The Arguments Held by the Anti-Globalization Protesters - Literature review Example

ANTI-GLOBALIZATION ARGUMENTS Insert Name Course, Class, Semester Institution Instructor Date Anti-Globalization Arguments Introduction Globalization is an inevitable part of everyday life in the present world. With education, business and many sectors taking on a global outlook, it is clear that the concept is surely shrinking the expanse that is the earth into a small village. Apparently, globalization is movement-like concept that endeavors to take every sector affecting the human race to the international arena. It may be difficult to understand why this concept is gaining acceptance and taking root even in the most remote areas in the third world, but the concept’s causes can be summarized in one word – technology. Worth mentioning at this juncture is the actuality that the concept of globalization is one that has both positive and negative effects. Talking of effects of globalization, the concept has serious negative impacts on the business sector. International business, being a key concept in the world today, has brought many effects to the local businesses in the sense that management is now more focused on how to manage the global human resources. This paper seeks to explain and evaluate various arguments held by the anti-globalization protesters in the contemporary world. The arguments held by the anti-globalization protesters Braun (2008) observes that among the primary arguments held by the ever growing anti-globalization movement is the reality that the concept of globalization brings with it such negative aspects as brain drain. Brain drain is a concept that entails the movement of professionals from one country, usually their home country, to another country due to such factors as the search for better pay, more opportunities and better working environment. According to La Bella (2010), brain drain is most common in African countries and other developing economies in South America and Asia. Such developing economies usually have little to offer to the professionals that graduate from universities and professional institutions. The departure of such brains causes a loss to the home economy in the sense that it will not develop competitively due to lack of the technical know-how. Globalization encourages brain drain, hence making the poor economies continue suffering. Essentially, this widens the gap between the developed and the developing nations. Aswathappa (2008) argues that globalization is the force to be blamed for the rampant illegal immigration in the developed nations. Currently, immigration is a common concept in the sense that people are freely moving from one country to another. During the last presidential elections of the United States, immigration was a key aspect of policy. Everyone wanted to understand what the presidential hopefuls had in store for them regarding illegal immigration. The main reason why the concept of immigration was given prominence is the reality that immigration, which is a product of globalization, is the key cause of unemployment in the developed economies. Hitt et al (2012) explain that at present illegal immigrants, and even the documented ones are offering cheap labor. Such cheap labor compromises the working conditions and the wage rates of the legal citizens. The employers are quickly absorbing the cheap labor – a move that has rendered many legal citizens jobless. Unemployment is a primary economic variable which is, arguably, the root of all evil. The ant-globalization protesters argue that globalization is in favor of neo-liberalism, a concept that works to widen the gap between the rich and the poor. Neo-liberalism is an economic and political ideology that emphasizes free trade and interactions among nations and within local markets. Czinkota (2008) argues that neo-liberalism is not worth embracing as it works to enhance the strength and dominance of the private sector while weakening the public sector. The concept is such that the people within an economy can trade without many restrictions. This means that government intervention is nil, and that the presence of taxes and tariffs and quotas is unheard of. In such an economy, the rich get richer, while the poor continue agonizing in poverty. This is reflected in the business world, since the large corporations keep growing bigger, with the small organizations failing due to failure to match up the competition posed by the well established firms. The biggest victims of globalization are the small and middle enterprises (SMEs). Anti-globalization protesters argue that the most effective way of doing away with all threats to SMEs is to fight globalization. When scanning the business environment for purposes of market penetration, SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) are among the main factors taken into consideration. Worth mentioning is the actuality that globalization brings about so many threats. Among the primary threats that international business environment is associated with is competitions. Competition on the global scene is exceptionally high in such a way that local SMEs may not, and actually do not, match up to. In the presence of such threats, the organizations that cannot keep up the pace simply exit the game. This has caused the decline and unforeseen dissolution of many businesses in the developing world. The infant industries developing in third world nations are the worst affected by completion (Folsom and Boulware 2004). For businesses to develop equally, without much undue interference, the protesters argue, globalization should be opposed. Price (2007) explains that security is paramount to proper establishment and running of businesses. Security and political stability are concepts that ensure that there is a stable environment, within which organizations can operate without many uncertainties that are uncalled for. It may be important to mention that globalization fosters insecurity instead of the much anticipated stable security. Apparently, many researchers have found out that organizations cannot operate smoothly in an environment that poses threats such as war. Globalization, according to Price (2007) is a primary cause of war and terrorism. How? Globalization has enabled the transfer of capital and technical knowhow from one country to another. As a result, even the poor nations have equipped themselves with mass destruction weapons. Such weapons scare away business people. Perhaps this is the explanation of the situation in Iran. Multinational Corporations are pulling out of the country due to the availability of the weapons of mass destruction and associated threats. Vaidya (2006) argues that among the primary reasons why the anti-globalizations protesters are quickly growing in number and energy is the actuality that the need to protect organizations is becoming a primary concern. Globalization has cause many business organization to stop existing for the simple reason that coordinating resources in an international business is considerably difficult, especially where such business is made up of people from different cultures. The policies of the organization could not be welcome by the staff of a subsidiary in a certain country on the grounds that such a policy is not in line with the cultural