A Brief History of Australia's Globalization - Essay Example

A Brief History of Australia’s Globalization By IBUS2302 Globalization and Business Coordinator: Paul Brewer The of Queensland Faculty of (Name) 13th April, 2015 Abstract This paper expounds on Australia’s journey to globalization from 1788. Many companies are getting to embrace globalization. Many multinational companies are plunging themselves into the new international markets in a frenzy effort to realize better profit margins. Nevertheless, a difference in culture poses the biggest fear and threat to companies venturing into the foreign markets. Australia boasts of playing a host to some of the world’s biggest companies. Moreover, it brings to light how this has had an impact on political, economic, social and cultural landscapes of Australia. It highlights the key characteristics of economic globalization and its impacts on a country’s /company’s marketing strategies and approach. It explains the difference between globalization and internationalization with regard to national borders. This paper further outlines globalization with regard to integration hence explaining factors which have gone into the Ernst and Young globalization index. Introduction Economic globalization has remarkably played a pivotal role in the world’s economic activities for a span of years. There exist trade agreements such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) which have been essential for the realization of globalization hence allowing for the free flow of goods, services, capital and labor. Stanley Fischer (2003) defined globalization as a continuous process of countries depending on each other economically depicted in an increase of trade of goods and services across their borders, a rise in the size of international flow of finances as well as rise in flow of labor. Professor GaoShangquan of Beijing University describes economic globalization in a paper to the United Nations as the ever rising of interdependence of the different economies which is as a result of a trade growth, innovation and the spread of new and advanced technologies as well as an improved flow of capital. KeniichiOhmae brings out the concept of a “borderless” world as this is what allows for the free flow of goods, services, capital and labor as well. As a result different national economies tend to synchronize themselves more with the others. This is as a result of significant decrease in transport costs, international transactions and technological advancements i.e. better communication technology and more powerful machines makes it way easier for consumers to send and receive data. Moreover, the internet has changed the manner in which consumers purchase. A good example is countries in Europe that became more integrated and “borderless” bringing forth the use of a single European currency. However, in spite of a significant rise in international activities we are yet to achieve a “borderless” world. Measuring globalization Lord Kelvin, a British physicist, once noted when one can measure what he/ she is speaking of hence expressing it numerically, they know something about it. However, when one cannot get its measurements, then they cannot numerically represent it hence their knowledge of the same becomes unsatisfactory. There has been a debate on what factors are considered in measuring globalization despite of the limit in statistical measurements available. However, just as Lord Kelvin tried to study the physical universe, scholars have come with ways of how to measure globalization. The Ernst and Young globalization index is used in its measure. One of the factors considered is country-to-country basis. This measures the amount of contact of different persons over the national borders by putting into play the personas data on the number of international travels as well as international phone calls he /she makes /receivesand remittances and money transfers across the borders. It also accesses the growing number of secure servers and internet hosts that the World Wide Web enjoys. Economic integration is also a factor put into consideration by the index. This is made possible by tracking the pathway of the different goods and services by studying the ever changing market value of trade in the economies of the different countries. Moreover, it measures how permeable a country’s national borders are through a convergence of both the domestic and the international prices. Another factor is through the tracking of money by tabulating foreign investments, receipts and income payments. Impacts of globalization The year 1788 marked the arrival of the first fleet of European ships to the shores of Australia. It was rumored that this was necessitated by the growing number of convicts in British’s prisons. But that would not be reason enough to transport people half the world for the purpose of decongesting the prisons. Never the less, this meant that Australia became a business hub; for acquiring cheap local labor as well as buying of goods and services. This manifestation was later experienced during the first ad the Second World War where cheap labor was acquired from Africa and the Caribbean countries. 