Globalization Our World Is Interconnected Through Various

Globalization

Our world is interconnected through various forces. There are many benefits to this connectivity, including being able to trade and speak with people around the globe in just minutes. This not only enriches our society socially, but can also help it financially. Globalization, which is a trademark of this connectivity, has expanded more and more and our world could not be imagined today without globalization and the forces that sustain it. This paper will thus address the specifics of globalization, including the political theories that support it, its major drivers and the effects of this phenomenon.

Humans have always attempted to establish contacts across the globe. However, at no time has this been as possible and as much of a reality as it is now. Recently, global integration has increased to an unprecedented extent. Communications, transportation and computer technology have enabled the process of interconnectedness to such a degree that the world is now more interdependent than ever. Multinational corporations have, due to this reason and also for profit purposes, established offices in all parts of the world to both provide for and sell to millions of global customers. Other resources, such as money and raw materials move much faster and technology in particular is becoming more and more available to more and more people due to this interconnectedness. Thus, "along with products and finances, ideas and cultures circulate more freely [and…] as a result, laws, economies, and social movements are forming at the international level." [1: Unknown Author. (2011). "Globalization." Global Policy Forum. Retrieved May 8, 2011, . ] [2: Unknown Author. (2011). "Globalization." Global Policy Forum. Retrieved May 8, 2011, . ]

This, then, is globalization; all these processes, all these definitions, working together in the political, social, legal, economical and financial arena of the world. However, globalization can also have negative impacts, as seen in the recent crisis, where a mistake in one country literally has affected and still is affecting the entire world. Whether good or bad, however, globalization has been illustrated in several global trade theories, including the classical, proportion and life cycle theories. [3: Mote, D. (2011). "Global Strategy: Global Trade Theories." Reference for Business. Retrieved May 8, 2011, . ]

The first theory, the classical theory, is the notion that a country focuses on foreign sales of products that they can produce better than other nations. The second theory states that price levels will differ among countries due to the fact that factors related to the supply of natural resources are different in different countries. And thirdly, the life cycle theory "takes into account factors like technology and innovation to explain foreign trade forces, and places less emphasis on the role of prices and exchange rates." [4: Mote, D. (2011). "Global Strategy: Global Trade Theories." Reference for Business. Retrieved May 8, 2011, . ]

In additional to various theories to explain this phenomenon, globalization is also driven by various forces. The most well-known forces are market drivers, cost drivers, technological drivers, governmental driver and competitive drivers. Within market drivers, we find businesses that are considering various markets in which to invest. Within the cost driver, companies that consider lifestyle of a country before price are included. The technology driver includes increasing technological systems, especially communication systems such as the internet, but also transportation systems. Fourth, there is the government driver and fifth, there is the competition driver, which can drive an organization to become a global center. [5: Unknown Author. (2011). "What are the drivers of globalization?" Blurtit.com. Retrieved May 8, 2011, < http://www.blurtit.com/q635202.html>.]

Next, we must discuss the kind of effects that globalization has had upon the world. It is clear, from all the above-written and cited that globalization is both growing and affecting a lot of people at the same time due to various fundamental changes and market forces that drive progress forwards around the world. Though globalization's effects are widely felt both in political and economic arenas, this section will focus on a very specific example; namely, the effects of globalization in California and the pharmaceutical industry.

With regards to California, globalization affects the workforce very much. According to a study, this is most widely felt in the computer industry and the food industry. This study maintains that the total amount of "global interchange, in the form of export and import activity, the internal structure of firms and their production networks, and the characteristics of the labor force" have all shifted in California and have had serious effects on the state and its industries. The study here has utilized two industries mentioned above to illustrate changes in California's economy due to globalization and examine just how the state is responding to these challenges. Needless to say, the study has found the industries adapt to the impact of globalization. In the computer industry, for example, segmented production processes are much more popular now than before, whereas in the food processing industry there is much less segmentation. [6: Kroll, C. (2004). "Globalization and the Changing Face of California Industry." UC Berkeley. Retrieved May 8, 2011, .] [7: Kroll, C. (2004). "Globalization and the Changing Face of California Industry." UC Berkeley. Retrieved May 8, 2011, . ]