Like the proverbial phrase goes, we are now living in a global village. Globalization has been a subject of discussion for decades now and it is still among the world’s greatest progressive achievements. It can be defined as the process through which markets and businesses, across the world, get increasingly interconnected with time.
There are four main reasons why globalization is growing at an accelerated pace. These include Information Technology, growth of regional trading blocs, development o reliable transport links and consumer expectations of quality. This paper is an, in depth, exploration of the reasons why these factors are contributing to accelerated globalization.
As it has been stated above, among the reasons why globalization is growing at an accelerated pace is the presence of Information Technology (IT). IT is a major accelerator of globalization due to its unique support for remote transactions and marketing. That is, IT makes it possible for companies targeting a global customer-base to reach these customers encountering many problems. This is usually done by advertising on the internet.
IT has also enabled interconnectivity of Management Information Systems for branches of the same company located at different locations across the world. This has made IT-related globalization touch the service delivery sector. IT is suspected to be the single largest main contributor to globalization this decade and thus its contribution cannot be exhausted (McHenry, 2009, p 12).
Similar to the information transmission highways that have been created by the resources of Information Technology, transport networks also have a great contribution to the accelerated globalization that we are currently experiencing. Transport networks have been increasingly growing and improving in efficiency and effectiveness (Appadurai, 2001, p. 66). This makes the provision of goods and services to international clientele easy and thus it promotes globalization.
Regional trading blocs also have a role to play in the accelerated globalization that the world is currently experiencing. These blocs promote globalization by ensuring that there are limited cross-border trade restrictions. This enables goods and services to be traded among countries and thus better trade relations and better infrastructure for trade are created.
This way, globalization is accelerated. In addition to this, consumer expectations of quality are a main contributor to accelerated globalization. Consumers are increasingly becoming choosey in terms of the quality of products or services they pay for (Appadurai, 2001, p. 67). This is the main reason why consumers are now purchasing products from companies abroad. This is indubitably a contribution to accelerated globalization.
As evidenced in the discussion above, accelerated globalization has its roots in a variety of factors. Multinational companies should do all they can to harness the advantages that are brought by accelerated globalization and also utilize their limited resources in the promotion of accelerated globalization. This is because accelerated globalization will not only benefit the organization that promotes it, but it will also benefit the society and the world at large.
The factors discussed above are just a subset of the factors promoting accelerated globalization. It is thus of essence for multinational organizations and countries to critically evaluate the ways in which they can contribute to accelerated globalization and employ the means that are more convenient to them. With this kind of contribution to globalization, the world’s economy will keep on getting better and economic goals like the MDGs will easily be achieved.
Reference List
Appadurai, A. (2001). Globalization. California. Barnes & Noble.
McHenry, N. (2009). Accelerating globalization: Why focus on Information Technology. Web.