Globalization and Security - Coursework Example

Security and IT Name Class Unit 1. Globalization By any sense, globalization has increased greatly. According to Lee & Vivarelli (2006, p.4), the world is only currently starting to struggle with the full repercussions of an economy which is globalizing. The world is becoming a global village as a result of technology and globalization. Andrew (2010) argues that people are crossing borders to work in other countries and international business is also increasing. In the process, they get foreign exchange and new business ideas. This is a proof that the world has not simply become flat, but is also bringing noteworthy new opportunities for companies to innovate and create strategic advantages (Friedman 2006, p.545). Low-priced new technologies and communication in general have enabled people to work impeccably across borders. It has created an opportunity to rethink and adapt “New Ways” of conducting business. According to Friedman (2006, p.545), it is a culmination of Albert Einstein’s quote that “Imagination is more important than knowledge”. The countries that understand and explore these connections have become business friendly. They have and will create business value on the unparalleled scale. Based on the information, this essay will discuss how a global business could harness these ideas to create a better world for all countries especially the countries that do not benefit from globalization. Some of the ideas that will be discussed include interdependence, inclusion, openness, opportunity and hope. James (2005, p.196) defines globalization as the process of worldwide integration emerging from the exchange of views, ideas, products and other cultural aspects. Globalization also extends specialization away from national borders, the labor market and becomes a major to understanding economic and production history. Countries which have enjoyed the benefits of globalization include western businesses or entrepreneurial firms in rising economies like Poland, Singapore, China, Taiwan, Indonesia, India, UAE and Qatar among others (Budhwar & Mellahi 2007, p.5). Economic benefits which come from these companies have been able to improve individual income and country’s GDP. Deregulation, reducing trade barriers and increased innovation has led to growing cross-border trade over the years hence expanding GDP at a rapid pace (James 2005, p.193). When developing countries like Singapore allows foreign investment like the western companies into their country, they come with new ideas and concepts in business. In most cases, these companies inculcate the culture of innovation, which then trickles within the country (Friedman 2005). When this culture is fostered, it leads to new ways of doing things in order to sustain competition. Hence, local companies’ managers would insist on innovation in all levels of management. For instance, In the US, individuals and firms have often applied technologies and the majority of the innovative technologies are developed in US (Bremmer 2006, p.276). When the company invests in a foreign country, they come with and continue with such knowledge. Therefore, foreign investment provides opportunities for the host developing country to have access to innovation which is not always available to them. Developing countries that have borrowed innovation culture today recognizes it as key to gaining market advantage. This factor has made even the local product to match western ones which is believed to be superior. Furlund (2008, p.3) contends that, a lesson can be drawn from Singapore which has moved from poor to developing (second world) countries. To uplift the economy of the country to compete at an international level economic as the 21st century unfolds, Singapore has put up strong measures to support entrepreneurship, promote innovation, train her labor force and draw foreign talents (Furlund 2008, p.19). Global business harness interdependence to enable companies to access various markets. Global interdependence brings in the aspect of partnership between two different companies so as to realize mutual benefits (United Nations 2011). Normally, different countries have different policies in terms of trade and even politics. Such cases scare away foreign investors due to business risk that they would incur. Therefore, creating partnership ensure that they minimize these risks. United Nations (2011, p.7) claim that when partnership materializes, the global company is likely to benefit from resources like human resource, marketing and technology. In that manner, they increase their brand awareness, hence increase in sales. Revenues received by company in the global market get back to the parent country and could be used in investment (Friedman 2005). Similarly, the host country abroad also benefits from the taxes and tariffs paid by the global company. Taxes enable the country to put up facilities like modern schools, roads and hospital, which can be used to provide better service to the citizens (Friedman 2005). An example of interdependence is the partnership between Qantas airline and Emirates Airline. Similarly, global companies harness interdependence through outsourcing. Not every country is endowed with equal resources such as human resource, raw material and technology (Cheru & Bradford 2005). As such, their country can outsource products or service to make them more productive