Friday, April 1, 2011

Going Global for Profit

By: Anthony Harrison


     Globalization is the process of integrating policies, cultures, societies, and regional financial wealth through trade and the exchange of ideas throughout the world. Every company in the world does business internationally through globalization. It allows small nations to get their goods out into the global economy through exportation. The world's largest revenue producing companies are multinational corporations, that are head quartered in one country and do business worldwide.

     Globalization makes companies become more competitive through trade and offshoring. In an effort to sustain and increase revenue many multinational corporations are outsourcing. They are contracting a cheaper work force in other countries. For instance, the Sprint Nextel corporation outsources customer service calls to other countries. This is a cost cutting strategy that brings training and jobs to economies all over the world. Smaller economies get the infrastructure to grow and join the global economy. However, the workers of these smaller nations aren’t always treated fairly and often work long grueling hours to support their families. The salaries they take home are minuscule when compared to a worker doing the same job in a wealthier nation. For example, a Chinese factory worker making TV’s might take home about $3 a day, while their U.S counterparts make about $120 per day. In many countries a minimum wage doesn’t exist and multinational corporations can get more productivity and pay less in wages. Here is a brief video to further explain.




     Corporations have exploited certain principles of globalization to increase profits, while disregarding cultures and societies for the cheap labor that runs rampant. It appears that the multinational corporations are the only beneficiaries of globalization. Large and small nations can find common, and all the principles of globalization can be implemented. Both sides must be willing to act and only social and cultural actions will tell if this will happen.

5 comments:

  1. This was a great a blog. You gave a clear definition of globalization. You also clearly showed how Walmart takes advantage of China's working poor by showing how much a person would make building a tv in th US which is 120 dollars a day vs how much a person in China would make which is only 3 dollars a day. I'm got upset when I saw that factor workers make about 18 cents an hour at the end of the video. That is insane.

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  2. Quiessence RoysterApril 4, 2011 at 7:01 PM

    I never thought deeply about this aspect of business globalization until our in class discussion. I think your blog will help raise some awareness to people like myself that know something is going on but not exactly what. Besides helping me better understand the concepts of globalization, it made me draw back to the "working poor". People our struggling every where because of the government or some big cooperation.

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  3. After reading your nice post I am a little perplex and I would appreciate if you can clear my qualm on this statement, “However, the workers of these smaller nations aren’t always treated fairly and often work long grueling hours to support their families. The salaries they take home are minuscule when compared to a worker doing the same job in a wealthier nation.” From my understanding of the entire outsourcing strategy is that, most of the foreign workers earnings seems little to American standards but to those foreign workers that’s a lot of money. For Example; in the United states earning $100 per month is little, but for a working class in my country $100 is estimated at $7000 LD which seems good, on the other hand almost every nation has rules or laws governing worker’s right so, no company from the core can impose its way on foreign workers that does not coincide with the rules set aside for those working class citizens in their own land.

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  4. Anthony, I think this was a great blog! You did a good job in defining and giving examples of globalization. Also the video you posted about the Chinese people, who work for Wal-mart is really sad. I use to like going to Wal-mar, but after seeing what they do to those poor people trying to make a living, I see Wal-mart very different. What they are doing should be unacceptable and someone should stop it!

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  5. I also agree with my counterparts about Anthony blog. i also feel that not olny go big companies profit, but America as a country does too. America is the leading country in buying imported goods. Oil is one of these things America must have. We buy it from other places then increase the price so America can make back what it lost.
    What outsourceing does to the less fortunate countries is give them the blind results of better them as a country. Even though they work crazy hours for less pay sweat shop is a big example of this there earning and work doesnt profit there country, but ours.
    Back when trading for goods was the bartering system, and everybody had to bring something to the table is was fair exchange (if you thought so), now its outsourcing and the exchange is less money for them and bigger profits for us.

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