Globalization And It

People around the world have established close contacts during past century. However in recent years the closeness grew even bigger. There are many critical challenges facing our society in the 21st century, and one of the most complex and ramified is globalization. The debate around globalization is growing rapidly due to the dramatic changes in the global economic and societal structures. Since opposing views on globalization exist, this essay takes a look at the benefits the globalization brings to society as well as the detriments associated with it. Furthermore, this paper will examine the effects of the main driving force behind the globalization - information technology- and its impact on different sectors of society. At the end, the essay will highlight the main factors that influence the development of financial globalization and will conclude with an overall look at globalization and its success.

People around the world have established close contacts throughout the last century; however in recent years the closeness grew even bigger. There are many critical issues facing our society in the 21st century. One of the most important challenges facing economies and societies across continents is globalization. There are a lot of different definitions for globalization. Some say it is "increased integration of international markets" (Bardo, 2002), "increasing interaction among, and integration of, the activities, especially economic activities, of human societies around the world" (Mussa, 2003), or "increased interconnectedness of peoples and nations through technology, trade, and finance, reinforced by an increasing number of multilateral institutions and rules" (Labonte, 2004). Nonetheless, everything is pointing in one direction. Globalization has literally overcome the nations' geographical borders. People around the globe will be more connected to each other than ever before. Information and money will flow more quickly than ever. Goods and services produced in one part of the world are going to be increasingly available to the rest of the globe. As Great Depression describes the 1930s, as Cold War describes the tense relationship between USSR and USA from 1947 to 1991, globalization will go down in history as the era of increased integration of international economies. While many see globalization having a positive impact on society, others consider it harmful and dangerous. Let us then analyze some of the advantages and disadvantages of globalization on society at large.

Technology is one of the main drivers of globalization. The important role technology plays in the globalization process is often disregarded or at least underestimated. The degree of technological innovation determines whether a country obtains the benefits of globalization or is instead forced into a retrogressed position. Developing countries still lag behind industrialized countries as far as technological development is concerned. Information technology, which was originally designed to connect the world, has produced a digital void that has worsened the gap between the rich and the poor. The low degree of technological innovation in developing countries certainly robs people from participating in the globalization process and enjoying its benefits. The question is, however, whether information technology will at the same time be the only key to catching up with industrialized countries. Information technology and access to it is one of the main keys for developing countries to catch up with developed countries. So much in the world involves and depends on information technology that inability to have it would be harmful. Without good informational infrastructure, entire countries will be denied access to a productive participation in the sharing of global "pie".

One of the benefits of globalization is the overcome of geographical borders unifying people physically living at great distances from one another. In the past, each country had set their laws to protect its uniqueness and to distinguish itself from any other nation. Powerful states reaped the benefits of their favorable position in the global scenario, while not so dominant nations had to rely on their own resources to keep their people happy. Globalization, however, has changed that. Nowadays, everything is connected. With lowered trade barriers and tariffs, the world of many countries has turned into, for the most part, one big country.

An additional benefit associated with globalization is the theory of comparative advantage. What it simply says is that if one country has an efficient way of producing certain goods, it should concentrate on producing it with outstanding quality. If the country has efficient and inexpensive ways to generate a product demanded everywhere in the world, it should enjoy this benefit and establish trade relationships with others to acquire either products which are not produced internally or goods to produce which would not be cost effecting if done domestically.

Many would agree that globalization has expanded to job market creating new positions. With increase of multinational corporations, there is a constant creation of demand for new products and services, which in turn leads to the creation of new production facilities or the expansion of already existing facilities. Consequently, the growth in production and consumption leads the need for labor force. Growth of labor demand creates more jobs in newly developed markets allowing growth of the surrounding communities as well as the standard of living of their inhabitants. On the opposite side, the manufactures of goods, thanks to globalization, benefit from growing pool of work force, generally readily available at bargain rates. The employer can lower its cost of production by getting cheap labor and in turn can transfer the benefits of cheap labor into cheaper prices for products available to consumers.

Globalization has rendered the borders transparent, de facto eliminating them. Growth in production and demand for labor created an increased willingness on the part of nations to trade their ideas, resources and technologies. If a given country has invented a product that would benefit the society, the invention will be distributed worldwide and allow others to benefit from it without expensive research and development costs. One such example would be Microsoft Corporation. Its Windows operating system comes along with almost every new computer created in the world. Since this operating system has proven to be reliable, Microsoft is willing to share its creation with everybody else, eliminating the need for additional research and investments, while maintaining a firm grip on the global market.

Worldwide historical and political developments in recent years have brought about the