Monday, January 27, 2020

Drives for Globalisation

Drives for Globalisation Q) Identify, define and describe three of the drivers of the recent wave of globalisation. Justify your selection, supporting your argument with the use of examples. Introduction Globalisation can be characterized by four factors; the growing worldwide interconnections, rapid, discontinuous change, increased number and diversity of participants, as well as growing complexity (Parker, 2005). According to the Dictionary of Economics (Bannock et al., 2003), the term; globalisation, is defined as the geographical shifts in domestic activity around the world and away from the nation states. It can also be referred to the interdependence of economies, through the increase in cross-border movement of goods, service, technology and capital (Joshi, 2009). Examples of such integrations can be seen in the growing presence of many multinational companies as they expand into new regions (i.e. McDonalds) and the outsourcing of manufacturing and services. There are four main areas that drive the recent wave of globalisation; however, as each area is very broad, this essay will focus on three drivers within the four categories. Drivers of Globalisation The four main areas of drivers for globalisation are market, government; cost and competition (see Figure 1). These external drivers affect the main conditions for the potential of globalisation across industries, which are mainly uncontrollable by individual firms. Market drivers include areas such as common customer needs and transferable marketing, whereby the emergence of global markets for standardized products has enabled corporations to cater demands in new markets with existing products (Levitt, 1983). Government influence is also a major driver, with policies leading to reductions in trade barriers and a shift towards an open market economy. With access to new markets and human capitals, in the area of cost advantage drivers, companies are able to gain new economies of scale by selling at higher quantities, as well as explore the advantage of low cost production through outsourcing and import. In the case of competitive drivers, the growing trade between nations along with f oreign direct investment (FDI) has helped to increase interdependence among countries and organisations, as well as exposing firms to new competitors. This essay will now focus on three more specific drivers from these four areas; the lowering of trade barriers in trade liberalization, the cost differences between countries, and the rapidly changing technology such as the internet. Globalisation is by no means a new phenomenon; periods of growing interconnections had existed throughout history, such as the Silk Road connecting Europe to Asia. However, unlike many of past waves, globalisation today represents much thicker relationships that involve many people and interactions in interconnected networks (Keohane and Nye, 2000). Hence, the reason for focusing on these three drivers is because they are some of the most important factors that influence and steer the recent wave of globalisation. The governments trade policies help to open the door to their economy, while the difference in cost provides incentives for investment such as overseas companies looking to benefit from low cost economies, at the same time, the rapidly changing technology helps to accelerate the rapid diffusion of free enterprises through new means of communication and improved mobility. Trade liberalization As a way to regulate their international economic position, trade policies has been used by various governments to control what goes in (imports) and out (exports) of the country. Most of the restrictive policies are for imports with the use of barriers such as tariffs  [1]  and non-tariff barriers  [2]  , whilst for exports, it tend to be stimulatory (Dicken, 2007). One of the key features and drivers of globalisation has been the liberalization of barriers on trade in goods and services. An important motivation for such action is usually related with market access, as many governments reciprocate each others liberalization decision, each can benefit from the market access provided for its export industries by the other reciprocating government (Hillman et al. 1995). For example, since major reforms to liberalize market since the 1978 and trade, China experienced some of the highest GDP growth (around 10%) in the world for decades where millions were lifted out of poverty. Although there has been a general shift towards trade liberalization around the world, countries still have differing policies and levels of liberalization depending on stages of development, culture and other political factors. One prominent international organization that promotes trade liberalization and brought major reductions in trade barriers is the World Trade Organization  [3]  (WTO), which has the competencies to both enforce existing trade agreement and to pursue new possibilities of liberalization (WTO, 1995). Preferential trading agreement can also take place between countries, such as the European Union (EU) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), where members have a common foreign trade policy and substantially reduce internal trade barriers among themselves (Hillman, 2008). Also, though international trade is getting more liberalized, it has not produced similar level of benefit to all countries. For example, the influx of cheap, subsidized agricultu re goods from western countries into poorer developing countries in the south after market liberalization, have devastated many local producers and increase in poverty, as it was the case for the Mexican corn famers  [4]  . Differences in cost between countries As a number of factors such as stage of development, location and demography varies between countries, the cost of factors of production: land, capital and labour, will undoubtedly differ as well. These differences also increase international trade and investment, thus