treaties to govern the
global business system.
Global Institutions ppls
United Nations (1945)
* World Trade Organization (WTO) preceded by the GATT
* International Monetary Fund (IMF)
* World Bank
World Trade Organization (WTO)
Responsible for policing the world trading system and
making sure nation-states adhere to the rules laid down in
trade treaties signed by WTO member states.
IMF
International Monetary Fund, was to maintain order in the international monetary
system
Lender of last resort to nation-states whose economies are in
turmoil and whose currencies are losing value
World Bank
promote economic development
Provides low interest rate loans to cash-strapped governments
that wish to undertake infrastructure investments (building
dams or road systems,..).
The IMF loans come with strings attached:
Countries are required to adopt specific policies aimed at
returning their troubled economies to stability and growth.
* Some critics charge that the IMF’s policy recommendations are
often inappropriate
WB is a group comprised of the following
IBRD- the Int’l Bank for Reconstruction and Development
* IDA- International Development Association
* IFC- International Finance Corporation
* MIGA- Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
* ICSID- International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes
IBRD
the Int’l Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Most often it is the IBRD that is involved in international
business opportunities for Canadian companies
Two macro factors seem to underlie the trend toward greater
globalization
Decline in barriers to the free flow of goods, services, and
capital, since the end of World War II
* Technological change in communication, information
processing, and transportation
Declining Trade and Investment Barriers
allows firms to view the world as the market. allows firms to base at optimal location, A firm might design a product in one country, produce component
parts in two other countries, assemble the product in yet another
country, and then export the finished product around the world.
Technological Change
Technological change has made globalization of markets and
production a tangible reality.
* Since the end of World War II, the world has seen major
advances in:
* Communication,
* Information processing,
* Transportation technology and
* Explosive emergence of the Internet and World Wide Web.