and efficient. Western countries have advanced technology, which is needed for competition in terms of hiring, production, marketing and even sales. Therefore, to improve these processes, companies outsource new technologies which match the need of the 21st century (Andrew 2010). While they provide benefits from foreign income, the client company benefits from quality products. Currently, the biggest concern is how to cope with the unemployment following the global economic downturn which took place in 2008. United Nations (2011, p.12) claim that the economic downturn resulted to a global employments crisis entailing extensive underdeveloped in developing economies and increased unemployment, job losses and wage reduction in developed nations which made people become vulnerable to poverty. Constant economic development alone is not enough to guarantee that growth benefits are shared adequately amongst all citizens. Therefore, that development needs to be equitable and inclusive. It is the role of companies therefore to harness that inclusivity and equitability (United Nations 2011, p.13). The Commission on Growth and Development constituted by the United Nations suggested that inclusivity encompass equality, equity of opportunity in terms of employments and market protection (United Nations 2008). It is in this perspective that developing countries allow foreign investments so as to create employments. Companies in developing countries are not enough to provide adequate employment, hence the high number of jobless people and poverty. Similarly, other countries have a shortage of workforce to sustain production. For example, Middle East Countries such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Lebanon and Oman have been grappling with a situation of inadequate workforce for sometimes (Budhwar & Mellahi 2007, p.4). In short, the country’s population is not enough to supply the needed workforce. The growth of businesses in these regions has made them outsource human resource in African and Eastern Asian countries. Today, UAE in Middle East is having a population totaling to 9.2 million, with 1.4 million being local citizens while 7.8 million being expatriates (Al-Waqfia & Forstenlechnera 2014, p.168). Just like UAE, Qatar depends greatly on foreign labor to improve its economy. Actually, foreign employees compose of 94 percent of the total workforce in the country. Importing workforce from African and Eastern Asian countries ensure inclusivity on the basis of employment. In doing that, expatriates are able to earn a living, save and invest back in their countries. On the other hand, Middle East countries can meet the demand for labour. Globalization has also created openness, opportunity and hope in countries which have not benefited from globalization. Lee & Vivarelli (2006, p.12) posit that opening doors for trade are likely to improve strategies, networking, research collaborations and manufacturing alliances. As a result, these countries will benefit from direct investment, debt reduction and food security. United Nations (2011, p.7) claim that Countries frequently create this openness through joining trade blocks such as World Trade Organization, European Union and North American Free Trade Agreement. Even though, management experts have argued that opening business doors to foreign companies harms the economy due to dumping and other risks. However, poor countries need to have openness and creating alliance with developed countries than before (World Trade Organization 2008). This is because countries have natural resources which are untapped but lacks technical knowhow. Inviting competence companies to help tap these resources provides opportunities for locals in that they will get jobs and acquire new skills. Many countries often enact laws that require that a foreign company must employ the largest number of local so as to improve employment. A case in point is Qatar through its Qatarization initiative. In the process, employees are trained to learn new skills. In the long term, it enables local to have skilled labour which they can use for individual endeavors (Budhwar & Mellahi 2007). For example, when local learns about agriculture, they are likely to use the skills to ensure food security. In conclusion, globalization has become an important in the business of many countries in improving employment, innovation, inclusivity and equity and interdependence, openness and opportunity. However, globalization must be encouraged with caution and control policies. This is because some global companies use such opportunities dumb counterfeit goods, poor payment of labour and even exploitation of natural resources. References Andrew, J 2010, Globalization: Key Thinkers, Cambridge, Polity Press, John Wiley & Sons. Al-Waqfia, M. A & Forstenlechnera, I 2014, Barriers to Emiratization: the role of policy design and institutional environment in determining the effectiveness of Emiratization. