Global Firm

GLOBAL FIRM

PART 1: GLOBALIZATION

I. The concept of globalization

A. Conceptualization,origins,andhistory

CYCLES

Globalization as a long-term cyclical process.

EPOCHS

Six great waves of globalization

WARS RELIGIONS COLONIALISM 18th & 19th IMPERIALISM

CENTURIES

POST WORLD WAR

POST COLD WAR

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• (1)  The fourth to the seventh centuries which witnessed the globalization of religions (e.g. Christianity, Islam)  
• (2)  The late fifteenth century highlighted by European colonial conquests  
• (3)  The late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries during which various intra-  European wars led to globalization  
• (4)  The mid-nineteenth century to 1918: the heyday of European imperialism  
• (5)  The post-world war II period  
• (6)  The post-cold war period  

SPECIFIC EVENTS

(1) The Two World Wars (2) Spanish Flue

Broader, more recent changes

•                 -  The emergence of the US as THE global power in the years following WWII  
•                 -  The emergence of multinational corporations (MNCs)  
•                 -  The fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the cold war  
•                 -  1990: development of ICT, a newly interconnected life  o ICT (information & communication technologies) -1-  

o Global integration of markets B. Conceptualization

Simplistic and critical representation at first:

• Capitalism and western values  
• The fear of “Americanization” and the war on terror Current debates  

• The power status of the US after Trump’s election  
• The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa)  
• The “WEST versus the “The Rest” : eastern Europe + north America  DEFINITIONS  

• “Geographic-dynamic”: a complex and uneven dynamic linking the local (and the national and regional) to the global – as well as the West to the East, and the North to the South (Steger)  
• “Transplanetary process(es)” involving increasing liquidity and growing multi-directly flows as well as the structures they encounter and create (Ritzer)  
• A thicheking “local-global” nexus: GLOCALIZATION (Steger) (thick : épais) II. The 4 dimensions of globalization  Economic, political, cultural & ecological  A. Theglobaleconomy  Capitalism: economic system emerged in 1896 and peaked 1914 Similarities between the 2 periods of globalization 1896-1914 and after WWII  

• TRANSPORTATION o Railroad/steamship →airplanes  
• COMMUNICATION o Telegraph → the internet  
• LARGE-SCALE FLOWS OF CAPITAL  
• LARGE-SCALE FLOWS IMMIGRATION  
• SPECIALIZATION  
• FREE TRADE  The two periods of globalization: similar problems  

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•                 -  Poor nations  
•                 -  No equals gains  
•                 -  Losers in the economic competition  Transformations centered on the market:  

•                 -  Economic production and exchange of commodities  
•                 -  Gigantic flows of capital  
•                 -  Standardized means of transportation  
•                 -  Cyberspace markets  
•                 -  The 21st century’s global economic order: o Transnational corporations (TNCs) o International economic institutions (IMF or WTO) o Regional business and trade networks: Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation  (APEC) or the European Union (EU)  

B. Before and after Bretton Woods

•                 -  Expansion of international trade  
•                 -  Binding rules on economic activities  
•                 -  Creation of a more stable monetary exchange system  1918 – 1939: Protectionism  Worldwide trade figure  1950-73  World merchandise exports rising by more than 8%  Oil price shocks (1974 and 1979)  Negative growth of worldwide trade at – 5,4% (1974) and – 7,3%  1991  Worldwide merchandise exports remained stable at an annual growth rate of around 4%  2000- 2007 period  Average expansion of world merchandise exports: 6% 2008 WTO Report  TRADE EXPANSION  - First wave of globalization: 1850 to 1913 ↑ 3,4% (1870-1913)  - Second wave of globalization 1950- 2007 ↑ 6,2%  

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THE BRETTON WOODS INSTITUTIONS

•                 -  End of WWII o World Bank  o International Monetary Fund (IMF)  o Get rid of the ITO: International Trade Organization  
•                 -  In the early 1990s  o World Trade Organization (WTO) III. The political dimension of globalization  SIGNIFICANT INSTITUTIONAL PLAYERS  

•                 -  Governments  
•                 -  Multinational corporations (MNCs)  
•                 -  Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)  
•                 -  Think tanks  
•                 -  International financial institutions  Global institutional players Organizing principles  

•                 -  Decentralization  
•                 -  Competition  
•                 -  Cooperation  

Shift of the centers of gravity

•                 -  Administrative  
•                 -  Managerial  
•                 -  Informational  Impact of ICT revolution  Vertical organizations → horizontal networks Hierarchical → decentralized  Private firms and strategic alliances Think tanks: groupe de pression/réflexion  Reasons for the Growth of Think Tanks in the Twentieth and twentieth-first centuries (James  

Mc Gann)

•                 -  ICT revolution  
•                 -  End of national governments’ monopoly on information  
•                 -  Complexity of policy problems  
•                 -  Increasing size of government  
•                 -  Crisis of confidence elected officials  
•                 -  Growth of state and non-state actors  

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- Need for to

IV. The cultural dimension of globalization

A. Theculturalimplicationsoftechnologicalinnovations

Internet users in the World by geographic regions in 2017: We have almost 4 billion (milliards) users of internet in Asia.

Penetration rate is more relevant (pertinent).

Penetration measures: the popularity of a product in terms of usage (people who using a product) or purchase (people who are going to buy a product), analysis of the relevant market. Correlation between people who buy the product and the size of the market.

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