Globalization and the Business World

Essay by nanous30University, Bachelor's February 2009

download word file, 7 pages 5.0 2 reviews

Who could have imagined that a person in Lebanon would be able to watch a soccer game played in Europe, live, with perfect image and sound? Our world, as we know it today, has become like a small village where physical, cultural, and economical barriers have become more or less inexistent. This is due to a phenomenon called Globalization. Globalization is defined as "the result of advances in communication, transportation, and information technologies. It describes the growing economic, political, technological, and cultural linkages that connect individuals, communities, businesses, and governments around the world" (MSN Encarta). This phenomenon is not a new one; however, since its existence Globalization has had influence on many major aspects of our life, especially the business world. This impact that globalization has on our business world is displayed through the increase of world trade, ease of new communication methods, and setting high standards on goods and services all around the world.

To begin with, one must mention the fact that Globalization has lead to an obvious increase of world trade. The world has seen a tremendous increase in the global transactions and foreign trade in recent years. "Growth in exports worldwide outpaced growth in output every year between 1965 and 2000 by an average ratio of 1.5 to 1" (Temple, 2001). The main reason behind this is that now more and more countries are getting engaged in trading with each other in order to increase their profit or sales or protecting them from being eroded by competition. The main objectives which are influencing the companies to engage in international business are expansion of sales, acquiring resources, minimizing competitive risk and diversification of sources of sales and supplies (Johnson & Turner, 2003).. According to Byers "In more recent years, those countries which have been able...