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol.25, No.2, pp.167–189. Budhwar, P & Mellahi, K 2007, Introduction: Human Resources Management in the Middle East, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol.18, pp.2–10. Bremmer, I 2006, The J Curve: A New Way to understand why Nations Rise and Fall, New York, Simon & Schuster, p.276. Cheru, F & Bradford, C 2005, The Millennium Development Goals: Raising the Resources to Tackle World Poverty, New York, Zed Books. Friedman, B.M 2005, The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth, New York, Vintage Books. Friedman, T.L 2006, The World Is Flat, London, Penguin Books, p. 545. Furlund, E.B 2008, Singapore, from third to first world country: The effect of development in Little India and Chinatown, Norwegian University of Technology and Science, pp.1-108. James, J 2005, Arguing Globalizations: Propositions Towards an Investigation of Global Formation, Globalizations, Vol.2, No.2, p.193–209. Lee, E & Vivarelli, M 2006, The Social Impact of Globalization in the Developing Countries, Catholic University of Piacenza, p.2-26. United Nations (UN) 2011, Globalization and interdependence: sustained, inclusive and equitable economic growth for a fair and more equitable globalization for all, including job creation, pp.2-19, Viewed on 22 Oct 2014 from http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N11/440/20/PDF/N1144020.pdf?OpenElement World Trade Organization (WTO) 2008, WTO Public Forum 2007 “How Can the WTO Help Harness Globalization?” Viewed on 22 Oct 2014 from http://www.wto.org/english/res_e/booksp_e/public_forum07_e.pdf 3. Security Activism is an act of civil disobedience and not a cybercrime. There have been various groups which have engaged in online activism through hacking for the common good. Cyber criminals’ engage in their acts with an aim of benefiting from their acts. For example, cyber criminals hack personal information and uses it to their advantage. They engage in crimes such as stealing credit card details and blackmailing. This is different from hactivism where hackers use the platform to voice out oppression, injustice and other problems happening in the society (Manion & Goodrum, 2000). As the internet has become widespread, acts of hacking have increased. For example, hackers attacked Yahoo, Amazon and CNN among others in 2000 and closed them for some time. These attacks are referred to as denial of service. The motive for hackers is in some instances unknown leading to speculations. Hackers have been described as vandals, criminals and terrorists, yet few people have considered them to be part of the political activism. The political activism using hacking is referred to as hactivism (Workman, Phelps & Hare, 2013). Internet is inexpensive to use and have the power to persuade. This makes it a great channel for hactivism. In order to determine whether hactivism is a cybercrime or a civil disobedience, it is important to look at what it entails (Denning, 1999). Blockades Blockades occur when the hactivism disrupts the normal operations of a website making it impossible to access the resources. Activists generate lot traffic to the site making it impossible for other users to access it. The activists are then able to leave a message on the servers. Email bombs This is a method where activists bombard a website with automated emails at once. This jams the website making it hard for other legitimate users to access the services. Publishing documents This involves downloading documents which are privately held and without paying for them. The intent of the hactivism is to make the documents freely available. The act comprises of breach of website terms of service (Bell, 2004). Doxing This involves publishing confidential information. The activists may hack the information and make it publicly available (Bell, 2004). Most of the information exposed involves credit card numbers, emails passwords and other personal information. For example, hactivism group named Lulzsec claimed to use the credit card information of high profile clients to donate to charity. Hacking attacks can be associated with civil disobedience where the hacker uses their talent for political activism. This is a form of electronic civil disobedience (Bloom & Hobby, 2010). The groups target individual websites, corporate and country which they perceive to be responsible for engaging in acts that oppress rights for others either political, socially or ethically. Hactivism have demonstrated that they have the capability to play the role of overcoming social injustices, political oppression and advocate for freedom of information. Hactivism is carried out with a political cause. A good example is Zapatista rebellion in Mexico that has been supported by hackers. The Indonesian government was attacked by hackers due to its occupation on West Timor. Oppressive governments and co modification of internet have been the two main targets for the hackers (Workman, Phelps & Hare, 2013). By definition, civil disobedience is composed of peaceful disobedience of laws which are unjust. The method does not inflict harm to the enemies but use non violent means with an aim of exposing wrong doings and create awareness. Civil disobedience has been known to stop implementation of oppressive and unethical laws in the society. Civil disobedience influences public opinion by ensuring they create attention to the problems. Rise of internet have led to a digital platform where action against unjust, unethical and oppressive systems can be exposed and action taken against them. Use of the internet for civil disobedience has been recognised by law as electronic civil disobedience (Workman, Phelps & Hare, 2013). Activities under electronic civil disobedience range from hacking to the creation of websites and use of emails. The hackers may use their activity to create attention