Hebsmb49 Unit 1 Assignment

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Globalization By HEBSMB49 Workshop 1 assignment Due January 18, 2011 Submitted January 18, 2011 Globalization Introduction Modern technology has permanently and dramatically altered the landscape in which businesses operate. Advances in computers and telecommunications have enabled businesses to operate around the clock, reducing the amount of resources wasted, while maximizing efficiency and providing maximum results to shareholders and consumers alike. What is Globalization? Globalization refers to the process by which barriers to trade between countries are reduced or eliminated, advances in transportation and communication make distances between countries immaterial, and national economies are gradually merging…show more content…
The first factor is the decline of trade and investment barriers between countries. The second factor is the changing role of technology in the means of production, transportation, and communication (Hill, 2009, p. 11). In the beginning of the 20th century, many countries enacted trade barriers in the form of tariffs, levies, and duties imposed on imported goods. The purpose of the barriers were to protect each country’s manufacturing workforce from foreign competition. A result of tariffs on imported goods was that the exporting country would retaliate by imposing tariffs on imports. This would lead to a game of “one-upmanship”, with tariffs inching ever-higher, eventually leading to either a drastic reduction, or even cessation of trade. This choking of international trade eventually depressed world demand, and led to the Great Depression of the 1930s (Hill, 2009, p. 11). After World War II, the leading industrial nations decided to reduce or eliminate restrictions to free trade. One outcome of this effort was the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trades (GATT). GATT was a precursor to the World Trade Organization (WTO), an international consortium comprised of member nations whose goal is to further reduce or eliminate barriers to international trade. Several other organizations whose goals are to promote international trade are the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank. The International Monetary Fund was established in 1944, and its purpose is to “maintain order in the international monetary system” (Hill, 2009, p. 10). The World Bank, also created in 1944, is chartered with making low-interest loans to poorer nations wishing to invest in improving their infrastructure. The third organization is the United Nations, established in 1945. The United Nations originally had 51 member countries, but has expanded to include 191 countries, almost every nation in the

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