further driving globalisation. For example, in the southern city of Guangzhou, China, 10,000 labourers work legal hours stitching shoes for Nike at $95 a month (Time, 2004). Therefore, it gives great incentive for companies such as Nike to outsource manufacturing work to China and other low cost economies, where goods can be made at a fraction of the cost as opposed to industrialized countries. As seen in the clothing industries, much of manufacturing has moved to the developing world, where there are small barriers to entry, labour intensive and only requires low levels of economic development in the host country. Also, low cost labour does not only apply to low skilled works, a highly skilled professional in emerging economies can still be much cheaper to employ compared to ones in developed countries while producing similar quality of result. For example, the Intel Centrino Duo mobile platform was almost all developed in Intels India development centre  [5]  . When the wages increase as the economy grows, production may be moved to another low cost economy. Of course, the variation in cost is not unique only in human capital, but also in many other areas such as raw materials, which can be influence by geographic location of the country. The cost advantage from outsourcing and importing can be negated by shipping and distribution cost, but when the difference is high enough, as it was shown in the huge variation in salaries between China and US; it will still be cheaper to import. Rapid change in technology Technological advancement in the past few decades have led to major improvements to global connectivity (Wellman et al, 2005), mobility and communication, which in turn helped to facilitate, drive and be driven by globalisation. Examples of technology change facilitating globalisation can be seen in all sectors, from agricultural, production lines, to finance. In particular, one of the most prevalent changes is in information technology, ranging from mobile phones to the internet, where people are able to connect to each other from different localities throughout the world and access all sorts of information (Nyiri, 2005). It is based upon the convergence of communications and computer technologies, shifting from analogue to digital systems. For example, a director in the US can conduct a meeting with managers based in India through video conferencing, saving time and money from such long distance travel. For instance, the Bank of America Corp has 400 video-conferencing systems, and the Cleveland banking company saves $200,000 a month in travel expense by using video conferencing according to one of its spokesperson (Bills, 2006). Although there are concerns of a digital divide between places that are connected and those that not, the recent development in mobile technology can help to overcome obstacles in communication access growth in p oor countries that lack fixed line infrastructures. In another area, innovations in transportation technologies have accelerated geographical mobility, as speed and efficiency of transportation are dramatically lowered. For instance, development in aviation technology from propeller aircraft in the 1950s to jet passenger aircraft by 1960s has cut travelling time by hours, resulting in greater convenience and international mobility. Overall advances in both transportation and communications technologies have made todays complex global economic system possible by overcome the frictions of space and time. Conclusion This essay has only covered some of the crucial drivers in the recent globalisation; there are a number of other drivers and conditions which make globalisation as it is today. Furthermore, each driver has their limitations to the extent of their influence. In the event of the recent global recession, globalisation has come under much criticism as economic shocks can be felt across the globe and affect many people due to the growing interconnection between countries. However, although closing an economy may insulate it from shocks, it can also mean stagnation in growth and even more severe internal crises. Hence, it is also important to remember that most, if not all drivers are dependent on one another, and that the way they are managed will have profound influence on the direction and success of the recent wave of globalisation. References: Bannock G., Baxter R. E. and Davis E. (2003) Dictionary of Economics, 7th ed. Penguin Reference, pp. 161 Bills S. (2006) Video Conferencing Gets Lift from New Technology, American Banker, The Financial Services Daily. Wed. Feb 15, 2006 Dicken P. (2007) Global Shift: Mapping the Changing Contours of the World Economy, 5th Ed, Sage Publications, London Hillman A. (2008)Trade Liberalization and Globalization, Readings in Public Choice and Constitutional Political Economy, Chapter 27. Springer US Hillman A.L., Long N.V. and Moser P. (1995) Modeling reciprocal trade liberalization: the political-economy and national-welfare perspectives. Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, 131, pp503-515 Joshi R. M. (2009) International Business, Oxford University Press, New Delhi and New York. Keohane R. O. and Nye J. S. Jr. (2000) Introduction. In Joseph S. Nye, Jr and John D. Donahue (Eds), Governance in a Global World, pp. 1-41. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press Levitt T. (1983) The Globalization of Markets, Harvard Business Review, May/June 1983: 39-49 Nyiri K. (2005) A Sense of Place. The Global and the Local in Mobile Communication. Wien: Passagen Verlag. Parker B. (2005) Introduction to Globalization Business, SAGE Publication, pp. 6-9 Time magazine. (2004) How Nike Figured out China, by Matthew Forney, Sunday, Oct 17, 2004. Weblink: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,725113-4,00.html Wellman B. et al. (2005) Connected Lives: The Project. The Network Neighbourhood, edited by P. Purcell. Berlin: Springer World Trade Organization (1995) International Trade: Tends and Statistics (Geneva: WTO).

