Overview Of Advantages And Disadvantages Of Globalisation
Globalisation is the idea that companies, ideas and lifestyles are spreading around the world with increasing ease. A transnational company, for example, is Nike. Nike’s headquarter is located in Beaverton, USA, but it has other 700 factories spread all over the world. Like many others TNCs, Nike uses other factories, which are usually located in less economically developed countries, to produce products at a cheaper price. By doing this, they pay 10€ to produce a shoe and sell it at 100€.
Globalisation has advantages and disadvantages. Nike and many other multinational companies decide to produce their products in poorer countries, many of which are located in Asia (Nike has 124 factories in China). One advantage of globalisation is that it creates employment, as only Nike has 700,000 workers. This is an advantage because in big and poor countries like China there are not a lot of spare jobs. Nike and other TNCs pay higher wages than local companies. Another advantage is that it encourages free trade and it helps the world to develop faster, as China, Vietnam and many other countries were undeveloped and its population still struggled as a primarily agricultural society.
On the other hand, there are even disadvantages. One of this is that the workers are forced to work in inhuman, appalling conditions and for many hours each day. Due to this, there have been many suicides. Nike and other multinational companies use children for labour as they can be paid less. Another disadvantage is that globalisation is ruining each country’s culture and traditions. In the entire world, you can find the same clothes and the same food. For example, in Italy you can eat hamburgers and in the USA you can eat pizza. In Italy you can find Nike shops and in the USA you can find Prada. Since TNCs are building factories in other parts of the world, many people in MEDCs lose their jobs. In the late 1980s labour costs in South Korea rose, so Nike decided to move production to Indonesia where costs were lower. Globalisation even harms the environment as the factories pollute the air and the water.
Globalisation has a consequence for development because it contributes to an uneven spread of it around the world. Many poor countries are still undeveloped because the factory’s profit goes all the way back to the headquarter, and the country doesn’t receive money from the company.
In conclusion, I think globalisation is both good and bad because it creates employment, but the workers need to work in terrible conditions. In the future, I think globalisation will be even more worldwide and the multinational companies will increase. I don’t think that globalisation has any advantages to MEDC as it does more good to the company than to the country itself. Due to globalisation, in the future we are all going to eat the same things, all listening to the same music, all dressing up the same way… will someone be different?
