CROITORU ADRIAN-MARIAN

RISE AN II
The challenge of globalisation
Globalization is such a commonly used term in the twentieth century. It simply
means that the world has become integrated economically, socially, politically and
culturally through the advances of technology, transportation and communication. It is
undeniable that globalization has resulted in both positive and negative effects which
must be addressed accordingly.
To begin with, globalization has contributed to the worlds economies in many
beneficial ways. The advances in science and technology have allowed businesses
to easily cross over territorial boundary lines. Consequently, companies tend to
become more productive and competitive thereby raising the quality of goods,
services and the worlds living standard.
Secondly, several companies from the more developed countries have already
ventured to establish foreign operations or branches to take advantage of the low
cost of labor in the poorer countries. This kind of business activity will provide more
influx of cash or investment funds into the less developed countries.
However, one cannot deny the negative effects which have derived from
globalization. One crucial social aspect is the risk and danger of epidemic diseases
which can easily be spread as the transportation becomes easier and faster in
todays advanced society. This is evidenced in the recent birds flu disease which has
infected most Asian countries over a short period of time.
As large corporations invest or take over many offshore businesses, a modern
form of colonization will also evolve which may pose certain power pressure on the
local governments of the less developed countries. Unemployment rates in the more
developed regions such as Europe may also escalate as corporations choose to
outsource to the cheaper work force from Asian countries.
People all over the world become closer than ever before. Goods and services that
appear in a country will be immediately promoted in the others. International transfer
and communication are more common. For describing this present time, they use the
term: THE ERA OF GLOBALIZATION. This phenomenon affects the economic
business and exerts a wide influence on society at that. The growth of the developing
countries is the main cause of globalization and it brings both opportunities and
disadvantages to them. Globalization is a process and this process makes
developments in these countries. First of all is the independence of each of
developing countries. The development in industry, economy, culture and polity gives
solutions to social problems. The most serious problem of all of the governments in
the world is unemployment, which leads to poverty, social crime, illiteracy, can be
easily clenched as most of the labour in developing countries are very cheap so the
multinational companies always employ the worker in host countries. Moreover when
the multinational companies cooperate with a country, they also bring their religion,
culture, and life style. Meeting them, the people in the poor country increase their
standard of living and get acquainted with new civilization. Furthermore, globalization
also creates an aggressive competition in industry. For the progression of

industrialization, less developing countries cooperate with more developing countries

to get new technology or instruct employees to know some modern methods. With
these advantages, governments have a basic background to build their country and
escape from the Third World. On the other hand, the spread of globalization makes
many scientists warn us about its harms. As has been noted, the cooperation
between developing countries and developed countries opens a new window for the
improvement of economy of each country.
Globalisation refers to the increasing connections between countries that have
come with the growth of international travel and cross border shipping, and increases
in communications, such as through the Internet. This has led to an increase in world
trade and the flow of investments between countries. It has also made it more likely
that conditions in one country will affect conditions in other countries, and has led to a
more international culture in such areas as music, movies and fashion. "I define
globalisation as the freedom of our corporations to invest where and when we want,
to produce what we want, to buy and sell where we want, and to keep all the
restrictions through labour law or other political regulations as slight as possible." Percy Barnevik, Vice President of the Foundation Board of the World Economic
Forum This is a common public perception of globalisation: a meaningless term
acting as a disguise for greedy multinational corporations, a means for the spread of
cultural imperialism. A close examination of globalisation and cultural imperialist
theory demonstrates flaws in that theory, suggesting that the cultural dominance
imposed as a side-effect (or direct result) of globalisation is not as severe as
alarmists would have us believe. John Tomlinson suggests that when looking at
globalisation one should look beyond the self evidence of global cultural goods.
(1987: 180) What he means by this is that even though Western media (particularly
American media) is ubiquitous throughout the modern world, one cannot
automatically jump to the conclusion that a supposedly weaker culture would
willingly accept American culture and ideology over what had existed beforehand.
This is a counter-argument to the traditional cultural imperialist theory that assumes
that peripheral cultures submissively conform to the dominant culture. (Tomlinson
1997: 180) Tomlinson argues that cultures do not necessarily a lways favour
American media and products over local media and products. Tomlinson makes clear
the importance of recognizing globalisation as a complex de-centered process,
(Tomlinson, 1997, p185). This concept follows on from and argues against cultural
imperialism. Cultural imperialists believe that globalisation is occurring when there is
only one dominant and powerful culture infiltrating and brainwashing the minority
cultures. Tomlinson argues this by saying that globalisation is actually a complex
process, where any culture can influence another. It is an interlinking and intertwining
network, where the dominant powers are changing and unstable. (Tomlinson, 1997,
p85) Tomlinson makes a fine point because it seems unreasonable to say that only
one culture or one country can influence the world.
An important trend occurring in the world economy is the process of
globalisation. Globalisation is the progressive integration between national
economies and the breaking down of barriers between trade and financial flows
around the world, which will eventually lead to the emergence of a single world
market. Globalisation has affected many different nations in different ways,
depending on their degree of development and extent to which they are open to the
flows of the world economy. China is said to be the next economic super power.

Many guru economists such as Lawrence Summers predict that in the opening
decades of the 21st century, china will match the US and Japanese economies.
China currently ranks seventh strongest economy on a global scale.
Chinas economic success has not been confined to raw economic growth, especially
with a huge trade surplus of over 40 billion according to world guide from 1998.
China has an annual per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $750. China has
shown amazing growth averaging 10 per cent per year and shows no slowing down
because of globalisation. Today China would have to be the most alluring country,
ever since November 1999 when the country began talks with the US. The
international community and US business sector have seen the Communist country
as offering immense opportunities. With a market of more than a billion potential
customers, a figure equivalent to one fifth of the world population who would
disagree. China also now has plans in joining the World Trade Organization (WTO).
China has taken many steps in globalisation and it has definitely impacted greatly.
Over the past two decades, with many radical economic reforms, China has achieved
great success. Firstly by muting all international conflicts and geopolitical ambitions,
China followed the examples of other newly industrialising economies (NIEs), giving
priority to industries and sectors where limited government investments would
produce rapid growth. Farms were given back to the farmers and they were now free
to plan production, distribution, which lead to huge increases in productivity, surplus
income and output. This new system led to surplus income being invested in the
privately run town or village enterprises for light manufacturing. Young workers were
now offered a contract system of employment instead of the previous lifetime
assignment to a production unit. Permission to start small businesses such as
restaurants and shops were now given to families and individuals. The government
introduced a phased program of removing price subsidies on consumer good, which
allowed the market to determine the price of goods to spur economic growth and
encourage consumption. As these reforms began to stabilise in the Chinese
economy, more goods appeared in shops and wages increased for several years.
Amazingly the enduring problem of unemployment and underemployment reduced
because of more and more people becoming self-employed. Also China was very
encouraging to foreign investment due to globalisation, it announced a dramatic new
openness to foreign trade, investment and borrowing. To achieve Chinas goals of
reintegration with Taiwan and Hong Kong and an acceleration of outward economic
development, four Special Economic Zones were established. Three of these SEZs
were situated in Guangdong Province, Shenzhen, north of Hong Kong; Zhuhai, north
of Portuguese enclave of Macau; and Shantou, opposite southern Taiwan. The fourth
was Xiamen, which is in the southern part of Fujian Province along the Taiwan Strait.
These Special Economic Zones offered a range of enticing incentives to attract
foreign investors, such as exemption from taxes for a maximum of five years and
permanently lower taxes, cheap land and labour and less stringent regulations.