Globalization And 21st Century Leadership: Benefits, Challenges, And Strategies

What is Globalization?

Discuss about the Literature Review for Global Brand or an Organization.

In this assignment we are going to discuss in detail about the concept globalization and how 21^st century leadership can be helpful for an organization to tackle the issues that comes along with the process of globalization (Stiglitz 2013). Globalization is a process of an organization is which it becomes a global brand or an organization from coming out of its home country. Well it may sound interesting but a number of issues are present in this process that the organization has to face in order to go globalised (Bhagwati 2016). The assignment is going to be divided mainly into three parts i.e. an introduction part followed by a critical analysis and at the end we will make a final conclusion about the topic of this assignment. The primary objective of this assignment is to talk about what globalization is about; how it helps an organization and what issues are present in this process that an organization need to take care of. Every organization of this world operates in a dynamic environment where not even a single thing or factor is constant. A product or a service that is loved by the customers today may become totally out of fashion the very next day, so in order to cope up situations like this organization works 24*7 hours so that products and services can be improved and they don’t become out of fashion (Friedman 2016). A business man when sets up a business he only thinks about growing and expanding his business to the other countries, it is one of the most influential thing for a business having its operations in different countries (Stiglitz 2014).

In this section or the part of the assignment we are going to discuss about what globalization is all about. We will start with a very basic example of globalization, “The process by which an organization develops an international influence or start operating on an international scale” is known as globalization (Rodrick 2017). In simpler words when an organization spreads its arms or legs for business activities to other countries for the purpose of growth or expansion then it is known as globalization (Wolf 2014). Well is globalization is that simple? No certainly it is not, every good thing comes with a price and that price is the issues that are accompanied with the process of globalization. How globalization was started and by whom it was started, well it is believed that it is the United States of America who made the concept of globalization and since then almost every country, every organization whether profitable or a non profitable institutes are thinking of going global (Friedman 2016). Globalization provides a number of benefits to the organization that opts it as a method of expansion, however as said above every good thing comes with a price.

Benefits of Globalization

Organization thinking about going global or the organization that are operating its business globally certainly understand and would agree with the above statement that if globalization provides a number of benefits, it also brings a number of challenges for an organization that may increase the expenses of an organization (Steger 2012).

In this section we are going to discuss about when and from where did the globalization started and what benefits or challenges does it brings to an organization. One of the main reasons behind the concept of globalization was the increasing demand and desires of the human beings that are increasing day by day (Tandon 2015). Another reason was the advancement of the technology, almost every organization around the world whether it is a globalized firm or a domestic organization, every organization is fully accessed with high technological advancements. The reason behind this advancement is again globalization. Suppose Russia built a technology by which an organization can prepare 1000 trousers in a day, now this technology is bought by India from Russia (Eichengreen 2016). So you see the technology built in Russia is now being used by India, this is the concept of globalization, where the product or a service of one nation is being used in another nation. Below are some of the key benefits of globalization that are enjoyed by organizations these days (Beck 2010).

• Economic Growth: One of the most important and a key benefit that not only benefits and organization but also an economy is the economic growth that comes with the globalization. When a domestic or a national organization enters a foreign market then it needs to pay a number of taxes which ultimately increases the tax income of the foreign country.
• Foreign Direct Investment: Foreign Direct Investment is a process through which foreign organizations or investors invest their money into other countries. All this has become possible just because of the globalization. Today the advancement in technology has become so vast and a wide concept that if any nation cuts itself from globalization then it will end up having nothing in their bank reserves(Perraton 2015). Which means that FDI is a very good source of income for the countries as well as for organizations as they get a good amount of returns on their investments in other countries?
• Technology Innovation: Another benefit of globalization is the technology advancement and innovation. Suppose there are two countries A and B, the country A is fully developed in every aspect while country B is an under developing country with having access to less technology. Now country A decides to set up an industry in country B because of its low taxation system and low wage labors in return the country B will get technology innovations, money and taxes from country A organization.
• Employment Opportunities: The process of globalization has another major benefit for the countries, when a foreign organization sets up its business units in a country other than its home country then the foreign country gets an employment opportunities as a number of jobs are generated by these companies, which ultimately benefits the foreign country.    
• Higher Standard of Living: When an under developed country through globalization sees a major expansion of foreign organizations, brands and products in their country at lower prices then automatically people gets attracted towards such brands or products, ultimately the standard of living of people increases. This increase in standard of living not only benefits the countries but also the organizations as more the increase in standard of living the higher will be the demand for the products of such organizations.

The path to become an international business means the use of modern technologies in a much more vivid way than the ways the organizations generally does them. The use of the technology should be done in such a way that it helps in the formulation of a solid plan that leads to the accomplishment of the different goals and objectives of the mentioned organization. Such an use of contemporary technologies helps the organization to transform themselves very easily. Globalization has also increased the chances of data theft which must be stopped at any cost through the implementation of quality technologies.