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Henry Morton Stanley

Nathan C. Thompson EUH1001 Feb 28, 2012 Dr. W. Moody Henry Morton Stanley Born John Rowlands in Wales, or as those of his time knew him as Henry Morton Stanley; was the illegitimate son of John Rowlands and Elizabeth Parry. He grew up partly in the charge of reluctant relatives, partly in St. Asaph Workhouse. After his interlude of dependence on relatives, he sailed from Liverpool as a cabin boy, landing at New Orleans in 1859. There Rowlands was befriended by a merchant, Henry Hope Stanley, whose first and last names the boy adopted in an apparent effort to make a fresh start in life with a new identity; â€Å"Morton† was added later.For some years Stanley led a roving life; a soldier in the American Civil War, a seaman on merchant ships and in the U. S. Navy, a journalist in the early days of frontier expansion. In 1867 Stanley offered his services to James Gordon Bennett of the New York Herald as a special correspondent with the British expeditionary force sent against Tewo dros II of Ethiopia, and Stanley was the first to report the fall of Magdala in 1868.An assignment to report the Spanish Civil War followed, and in 1869 he received instructions to undertake a roving commission in the Middle East, which was to include the relief of Dr. David Livingstone, of whom little had been heard since his departure for Africa in 1866 to search for the source of the Nile. On Jan. 6, 1871, Stanley reached Zanzibar, the starting point for expeditions to the interior, and, intent on a scoop, left on March 21 without disclosing his intentions.His secretive conduct caused much offense to the authorities, especially to Sir John Kirk, the British consul, who had been having difficulty in making contact with Livingstone. Leading a well-equipped caravan and backed by American money, Stanley forced his way through country disturbed by fighting and stricken by sickness to Ujiji on Lake Tanganyika, Livingstone's last known port of call. There he found the old hero, ill and short of supplies, and greeted him with the famous words â€Å"Dr. Livingstone, I presume? A cordial friendship sprang up between the two men, and when Stanley returned to the coast he dispatched fresh supplies to enable Livingstone to carry on. The older man's quest ended a year later with his death in the swamps of Lake Bangweulu still vainly seeking the Nile in a region that in fact gives rise to the Congo (Zaire) River. When Livingstone died in 1873, Stanley resolved to take up the exploration of Africa where he had left off. The problem of the Nile sources and the nature of the central African lakes had been only partly solved by earlier explorers.Stanley secured financial backing from the New York Herald and the Daily Telegraph of London for an expedition to pursue the quest, and the caravan left Zanzibar on Nov. 12, 1874, heading for Lake Victoria. His visit to King Mutesa I of Buganda led to the admission of Christian missionaries to the area in 1877 and to the eventual est ablishment of a British protectorate in Uganda. Circumnavigating Lake Victoria, Stanley confirmed the explorer John H. Speke's estimate of its size and importance.Skirmishes with suspicious tribes people on the lakeshore, which resulted in a number of casualties, gave rise in England to criticism of this new kind of traveler with his journalist's outlook and forceful methods. Lake Tanganyika was next explored and found to have no connection with the Nile system. Stanley and his men pressed on west to the Lualaba River (the very river that Livingstone had hoped was the Nile but that proved to be the headstream of the Congo).There they joined forces with the Arab trader Tippu Tib, who accompanied them for a few laps downriver, then left Stanley to fight his way first to Stanley Pool (now Malebo Pool) and then (partly overland) down to the great cataracts he named Livingstone Falls. Stanley and his men reached the sea on Aug. 12, 1877. Failing to enlist British interests in the develop ment of the Congo, Stanley took service with the king of Belgium, Leopold II, whose secret ambition it was to annex the region for himself.From August 1879 to June 1884 Stanley was in the Congo basin, where he built a road from the lower Congo up to Stanley Pool and launched steamers on the upper river. (It is from this period, when Stanley persevered in the face of great difficulties, that he earned, from his men, the nickname of Bula Matari [â€Å"Breaker of Rocks†]). Originally under international auspices, Stanley's work was to pave the way for the creation of the Congo Free State, under the sovereignty of King Leopold.Author Laura Benet does not disappoint us with this extensive study formerly know John Rowlands in Wales, Stanley's boyhood was harried by poverty, by relatives who treated him as a thorn in the side and by tough years in a workhouse- not the best of conditions for growing up. Amazingly unembittered by this, John went as a youth to New Orleans and had the g ood fortune to go to work for Henry Morton Stanley, a southern merchant who adopted him and whose name John later took. Still another set back, the Civil War, was not enough to dispirit the new Henry Stanley, who found himself in post war years a reporter for the New York Herald.First assignments sent him to Abyssinia and Spain and then the hunt for Livingstone geared the rest of his life as the reporter explorer who left his mark on the opening up of Africa. For an exciting biography, the author dug deep into Stanley's life and made him a full personality in these pages, without ignoring the challenges each journey entailed. I personally found this book to be a very interesting read, it kept me intrigued and involved with an attraction that intensified with each depiction of the stories.I would recommend this book to all readers young and old. For the summary I chose stories about Stanley's most memorable adventures like the search for Livingston, the journey through Africa, and Ki ng Leopold's covert purchase of African territory for best locations. Those stories really helped put Stanley into greatness due to the impact they made, he saved David Livingston, a Nation hero; also help jump start the â€Å"Race for Africa† for King Leopold; all this aside from the fact that he was quite the reporter/adventure/identity thief.

