Respond to wk5 DQ 120 words or more due today
Respond to two students
Kimberly Rucker
6:52amMay 10 at 6:52am
Is globalization good for local communities? Why or why not?
Small businesses usually don't have the advantage of forging outsourcing partnerships with overseas factories, and are at a severe disadvantage in pricing. Multinational corporations, such as Wal-Mart, tend to exploit this business model to the fullest, creating extremely cheap goods in China, marking them up only slightly and only earning only a slim margin on each product. The goal of this business model is to use high sales volume to offset its low profit per product. A more immediate goal is to undercut any local competitors, who are physically unable to match those low prices due to the lack of an outsourcing infrastructure, and wipe them out with a pricing war. After all these local competitors have been eliminated, Wal-Mart is free to raise prices again, since it has established itself as a local monopoly.
As a small business, it's nearly impossible to protect yourself from this kind of assault. If you want to stand your ground and fight, then the best strategy is to ally yourself with other local businesses and pool your resources. Offer free cross-advertising campaigns and attack the large multinational threat together. While you can't offer discounts on all your products to fight back, offering rotating sales on select products can attract customers. In an all-out war against the big guys, the enemy of your enemy is your best friend.
How does globalization affect local cultures?
Today’s societies are multi-culture in themselves, which encompasses a multitude of varying ways of life and lifestyle. Most people are shaped by more than a single culture, which is brought about by globalization. And globalization which is a concept of uniformity assumes that cultures are becoming the same as the world. In Nigeria, the instability of personality, family, community and other activities are largely due to the rapid erosion of our absolute traditional values and not due to the advancement of information technology. Instead, technology has come to accelerate our cultural heritage. Therefore, rejecting advanced information technology or globalization is not a solution for overcoming its disintegrating effects; rather, it may be viewed as a form of escape.
The only remedy in ensuring cultural stability is for the agents of change (government) to repackage and re-inculcate absolute values through the use of libraries, mass media, and advanced information technologies to counter negative changes that are emerging today.
Therefore very few human communities will neither want to reject technological changes or globalization, nor will they want to return to the traditional pattern of community organisation especially now that they have evolved new pattern to suit their immediate needs.
Student 2
James
TuesdayMay 8 at 6:38pm
Globalization may or may not be good for the local communities depending on how one can see it because more and more things that can be produced outside of the United States. Globalization can be detrimental to the American economy when more and more things are being produced in countries overseas. As the author Bensel (2012) briefly states, “Some believe this will change the global balance of power in ways possibly detrimental to the United States and Europe.” (Section 9.1). The reason why this statement is being made is that most of the things we can buy are made in a foreign country.
There are some of the most important features of globalization. The most important features of globalization can be best be summed up in one statement as the author Bensel (2012) indicates, “Disagreements over globalization are due, in part, to the fact that it can be thought of in economic, cultural, political, and technological terms.” (Section 1.1). The reason behind this statement is that economy can vary in the various economies as they can clash among the various cultures. This can also include the politics of a nation as well as the pertinent technological terms. Globalization sometimes can be linked with neoliberalism as part of an integral part of the economy. As the author Bensel (2012) acknowledges by briefly saying, “Likewise, today’s neoliberals, contemporary followers of liberal theory, see increased economic integration and trade between nations as a stabilizing force in world affairs.” (Section 1.2). The reason why this statement is made is that neoliberals are of the contemporary liberal concept that can truly see the increased economic integration and the ability to trade among the nations to become a stabilizing force throughout the world.
Globalization can affect local cultures by having the appropriate products assimilated with the various cultures. We should make every attempt possible to protect our local heritage by regulated what comes into the local economy. Globalization does necessarily lead to a homogenization of the local culture that can erase our cultural diversity and our heritage. Globalization can lead to hybridization where local cultures embody global forces in ways that are uniquely appropriate to their own cultural context. As the author Bauman (2014) confirms by saying, “I believe that the phenomenon of ‘glocalization’ – that peculiar combination of localities gaining in importance synchronically (and in close connection) with spatial distance losing its significance – can be traced down to the condition correctly diagnosed by Welzer.” (p. 1). The reason why this statement is being used is that of the phenomenon of the concept of ‘glocalization’ as all the local towns are of equal importance that can be synchronized as they are closely connected even though some of these towns are far apart.
Local communities should respond to globalization by somewhat integrating some of the foreign products and services into the local economy. We should most definitely protect our local heritage. We can do exactly that by somewhat integrating regional resources into the local economy and restricting foreign goods being brought into the local economy. Local communities have responsibilities toward people who live on the other side of the world. We need to be stewards towards those who live on the other side of this world. We need to be responsible for our environment. We need to use environmentally-friendly practices to maintain a sustainable world. We can balance what is good for our neighborhood by doing what is right for the common good of developing farm stands and farmer’s markets in the neighborhoods. We can balance for what is good for the developing nations by occasionally purchasing products from these nations. We can balance for what is good for the environment by adopting environmentally-friendly practices to sustain our own environment.
There is something that I could do in my own specific neighborhood to respond to the challenge of globalization in a responsible way. I would like to see everybody get Internet coverage in the neighborhood. I would also like to see everybody do whatever they can to recycle as much as possible and to protect the environment.