Global marketplace: structure, dynamics, and contemporary challenges

Global Marketplace

The Future of the Global Marketplace

In the future, the global marketplace will continue to change. The kinds of businesses that will be seen will change, as well, because more and more transactions will be completed online. With that being the case, businesses that do not have a strong web presence will need to focus on how they can attract more online customers through better websites and social media. At the same time, these companies will generally find that they will not be as close to their customers in the sense of getting to know them like companies often did in the past (Giddens, 1990). For the most part, the days of "making friends" with your customers and recognizing them by name are over. It can still happen with some companies, but when businesses go global they give up a lot of the personalization for automated processes that can adjust to people down the street or around the world. That is worth considering for any business that is attempting to come up with a strategy that will allow that business to market on an international level (Shaw, 1999). International advertising is vital in a global society, and it is imperative that a company does not offend any of the people to which it must sell goods based on cultural or communication differences.

All too often, companies do not realize how things are done in other countries, what roles color and packaging play in other cultures, or how things should be worded so that a particular target market can be receptive to what is offered (Jain, 1989). In order to be a successful global manager no matter what kind of business one is engaged in, one must see the value of the Internet and how it can be used to market specifically to certain types of people and certain cultures. If a person is operating a business and he or she does not see the value that comes with international relationships, that business will not have much of a chance of surviving in a society that is becoming more global by the day. Society will be even more global and integrated five years into the future, where the largest majority of transactions will take place online and where distance will only matter because of the shipping charges. Both goods and services can be provided to a diverse group of people, provided that diversity is properly addressed and acknowledged (Ragin, 1994).

The changing face of globalization will also require that the labor market do some changing. More people with Internet skills will be needed, as will good writers who can get high rankings in search engines. Recent changes to Google have shown that low-quality content is no longer acceptable, and people with writing skills that are above and beyond the standard ability of anyone to put together a few sentences will be in demand. In addition to good writers, graphic designers, coders, and others who are capable of working with web sites to bring them customers and good search engine rankings will be in more demand than ever before. Management will still be a significant area in which people can excel, but the managers of tomorrow will need to have a more multi-cultural attitude and will need to be able to adjust to changing needs and desires more quickly than the managers of today.