Globalization

1. By: Kevin Stuart Bernardo Afflitto Globalization

2. What is globalization? Globalization is the expansion of connectivity and communications between people across the world. Discovery of new routes and innovative ideas to accelerate communication between people across the globe have led to the expansion of and into new markets. Globalization may have existed as long as the Great Age of Exploration, or Renaissance, around the year 1400 - 1500, when European empires raced to find new routes and new markets to expand to. The discovery of America in search for new routes to Asia opened a whole new market and a whole new world of wealth. Although this might have been its earlier stage, globalization started intensifying after the Industrial Revolution, boosted by inventions such as the railroad which speeded communications and shipping of goods. When an area has access to services such as roads, railroads, a port, the internet, light, water, etc, it has been globalised because it is in contact with the outer world.

3. What has made globalization possible? • Improvements and upgrades in infrastructure and transport permiting access from the surrounding world to different markets. Examples could be the construction of roads connecting different cities which were isolated, or inventions such as trains and boats which are each time quicker and bigger. These inventions fastened shipping and let larger amounts of products to be sent to different places. It has let new products enter far away markets, when before, a ship took months to reach America from Europe and thus the product didnt got there in the best conditions. • Another big cause of globalization has been the Internet. Internet has made millions of products available to anyone in any part of the world with a computer and an Internet connection. It has opened a new market, where people go and buy online, order products from different countries in which in theirs it is not available. It has led to innovation, competitiveness, it has helped small businesses reach a wider market, where in a small limited local market they could not survive. Both are consequences of the Industrial Revolution.

4. How has globalizatin affected business activity? Improvements in communications and transport have led to expansive growth of a lot of businesses. Competitiveness has increased hugely, leading to motivation to generate better and a broader variety of products. Here we will present the case of Nike, a well-known sportswear company founded in 1964 in the US that now operates in 52 countries. “Improving lives is a key step in improving profits when you work in the developing world. Nike learned this first hand by collaborating with suppliers to limit overtime, ensure freedom of association and extend other conditions taken for granted in the industrialized world.” This quote is referring to how Nike has supported workers in their factories in developing countries, taking into account that a lot of those factories had children working or people working 70-80 hours a week so they could be able to eat. They help their workers by building schools and promoting education in countries in which schools may be in major cities only. This, in the long-term, will improve those people’s quality of life.

5. Nike Nike has also donated and supported the Homeless World Cup, in which they donate money to give homeless people a home, and also legal advice, health, employment and education. This has changed the lives of participants, which likely live in the same developing countries in which Nike has its factories. Nike has given jobs to about 800000 people across the globe. It has helped 240 manufacturers survive. It has provided 20000 retailers with sportswear to sell. It has worked with its suppliers to open 270 factories in all Southeast Asia.

6. Bibliography http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nike,_Inc. http://www.kalipedia.com/kalipediamedia/geografia/media/201107/04/geogeneral/20110704klpgeogra_2_Ges_SCO.png http://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1693761.html http://www.polity.co.uk/global/whatisglobalization.asp http://www.homelessworldcup.org/donate http://ethisphere.com/how-nike-is-changing-the-world-one-factory-at-a-time/ http://mitsloan.mit.edu/50th/pdf/nikepaper.pdf