to a social issue (Manion & Goodrum, 2000). The Mexican government websites were attacked by pro-Zapatista activists. The main aim of the group was to ensure that there was no flow of information in the government computer systems. Street demonstrations have been adopted through electronic civil disobedience. There has been a strong debate whether hactivism is a form of civil disobedience. For an act to be considered a form of civil disobedience, it must have several core principles. Civil disobedience acts must be non-violent, does no damage to property, non profit, must have ethical motivation and willing to accept personal responsibility (Thoreau, Meyer & Thoreau, 1983). Through this definition, hacking constitutes civil disobedience. Ethical motivation for hackers is in most cases left as messages in the hacked sites. In most cases, hackers are ready to go to jail for their acts which displays an act of personal responsibility (Workman, Phelps & Hare, 2013). For hactivism to be a legitimate act of civil disobedience, it must be proved that it is not an act of curios computer experts exploring their skills (Falcón, 2004). It must also be proved that it is not an act of crime where systems are broken into for profit or cyber terrorism. The act of hactivism must be ethically motivated. In order to know what have motivated the hackers, it is important to look at the message they deliver. In order to differentiate hactivism from malicious hacks, content means a lot. The reason for action determines whether the hackers are acting out of civil disobedience or an act of cyber crime. In 1998, hactivism group known as MilwOrm hacked India research centre on atomic energy. The group was against the development of nuclear power. The group is a good example of civil disobedience as they were motivated by a belief on change but not an act of vandalism. The fight by legitimate hactivism is motivated by ethics and not anarchy. The new forms of hactivism represent ethical concerns and form a legitimate civil disobedience (Manion & Goodrum, 2000). Most governments do not look at hacking as a form of political activity. In most countries, hactivism has serious penalties if the culprits are apprehended. Most governments have equated hactivism with cyber terrorism due to fact that it is mostly carried out in government’s websites. Hactivism have always demanded freedom of information and democracy. They are against private ownership of information where few individuals have enterprised on it. According to them, no one should capitalise on information over the internet. Thus the acts of hactivism are purely civil disobedience and cannot be treated as criminal (Denning, 1999). In 2013, Reedit cofounder Aaron Swartz committed suicide. He had been charged with hacking into JSTOR which is a digital archive for academic articles with an aim of distributing their materials free online. The main aim for Swartz was to make information free online. He was against information being commercialised online (Thompson, 2014). This is an act of civil disobedience as he had an ethical agenda and also was responsible for his actions. He did not do the act with an aim of gaining any profit but out of his ethics. At the moment, a lot of groups have turned into online activists to protest using various tactics such as denial of service and disclosing information. In America, these acts are criminalised under the computer fraud and abuse act. The act was enacted with an aim of prosecuting hackers (Gerdes, 2009). When hactivism is made up of sound ethical background, it must be treated as civil disobedience. Civil disobedience is an important pillar in political growth in a society (Thoreau, 1990). Hactivism gives the power to make protests in the digital world. The rise of information age has led to civil disobedience being carried out in a digital space. Hactivists have been condemning cyber crime in their work. They are against irresponsible cyber war, which criminals engage in. Legitimate activists have been able to denounce any act that has been maliciously planned online by criminal groups (Workman, Phelps & Hare, 2013). The hackers’ ethics have been always for a cause. Criminalising hackers’ makes is an act that helps the corporations and governments that are oppressive to continue with their acts with little resistance from the groups. Demonization of the group can only promote the suffering of individuals under oppressive governments and corporations. References Bell, D 2004, Cyberculture: the key concepts, London, Routledge. Bloom, H & Hobby, B 2010, Civil disobedience, New York, Bloom's Literary Criticism. Denning, D 1999, Activism, Hacktivism, And Cyber terrorism: The internet As a Tool For Influencing Foreign Policy, Paper presented at the Internet And International systems: Information Ethnology And American Foreign Policy decision making Workshop, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. Falcón, T. M 2004, Civil disobedience, Leiden, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. Gerdes, L. I 2009, Cyber crime, Detroit, Greenhaven Press. Manion, M & Goodrum, A 2000, “Terrorism or Civil Disobedience: Toward a Hactivist Ethic”. Computers And Society, Vol. 30, p. 14-19. Thompson, C 2014, Hacktivism: Civil Disobedience or Cyber Crime? Journalism in the Public Interest, ProPublica. Retrieved 22nd October 2014. http://www.propublica.org/article/hacktivism-civil disobedience-or-cyber-crime Thoreau, H. D 1990. Civil disobedience, Raleigh, N.C, Alex Catalogue. Thoreau, H. D., Meyer, M & Thoreau, H. D 1983, Walden ; and, Civil disobedience. Workman, M., Phelps, D. C & Hare, R. C 2013, “A Study of Performative Hactivist Subcultures and Threats to Businesses”, Information Security Journal: A Global Perspective, Vol. 22, p. 187-200. 