Globalization and Technology - Essay Example

When all things are considered, the relationship between globalization and technology is very strong. Technology supports globalization because of what it allows businesses and individuals to do now that they could not do before. As one author notes, there is "widespread agreement that information technology (defined to include telecommunications, computer hardware and software and access to the Internet) serves to promote globalization and that this influence is transmitted through a wide variety of different mechanisms" (James 507).

When one considers the day-to-day effects of new technology, it is not difficult to understand this point. For example, before the Internet and email, international communication was by telephone or regular postal delivery. Before integrated software was developed, businesses had no way of efficiently working with one another across international lines. The pure speed at which businesses can operate together has been increased dramatically, making business markets more efficient. Economic globalization puts national economies into the same markets as other countries and, as the markets become more "interconnected," these national economies become "increasingly interdependent" (Lupel 156).

Most people see globalization and this relationship between countries as a good thing. . .[or] a group of software experts from Bulgaria can communicate about technical matters with their counterparts in the United States and understand them perfectly well.it is a miracle [that] does not even begin to describe how fast we have advanced and how far we have come in terms of technology and globalization" (Samli 2). For sure, these abilities have been made possible by new technologies, and the advance of technology still to come will only increase this concept.

Some people do not think that technology has driven globalization, but that it has followed it. In other words, it isn't because of technology that we have globalization; it is because of globalization that we use the technology. One author says it like this: ".in spite of the enthusiasm for science that accompanied each wave of globalization, as a historical rule it was primarily commerce and finance that drove globalization, not science or technology" (Pettis 52). I don't think that this position makes that much difference in how the two things work together.

Whether technology causes globalization or globalization makes technology improve is not that important; the point is that technology is a very important part of globalization and plays a strong role in supporting its growth and efficiency. The relationship between globalization and technology is very strong. Technology supports the process because it helps individuals, companies, and entire national economies work together to become more efficient. There is also a social aspect because different cultures are being exposed to one another, which promotes more business and understanding.

Whether the technology comes in the form of telecommunication, new computer software, or just an Internet chat room, the world is