The Nature and Effects of the Emergence of 'Globalisation' as a Essay

The Nature and Effects of the Emergence of 'Globalisation' as a Feature of the World Economy over the Last 30 Years - Essay Example So what does globalization really mean to the overall world economies in general and what are the real reasons for the increased expansion and global integration of the financial and the general goods and service markets? The concept of globalization is not a new one, with individuals, from scholars, politicians and economists having different viewpoints as to the reasons for globalization as well as the positive and negative consequences of increased economic and industrial integration. Even during the 1960’s and 70’s multinational corporations started to shift their long term operational focus from a domestic to a global operational infrastructure (Colander, 2002).The were a lot of reasons that contributed to the paradigm shift that help drive the globalization of our manufacturing and service infrastructures as well as our financial and monetary systems. Advances in transportation methods such as cheaper air transport made it economically feasible for corporations to transport goods quite quickly and affordably. Starting in the 1980’s, the personal computer has created a revolution in the way business and individuals interact with each other and it has provided cheaper data processing and storage costs. It has increased worker productivity and operational efficiency for all businesses in general. Coupled with the advent of the internet the computer with its inherent functionality of quickly being able to share technical information, ideas and the ability for a team of individuals to be able to cooperate and share information, solutions and ideas seamlessly from different corners of the world has simply revolutionized the way we do business, especially with the wider availability of broadband services starting in the 1990’s (Emilian, Marcel, Hurduzeu, Vlad, 2011). The computer age, technological and communication advances have allowed multinational corporations and nations to expand their economies to more easily integrate themselv es to the global trade and financial markets therefore benefiting from increased economic prosperity for many previously underdeveloped economies. The increased trade has allowed unprecedented levels of economic growth for many of the countries that have successfully positioned themselves in the global arena (Imf, 2008). The ability for a company to choose to operate out of any country is a very important aspect of globalization, where an organization can choose among many nations to source its materials, manufacturing and headquarters and therefore has shifted the industrial operational structure towards one driven by efficiency and profitability instead of national barriers. The nullification of previous import tariffs and general protectionism previously played by many countries has played an important part in the globalization of economic trade by decreasing the amount of tariffs and other obstacles in the international trade of goods and services. It has become a driving factor in the advent of economic and financial globalization. The minimization of trade barriers was created with the idea of optimizing trade, financial flows and providing the maximum level of opportunity for economic benefits to the participating corporations and international economies in a bid to drive a general economic shift to a more fully integrated globalize trade