4. The world is flat The rise of globalisation, which was triggered by the western nations has led to great transformations in Asia (Friedman, 2005). The most important change that has occurred in the Asian countries is the rise of the middle class. The shift of the global economy to Asia has led to an increase in the middle class. The middle class is an important aspect in every economy. They are the key to having a sustainable development in a country. India and China have experienced an increase in the middle class with a shift from subsistence to consumption. Globalisation has been shaped by the western countries firms and corporations. The benefits of it led to China and India experiencing a rapid growth in the economy. The wave of globalisation moved from the western countries and became part of everyone (Anerjee & Duflo, 2007). The rise of the middle class in china and India were influenced by globalisation. In the case of China, the open door policy helped the country to enhance its economic growth. The country had to imitate other countries and adopt the economic models that would enable them to be accepted in the global arena. The country had struggled in enacting economic reforms until they adopted an open door policy which opened the country to world. The countries observed that economic growth is proportional to the size of the middle class in a country. An increase in the country middle class translates to economic growth (Sudhakara, 2009). It can be proved that change is influenced by those around us. Despite the fact that a country can work in bringing change to its economic system, the influence from others matters a lot. At the moment, outsourcing and FDIs have played a major part in rise of the middle class in India and China (Poddar & Yi, 2007). Most of the western countries have outsourced their services to China and India due to cheap labour. There has been a surge in FDIs in China and India due to same reason and favourable environment for investment. China and India were able to observe that other countries were flourishing through trade. The countries thus became active in trade which played a large part in their growth. The two countries were able to realise how bilateral trade agreements would help them in their growth. Since 2002, the bilateral trade between the two countries have been growing at a very fast pace. The countries have been engaging in mergers and acquisitions which have enhanced their growth. The countries proximity to each other has favoured their economic growth to a great extent (Bhalla, 2009). When China opened its market to foreign competition, it was able to benefit through rapid economic growth. This is an example that change cannot be carried out by the country alone without influence from others (Poddar & Yi, 2007). Prior to trade liberalisation, the middle class in china and India was very small as compared to after opening trade to other countries (Beeson, 2000). In the Asian countries, they had observed the rise of the western economies through free trade. The western economies had opened their trade and were engaging in free trade with other partners gaining a lot of revenue. For China, the country had not opened their market to the world which led to their economy lagging. The market atmosphere was not suitable for foreign direct investments. The open door policy and accession to IMF led to the country benefiting from an increase in foreign investment that helped to boost the economy hence middle class. The same case applies to India. By making their market open to FDI and creating a suitable environment for investors India was able to grow economically (Anerjee & Duflo, 2007). The middle class offers large consumption. There has been a cross over from the western countries to Asia in the consumption of products. The number of middle class in the two countries has been growing at a very fast rate. It has been predicted that China middle class can overtake that of the United States by 2020. China has a large middle class which stands at more than 157 million people. This has attracted investors into the country with an aim of benefiting from the expanding middle class. This implies that China growth is not only fuelled by the country desire to grow, but also other countries who want to benefit from its market. This case also applies to India, where multinational companies invest with the aim of benefiting from large market (Sudhakara, 2009). By observing trends in other countries, China and India have invested heavily on the service industry through technology. China has the largest cell phone market with more than 700 million subscribers. This makes phone companies to invest in the country which creates more employment. At the end, the levels of unemployment reduce and the middle class is able to flourish (Poddar & Yi, 2007). Japan is an Asian economy, which served as a good example to countries in Asia. Japan was able to become the second largest economy globally after the defeat in the Second World War. The country had few economic