These factors include the rapid spread of westernized cultural values and purchasing habits vs. those that are native to a given region of the world. For example, the rapid rise in western culture within India and Muslim-led countries are a case in point. The cultural backlash of globalization continues to be significant and throughout the next twenty years, the successful integration of western-based companies into these 3rd world nations will be a key criteria in global economic growth. Just as the initial economic agreement set the foundation for economic growth, the reliance on culture frameworks including the Hofstede Five Cultural Dimensions Model will be essential for the successful integration of westernized companies into foreign markets where cultural norms, values and beliefs must be respected and taken into account during any expansion strategy. The bottom line is global trade growth will continue to become more pervasive and the accuracy, speed and complexity of transactions will continue to increase over time due to these factors. Assessment of Global Competitive Factors Influencing American Consumers Firms, and Workers

Our text makes an excellent point with regard to the global competitive factors that are forcing outsourcing of American jobs and the long-run impacts of these economic decisions companies make. That point is that dollars chase knowledge, and if a process or task, from constructing a new PC to writing a new software program, can be more efficiently done in another part of the world,. That cost reduction is passed on to the end consumer. Companies, contrary to popular opinion, do not chase the lowest labor hour when they outsource jobs; they seek knowledge and insight on how to make the...

This, in the short-term, is painful for American workers, yet in the long-term it forces a focus on the most valuable skill sets the market needs and in many cases the U.S. government is working to help workers gain greater skills. Outsourcing is demonized but it in reality it is the re-shifting of production to find the most knowledgeable workers overall. Additional factors influencing the American consumer and firms is the greater breadth of purchasing and spending options, the greater variety of services, and the need to see culture as a relative aspect of one's country, not an absolute. In other words, the rapid pace of competitive factors is forcing both consumers and firms to not be as ethnocentric and focused only on what they see the world like; it is requiring a reset of expectations and values. Finally, global competition means that any firm is now global, not just dictated by the geographic boundaries of their city or state. Given the rapid advances in Internet technologies, it is common for small businesses to compete for opportunities globally, as customer seek out expertise to solve their problems without regard to international boundaries. The new currency really is knowledge and that is one of the primary catalysts of global competition.