Globalisation Case

Globalization has brought much benefits, and negatives. Its need for manpower is now much more than what institutions can provide (Thangavelu, 2010). This article examines the positives and negatives that globalisation brings, so as to benefit from it, and discusses how the welfare of the workforce is not compromise, because of it. Singapore’s GDP is among the highest in the world due to Foreign Direct Investment from multinational corporations (MNCs) driving it (see Appendix 1) (Liew and Mah, 2012). This illustrates the importance of globalization to Singapore. Local talents, namely Jek Tan and Justin Quek, are utilizing globalisation to springboard their cooking talents abroad (MOF, 2007). Such acts bring repute to Singapore and encourage the need to train local talents to be globally competitive. From a western perspective, more jobs are created to developing countries evidenced by Canada outsourcing jobs to India and China (CBC, 2006). But it is detrimental to Canadians too, as previously they belonged to them.

Globalisation have advanced cultural sharing and expertise, evidenced by people all over the world being treated by western medicine, and westerners producing Asian-style martial arts movies and practicing yoga, originating from India (Kulkarni, 2012). Karl Marx’s forecast of monetary issues being priority over kinship is most apparent in Singapore (Reed, 2006). The competition for market dominance among organisations is more intense now (Gillespie, Jeannet and Hennessey, 2010). More time is spent improving the organisation then on family relations, thus neglecting kinship and producing off springs. Foreign influx is thus required to preserve economic growth The influx allows local employers more choices for workers now. This leads to Singaporean employees having decreasing average earnings as employers are unwilling to pay a higher salary (Goh, 2010). Organisations are now relying more of foreign workers as a result. Older workers in Singapore are also finding it more challenging to being employed or are being discriminated against (Tan, 2012). Their skills are increasingly redundant due to technological advancements and their knowledge is mostly relevant to their previous jobs (Weidenbaum, 2003). On the western side, US impressed upon others its cultural style in the midst of globalisation.

Its failure to recognize that some countries refusal to lose their distinctive cultures and embrace western modernity has resulted in resentment by some religious groups, evidence by the 911 terrorist attacks (Gray, 2001). Globalization has encouraged more pollution with the emission of carbon dioxide, with US, the world’s largest economy, emitting 5,301 million metric tons of it, accelerating global warming (Batterson and Weidenbaum, 2001). Japan, the 2nd largest economy and Germany, 3rd largest, follows behind respectively. Travellers from different parts of the globe working together has transmitted diseases such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Hand-Foot-Mouth (HMF), Acute Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and various illnesses. Thus when the first AIDS virus was detected in the US, it was hard to trace it back to Africa (Pillai, 2011). If globalisation stops, then based on the case study, MNCs would withdraw its factories from underdeveloped countries causing countless workers to be jobless and social ills will rise (Wood et al. 2010).

These workers would then turn to criminal activities and vices in order to earn their incomes. The tourism industry will decline too. At present, technology has enabled access to information and reservation systems, thus the low cost of air travel (Peric, 2005). Globalization also drives government agencies to sustain their tourism sites with the revenue earned. Extinction of globalization would prevent all this and travelling would come with a premium price. However, if globalization continues, the negatives from it will increase. Unhealthy fast food chains will continue to expand to more countries and consumption of such unhealthy food will increase too (Salisbury, 2011). Considering the planet’s population size and the independency of the economies between countries, globalization seems more important than not. Income inequality exists regardless. But without globalization, the economy will crash suddenly and many countries will be affected, sparking massive retrenchments and loss of income for many workers (Cusack, 2010).

Hence, globalisation is necessary to sustain the economy, preserve natural tourism sites and to spread technology expertise and cultural heritage. The pros definitely outweigh the cons. If globalization continues, MNCs should obey the standards of the country, in which their factories are located. They should not force their culture upon others to avoid backlashes like 911 and World War 1. Furthermore, it promotes confidence among the workers that they are protected by familiar laws and standards and is not subjected to the western MNCs treatment, which could be harsh on them. MNCs will also better understand each country’s standard and avoid unnecessary legal proceedings. Employees will then be able to work peacefully without fear of being unfairly treated. A healthy work environment will thus create high performance norms and cohesion, leading to better productivity.

Bibliography

Batterson, Robert, and Murray Weidenbaum. 2001. THE PROS AND CONS OF GLOBALIZATION. http://wc.wustl.edu/files/wc/pros%20and%20cons.pdf (Accessed 10 September 2012). CBCNews. 2006. “Outsourcing: Contracting out becomes big business.” CBC News Online, March 7: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/economy/outsourcing.html (Accessed 10 September 2012). Cusack, John L. 2010. Sustainability, Globalization and Corporate Responsibility in Emerging Markets in an Interdependent Global Economy. http://www.giffordpark.net/main/downloads/stpetersburgpaper.pdf (Accessed 10 September 2012). Gillespie, Kate, Jean-Pierre Jeannet, and H. David Hennessey. 2010. Global Marketing. USA: South-Western Cengage Learning. Goh, Gilbert. 2010. “Globalisation – A Bane or Boon for Singaporeans?” TRANSITIONING.ORG, October 27: http://www.transitioning.org/2010/10/27/globalisation-a-bane-or-boon-for-singaporeans/ (Accessed 10 September 2012). Gray, John. 2001. “The era of globalisation is over.” The New Statesman, September 24: http://i-p-o.org/globalization-gray.htm (Accessed 10 September 2012). Kulkarni, Arjun. 2012. “Positive Effects of Globalization.” Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/positive-effects-of-globalization.html (Accessed 10 September 2012). Liew, Donna, and Sophie Mah. 2012. “Singapore takes third spot on Globalization Index 2011.” Ernst & Young, February 8: http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/News_release_-_20120208/$FILE/News%20release%2020120208%20- (Accessed 10 September 2012).%20Singapore%20takes%20third%20spot%20on%20Globalization%20Index%202011.pdf (Accessed 10 September 2012). Ministry of Finance. 2007. “Budget Speech 2007.” Singapore Budget 2007, March 1: http://www.mof.gov.sg/budget_2007/budget_speech/subsection4.1.html (Accessed 10 September 2012). Peric, Vesna. 2005. Tourism and Globalization. http://www.fm-kp.si/zalozba/ISBN/961-6573-03-9/peric.pdf (Accessed 10 September 2012). Pillai, Prabhakar. 2011.