In this section we are going to discuss about the issues of globalization that are generally faced by organizations. Globalization is a process where not only organizations but also the general people interacts with each other at an international level with having one common intention of benefitting each other through resources available with the both ends, it won’t be wrong to say that it is process of give and take. This is from where the issues of globalization starts, with having numerous benefits there are also many issues of globalizations that not only affect the organization but also the countries. There are many scholars in the business world who advocates globalization, while there are many others who oppose the globalization concept. The issues of globalization that are faced by the organizations in 21rst century are as under (Robertson 2016):

• High Customer Expectations: While globalization has immense benefits for an organization on the one hand, it has a number of issues too on the other hand. One of them is the high expectations of customers. When an organization enters a new countries market then the people of that country already having high standards of living due to globalization expects the new entrant to provide world or highly classy product at a reasonable price. Such expectations becomes issues as globalization has increase the competition to such an extent that a customer will never end up selecting from the products or services.
• Increased Expenses or Costs: Another main or major issue of globalization is the increased expenses or costs that are ultimately borne by the organization. Globalization or going global for an organization is an investment that has two probabilities, whether the organization will make its place in the foreign market or it may miserable fail. Whatever the results turns out to be the expenses will have to be borne by the organization. The cost of setting up building, transferring of technology, hiring employees and using translators for internal communication. All it will ultimately raise the cost or expenses of an organization.
• Cultural Rifts: A very common issue of globalization is the cultural rift; an organization from west will find it difficult to manage the cultural difference in the South Asia. An American organization may find it difficult to sell their products in an Asian country, even if it sells its products or services then it may require a very intense and deep planning of all the aspects. This planning will ultimately increase the budget of the organizations.      
• Adverse Affects on Local Market: When a foreign market enters another countries market then the most affected part of this whole scenario are the local organizations. The reason behind this is the increased competition and the pressure of reducing price in order to cope up with competition. Sometimes it has been seen that a local organization has such a hold on the market that it fails all its foreign competitors with its hold on its customers.
• Depressions and Recessions: United States in considered as the father of the financial system of this world. Almost every country around this world has its financial system related to the financial system of the United States of America. If an American organization has its other operating units in other countries like UK and Australia then if U.S.A is hit by financial down then it will also affect the business units of UK and Australia.
• Political Instability: One of the most major issues of globalization is the political instability of a country. Suppose an organization A from Australia sets up its another sister organization in a country not having a stable political structure then the organization may end up losing more than the investment it has made. It is considered as one of the major issues of globalization that is mostly faced by globalized firms. Some of its examples are: if an organization enters a foreign market where the government of the country makes a decision of implying taxes at 25% rate and within 6 months the government gets changed and new tax rates are set on 33% then such a change will not affect but it will totally devastate the financial structure of the organization.

Challenges of Globalization

Now if we compare the benefits and challenges or issues of the globalization for an organization then both the things stands equal there is no much difference. Here again we would like to say “every good thing comes with a price”. There is no doubt that through globalization, not only people or organizations but cultures and traditions, food, music and even the entertainment of different countries has come together on a single platform called globalization.

In this section we are going to discuss, what changes have been made in the 21^st century globalization and how it is different from the globalization concept of 20^th century and why such changes has been made. Some scholars believe that globalization was earlier the process of people interacting through each other of different countries. At that time people use to carry something which is their specialty to the other countries so that they can present it to the other peoples. This period was the 1800s, slowly this presenting of things turned into international trade, the culture and even the ideas were exchanged. Today the advancement of technology has reached to such an extent that nothing seems to be impossible but what and who made all this advancement possible, well a very simple answer to this is the globalization. There are other scholars who believes that globalization is a process that started with modern times, while there are many other scholars who says that the globalization has its root in the European age of discovery and the third millennium BC (Singer 2012). Critical thinking, creativity and innovation, technical or professional expertise are some of the core competencies of the 21^st century leaders. Though critical thinking and creativity is quite similar to that of traditional leadership abilities other things especially innovation and professional expertise are quite new in the block as because they are unioque to the 21^st century leaders.

Increased competition is one of the major things that one can see in the 21^st century globalization, now even the newly incorporated organizations are globalized as they start not only from their own country but from a number of different countries. The increased competition in the market and the dynamic needs of the people forces the leaders to transform them into hardcore professionals who are available to do any kind of solutions for the people.  A very common example of the 20^th century globalization and the 21^st century globalization is that in 2000’s we were using phones and after the period of 2000-2010, we were introduced to smart phones. A very common example of 20^th century globalization was that we were driving cars and in the 21^st century we are driving hybrid cars just because of the 21^st century globalization. There is a huge difference between the 20^th century globalization and that of the 21^st century globalization. Now everything, even the minutest of our day to day activity is influenced by technology all this is because of the changes that has been made in the globalization. However the 20^th century globalization was a less trouble creator than the 21^st century globalization. Now the organizations are more concerned about the new laws and regulations of the different countries that they are operating in. Not only the financial laws but the laws related to the environment are one of the major issues that most of the firms find hard to comply with. Now not only the government but the general public is o aware of the things that are not suitable for them that they don’t let their government to sanction land or resources to an organization which is not suitable for the public. Where 21^st century globalization has benefits in abundance then there are a number of critical issues too that has to be look after by the organizations if they want to enjoy the fruits of the globalization.

Contemporary Globalization

Conclusion 

This is the final part of the assignment where a brief and a concise conclusion have been written about the issues of the globalization. The issues of the globalization for an organization are not only the issues to solve but to understand for an organization that why such issues affect the working or the profitability of an organization. The issues of globalization are many however all these issues can be tackled if an organization properly handles its different affairs in a foreign country. It may sound a bit more expensive but it is the only way in which an organization can tackle these issues. One of the way is to conduct a thorough research about the market, customer, government of the country in which an organization is going to operate and the other thing is to join hands with one or two local organizations that holds an extensive part of the market of that country. This will ultimately prove out to be beneficial steps for the organization and by this way the issues may not get ended but these can definitely be minimized.

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