resources, but relied on external sources and innovation to develop its economy. For the Asian neighbours, they were able to learn how to develop their countries by capitalising on globalisation. Due to fact that Japan was the first country to industrialise in Asia, most of their technology was adopted from western countries (Anerjee & Duflo, 2007). The influence of globalisation has led to rapid economic growth in India and China. The countries are perceived to become the economic powerhouse of the middle class. The countries at the moment have the largest middle class income in Asia. By copying other countries means of economic development, China and India level of per capita income will lead to the growth of the middle income earners (Sudhakara, 2009). It is thus evident that the growth of the middle class in both India and China has been influenced by other countries. The changes in these countries economic structures have been as a result of observing other countries’ economic models and emulating them. Globalisation started in western countries and has been emulated worldwide, leading to economic development (Bhalla, 2009). Middle class in a country is influenced by education access and opportunity (Ravallion, 2009). For China and India, they were able to realise this from other countries that had developed. The countries were also able to note that by increasing their consumption through GDP, they would increase their middle class. Western countries were able to increase their middle class through these means (Poddar & Yi, 2007). In 2000, automobile sales in the US were at 37% of the world sales while at China it was at 1%. At the moment, China has risen to be the world largest market for the automobiles. The country middle class has led to shifts in consumptions. This has led to the global firms to invest in china (Easterly, 2000). Each country faces constraints as they develop which tends to hold them back. The growth in Asia has helped India through neighbourhood effects. The effects can be described by the fact that fastest growing markets have been near India. The influence from these markets has led to the country being able to adapt their practices. The country has been able to realise the importance of the middle class in enhancing growth. The rise of technology makes the world more open to communication. This makes it easier for countries to observe what others are doing and taking ideas from them. The countries are interconnected through technology. This makes it possible for countries to share knowledge which can enhance their growth (Kenny, 2008). India and China changed because they saw other countries around changing and adopting economic models that helped them flourish. They were able to observe western countries and emulating their way of doing things. Being near to industrialised country such as Japan, the countries were able to learn valuable lessons on economic development (Amsden, 1995). The western countries had attained growth and development that enabled the rise of middle class through globalisation. India and China would not have adopted globalisation fast if it was a failure in the western countries. Most of the technology that is used in India and China has originated from Western countries. There are also a lot of investments that are from the western countries as a result of globalisation (Bhalla, 2009). This is an indicator that though both countries were working on initiating change, they could not have succeeded if they did not look at the way other countries had adopted the change and flourished. The two countries serve as a good example of the fact that change is not only personal but a collective action. By observing and emulating others who have been successful in implementing change, it is possible to make an important transformation such as witnessed in rise of the middle class in India and China. References Anerjee, A & Duflo, E 2007, “What is Middle Class about the Middle Classes Around the World?” MIT Department of Economics Working Paper 07-29, Cambridge, MA. Amsden, A 1995, ‘Like the rest: South-east Asia’s “late” industrialization’, Journal of International Development, Vol. 7, No. 5, p. 791-99. Beeson, M 2000, ‘Globalisation and international trade: international economic policies and the national interest’, in Boreham, P., Stokes, G. and Hall, R. (eds.), The Politics of Australian Society: Political Issues for the New Century, (Addison Wesley Longman), 213-31. Bhalla, S 2009, The Middle Class Kingdoms of India and China. Peterson Institute for International Economics, Washington, DC. Easterly, W 2000, The Middle Class Consensus and Economic Development, Policy Research Working Paper 2346, World Bank, Washington, DC. Friedman, T. L 2005, The world is flat: a brief history of the twenty-first century. New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Kenny, C 2008, “What’s Not Converging? East Asia’s Relative Performance in Income, Health, and Education”, Asian Economic Policy Review, Vol.3, no.1: p.19-37. Poddar, T & Yi, E 2007, India’s Rising Growth Potential, Global Economics Paper 152, Goldman Sachs, New York. Ravallion, M 2009, The Developing World's Bulging (but Vulnerable) ‘Middle Class’, Policy Research Working Paper 4816, World Bank, Washington, DC. Sudhakara, R.B 2009, Economic reforms in India and China emerging issues and challenges, New Delhi, India, SAGE Publications India. Read More