practices of the people. This causes inconsistencies in the application of company policy – one of the biggest causes of business failures. It is important to mention that in addition to such problems related to diversity, it is practically difficult to manage the wide international network of a business organization due to such things as distances and geographical differences. Globalization doe not only affect the companies at organizational level, but also at national level. When globalization knits together all economies, there are those countries that will always rely on others for certain commodities. They import the commodities from one country which emerges to be a good trading partner (Braun 2008). This leads to interdependence. One a country established dependence on another country; it has compromised its future a great deal. Dependence makes the dependent country operate like a slave of the other nation. This means that the dependent ought to act in a manner that the master country deems fit. Failure to operate and act as such will lead to withdrawal of all the support and the much needed links. Additionally, globalization may make the dependent country suffer in the event that the relationship between the two nations goes sour. As such, the companies in the dependent country will suffer losses in case the heavily depended on the master country for the supply of raw materials and market for finished goods. Human resources are an important aspect of an organization. Contemporary gurus in business management argue that the employee is the second most important stakeholder after the customer. Being that important, the employee should be treated as such. Globalization has thrown all care to the wind concerning this issue. Research indicates that globalization is among the primary causes of abuse of the workers’ rights and such malpractices as child labor (Hitt et al 2012). The rights of the workers can be abused in many ways. Among the primary ways through which the rights of workers can be abused is through poor par and poor working conditions. In Indonesia, the labor is considerably cheap. This explains why many organizations have put up factories in the country. Notably, Adidas, a German brand has had factories in Indonesia. Such factories have, on a number of occasions gone on rampage, on the grounds that they will not continue under the low pay and poor working conditions (Hitt et al 2012). This is one of the illustrations of how the rights of the workers are abused in a place where there is no one to address the grievances. According to the explanations of Price (2007), economists consider inflation one among the worst causes of economic crises in a country. Worth mentioning is the actuality that globalization is a serious cause of imported inflation. When a country buys goods from a country whose currency has undergone inflation, it is apparent that the importing country will inherit such inflation in a fashion that it will as well be reflected in the currency of the importing nation. Vaidya (2006) argues that neo-liberalism as well upholds inflation since there is little government control which in most cases is the regulator of the economy. In most cases, inflation affects the currencies of the developing nations. The developed nations will not at any one time have their currencies compromised. What most scholars note is the reality that the developing nations are vulnerable in globalization – vulnerable in the sense that they risk being controlled by the developed nations. This, says La Bella (2010), is a cause of the much dreaded neo-colonialism, a state where the powerful nations control the less privileged countries. Personal consideration From the foregoing discussion, I believe that the anti-globalization protesters have a point. In saying that the concept should be discouraged, they have consideration for all sectors of life. The protestors are advocates of the poor and the weak in the society. They speak not only on behalf of the business community, but also on the behalf of the poor countries at large. The protesters are concerned about the developing nations. They act as advocates of the people that are not represented in the international meetings discussing globalization. Essentially, from the principles and mastery of the international business theory, the anti-globalization protesters are extremely right in saying that globalization is likely to bring competition, especially to SMEs. Such competition, which is not fair in the first place, will likely cause the collapse of the businesses. Their argument on labor and the abuse of the rights of workers holds water considering that not all nations treat employees with similar regard. Some countries consider just the productivity and not the professional and academic qualifications. Another main reason why I tend to concur with the protesters on their stand to oppose globalization is the reality that they do not just consider the inner environment of the business, but also the outer environment. By evaluating such possibilities as terrorism and insecurity, it is a clear indication that the protestors seek to explain the shortcomings of the concepts of globalization. Such concepts and arguments as the neo-liberalism validate the anti-globalization argument in the sense that neo-liberalism is first gaining root in the third world nations. Neo-liberalism is an integral part of globalization, and is likely to degenerate into neo-colonialism, one of the key fears of Africa, South America and some parts of the Asian continent. Conclusion Conclusion In conclusion, it is clear to see that the anti-globalization protesters have quite a point in saying that the movement should be laid to rest. Among their key points is the reality that globalization enhances brain drain, low wages, high and unfair competition, neo-liberalism, insecurity and terrorism as well as abuse to workers’ rights. Additionally, the protestors argue that globalization has a negative impact on resource coordination in multinational corporations, a situation that is likely to cause business failure. The completion brought by globalism will likely make the young industries go extinct. Imported inflation is as well prominently pronounced. As an international business student, I, to a great extent agree with the anti-globalization protesters. However I differ with their views on some aspects. For instance, they cannot oppose technology as it is an integral part of the world today. Reference list Aswathappa, K. 2008. International business. New Delhi, Tata McGraw Hill Education. Braun, M. A. 2008. Does it matter for the business world whether globalization worsens income inequality between and within nations? München, GRIN Verlag GmbH. Czinkota, M. 2008. Fundamentals of international business. [S.l.], Wessex Press. Folsom, W. D., & Boulware, R. 2004. Encyclopedia of American business. New York, Facts On File. Hitt, M. A., Ireland, R. D., & Hoskisson, R. E. 2012. Strategic Management Cases: Competitiveness and Globalization. South-Western Pub. La Bella, L. 2010. How globalization works. New York, Rosen Pub. Price, A. 2007. Human resource management in a business context. London, Thomson. Vaidya, A. K. 2006. Globalization: encyclopedia of trade, labor and politics 1. Santa Barbara, Calif. [u.a.], ABC-CLIO. Read More