Friday, January 10, 2020

Orientation: Education and Various Learning Tools Essay

The Student Orientation is an informative guide that helps accustom students to the online learning experience offered by the Desire 2 Learn website. This orientation gives newcomers an overview of what to expect from an online course and how to utilize the various learning tools within the D2L website. After thoroughly completing the student orientation course I have come to realize that while online learning may seem like a great way to fit college courses into a busy lifestyle, it takes a tremendous amount of self-discipline and dedication to succeed in the online learning process. Organization, time management and communication skills are essential to mastering online learning. I am taking four online courses this semester therefore it has been vital for me to properly learn to navigate through the D2L website beforehand and to figure out ways that I can use the various learning tools to my advantage. Each course opens up the the course homepage where the course news feed is located, along with a section for course updates, bookmarks and user links. The course navigation bar has links to Course Home, Classlist, Checklist, Content, Discussions, Dropbox, Grades, Quizzes and Course Tools. Primarily all professors will use the content area to post lectures, assignments, resources and other course activity in different modules. Some professors will set a deadline on certain modules so it important to manage your time wisely. The professor posts lectures, modules, assignments and other course activity in the content area. The content map to the left of the content viewer will give students an overview on the topics within a module. The discussion area is where the professor and students will post and reply to various topics throughout the course. The dropbox is an essential tool students will use to submit course assignments.

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Concert Report Jacqueline Pretorius - 976 Words

Concert Report – Jacqueline Pretorius I did attend the â€Å"Tosco Music Party† on January 30, 2016 at the Knight Theater in Charlotte, NC. The Tosco Music Party originated from informal gatherings and is now a regular sight and popular attraction featuring several artists. The first group to perform was the Moore Brothers Band. They are an Americana trio which consists of a mandolin, a guitar and a bass instrument. The mandolin had a smooth, classical sound. The sound of the guitar can be described as harmonious and warm. A low pitched tone was produced by the bass instrument. I think that that these three instruments complimented each other and as a result the end product was sounds that flowed together very nicely. Next to perform was†¦show more content†¦This was followed by a performance of Amy Speace – she is a Folk/Americana singer-songwriter. She is using a guitar in order to provide music for her songs. She has an interesting voice that is complimented by the sound of the guitar. Next to perform was the very impressive Tuvan throat singing group, Alash. They have used amongst other instruments an igil and a doshpuluur. The igil produced a very rich sound while the doshpuluur produced a soft, smooth like sound that blended very well with the noise produced by the throat singers. Singer-songwriter Pierce Pettis performed next. He effectively used the warm sounds produced by a guitar as guidance for his performance. This was followed by a performance by vocalist K. Omari Wilkerson. He has a very distinctive voice that is pleasant on the ear. Myers Park High School s 12-member, all-female a cappella group, the Sallies performed next. They have managed to deliver an excellent performance and the combination of their voices resulted in a very pleasant musical experience. This was followed by the bluegrass band Charlotte-towne Collective. They have effectively used the deep, distinct sounds of an upright bass and the lively sounds produced by a five-string banjo to give a pleasant performance. Next up was the John Shaughnessy Trio. They have managed to find a very pleasant balance between a fretless piccolo bass, synthesizers and drums. The combination of the sound produced by these different instruments is lively and