1) Political Upon the settlement of Europeans in Australia, they came along with autocratic types of leadership headed by appointed governors. However, globalization has resulted to the world today seeing Australia having a changed citizenship practice. Many years after being a free state, Australia as a nation is proving to be more divergent and independent than before. There are often sharp disagreements on the government’s position when it comes to matters of globalization, republicanism, as well as reconciliation all which play an enormous role in the future of Australia’s politics. However, very few of the above-mentioned have been resolved hitherto. Just by the fact thatAustralia has shifted from being an undoubtedly loyal British dominion engrossed with building a purely “white” Australia to having a mixture of cultures leaves a lot to be answered with regard to effects of globalization on her. 2) Culture As a result of people coming from the different walks of life and getting to share their different cultures in Australia is as a result of globalization. In spite of globalization having a huge impact on the initially dominant culture, but it does not dictate the outcome of the same. The different cultures be it from Africa, Asia, America etc. also get to evolve so as to blend with the Australian culture. 3) Social The social impacts of globalization on Australia are vast. Veal (2012) argues that technological advancement and air travel gave a leap to Australians as they could easily access world affairs. Therefore, in January of 1958 Qantas Empire Airways opened up Australia to 26 other countries in 5 other continents. Moreover, sports have been an enormous part of globalization with Australia participating in many disciplines. To put icing on the cake was by Australia hosting the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games as well as the 1962 Perth Commonwealth Games. Ruth (2008) indicates that Australia has over the years also offered scholarships for both undergraduate and postgraduate programs and this is important. 4) Economic Globalization has helped boost Australia’s economy. Big companies have already set up offices in Sydney so as to tap into the country’s great prowess of its citizens purchasing. Most students who get scholarship upon the completion of their studies opt to work within the Australian borders as there are better paying jobs. This is always a great boost to the GDP. Globalization has also made it easier for the country to export their goods and services to countries in need of the same. Moreover, globalization which results to the formation of trade unions would therefore dictate that the government raises the living standards of most of its citizens by raising both the intriguing factors that play a role in the Poverty Mass Index (PMI).Generally, this would raise a country’s GDP. Characteristics of Economic Globalization The economic globalization of Australia has a range of features that characterize it. However, these characteristics could be an advantage or a disadvantage. The first is the boundaries fade. This will accentuate the ease of economic interdependence between the differentstatesinplay. Business gets internationalized as an Australian company can now do business with another company from another part of the world. There also results in the increased and intensified business interdependence. With a blend of the different cultures and the borders getting permeable, there is an increased mobility of resources into the different national economies. Conclusion With several deliberations on economic globalization in context, many things have rooted as the key points of economic globalization in Australia. However, there are still several factors affecting economic globalization one being the American military power (Grieco and Ikenberry). Theyhighlight an example of the American military prowess that ever since end of the second world war have been offering protection to Japan and Western Europe hence easier for these countries to realize economic globalization due to less worries of the individual nightmares of national security. They further note that it makes some nations more vulnerable as a result of economic shocks that trace their origin to other parts of the globe. There is a very casual relationship between globalization and wealth as it has led to improved living standards of some people in other parts of the world. However, the opposite is also true as it has impoverished another group and depleting the ever valuable natural resources. Hong Kong tops the list of the most globalized while Azerbaijan takes the lead as the least globalized country in the world. Australia falls in the 24th position in the list of 197 countries, hence trend shows that the most globalized countries are rich and the opposite is true. There are some factors that have proven to be a stumbling block to globalization e.g. corruption and conflict. This can only be addressed if governments and institutions work as a team. There is a milestone to be covered hence governments need to pump more capital into health and education. Facts and figures about Australia Land Area: 7,692,024 sq. km. Population: 21,507,717 Population density: 2.8/ sq. km. Currency: Australian dollar GDP: $ 1.100 trillion GDP per capita: $ 62,822 Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics Reference list: Barry, D. & David, M. (2012).Australia in the Global Economy: Continuity and Change. Australia: Cambridge University Press. Brian, G.Winsome, R. & Gabriella, T. (2001).Australians and Globalization: The Experience of Two Centuries. United Kingdom UK: Cambridge University Press. Charles, S. 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