Tuesday, May 12, 2009

GLOBALIZATION AND YOU

"Where do I as an individual fit into the global competition and opportunities of today?" Try to answer Friedman's question by looking at the requirements, chances, and dangers, that globalization mean for YOU.
What must a young "globalized citizen" be able to do to be "successful"?

8 comments:

  1. I think the strongest requirement is the global network. If that doesn´t exist, there is no way for globalization, we can´t communicate with foreign people and we can´t sell or buy any products because there is no way to travel to those trading-partners.
    The globalization brings many chances, for example cheaper prices. If you can buy one specific stuff only at one company, then this company can make the price and you´ll have to pay whatever they want to have.
    But with other companies existing, too, the companies want to sell more than the others and this works best if they sell the same prduct cheapest. So there is a competition between those companies and the price will go down.
    But there exist many dangers with the globalization, as well. We export many things but sometimes we import whole companies. We buy just cheap things that are producedin e.g. Asia. Our companies have to go to those land, too, to produce cheaper and then sell their stuff cheaper or thei go bankrupt. In both cases jobs in our coutries are lost and the rate of unemployment decreases.

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  2. I agree with Markus that the strongest requirement is the global network. On the one hand I can benefit from a lot of chances. Firstly, the influence of the other countries play a big part of my life as I eat a lot of foreign food, e.g. Italian or Chinese food and as I watch movies made from the USA or listen to music by foreign singers. I have a big choice of products that I want to buy as they come from all over the world. As companies from foreign countries often can produce cheaper than in Germany and also because of the competition between different companies there are cheap products of a good quality available.
    On the other hand globalization can also have a negative influence on my life. If I work in a company that moves to another country because of lower costs of production, I'll have the choice. Either I move with my company, or I'll become unemployed. Another negative aspect is that I can't be sure where my food comes from. Normally you don't always look where your food comes from and often you can't know , e.g. if you eat in a restaurant. In general, that doesn't matter but perhaps some countries use a lot of fertilizer against vermins and you don't know when you eat your vegetables or fruits.

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  3. I agree with Markus, too, that the strongest requirement is the global network. Also I think as well that 'cause of the competition, which is necessery with the globalization, the prices can get lower.
    But also the companies can increase the prices together, so that you can't chose the cheapest one.

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  4. It´s right, Stefan, they can talk together and do that but if it gets somehow to the public then those companies will have a problem, and they know that and in most of the cases they don´t talk together.

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  5. Ok Markus, when it's so how you said, it's good.
    Well, but 'cause of the globalization now we should be able to speak as many different languages as we can. Also we have to be able to work with the internet or we would get in trouble. When you wan't to travel to another country you have to understand the language of this country and perhaps you have to write an e-mail to a business in this country or to a school, when you want to go to school there.
    Also you should know about their culture to get integrated. But you could have to understand many languages 'cause of your work. Perhaps when you are a moderator or you have to go from one country to another for your company.
    Well, the language is very important.
    But let's not forget that we should also know what's going on in this world. We should read newspapers or see news in the TV every day to know what's happening in the other countries.
    With the globalization we all are connected together, so we have to know about the others and what's happening there.

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  6. I think as a young citizen you should just be involved in business. Just being a customer is fine. I think since America is so diverse we have about everything, I love Chinese and I love Mexican food, so being involved is good to keep it going globally I guess.

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  7. I agree with Brandon. America is really diverse. There are numerous cultures here.

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  8. As a consumer, I think I fit into globalization as a main part. You think of globalization and importing and exporting and communication between countries. But on the end of the stick, its us consumers that are the key of the process. If we weren't buyers of the products, then they wouldn't have anything to do with the imports when they get them.
    To be successful, I think you have to be open minded. You have to think in a business sort of way, I guess. You have to think, if a product is imported from 2 places, the price will go down because of the competition, as someone said before. Therefore, as a consumer it is better to have many competing businesses. But as a business owner or something, it is better to be the only one selling that product, and if your not, buy out the competition or something.
    To be successful, I guess you just need to look at the higher point of things.

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