Globalization is the interconnectedness of the economic, social, cultural, and political fields of the world. It is not a new phenomenon, but it is a decades-old process that has been evolved throughout time. In the wake of the 21st century, advancement and civilization have boomed the forces of being global. Globalization is like waves and waves do not stand in one place for a very long time. They pass and merge into another environment when they are being suited or demanded. That is how globalization works. Its waves go from one continent to another continent, but do not stay. It was the dream of human beings to be interconnected socially, economically, and culturally. The pursuit of knowing each other’s culture and cooperation among the nations have raised the demand for globalization. Now, the world has become a global village. The borders even by having the national territories have become easy to cross. For instance, the countries in the European Union (EU), an organization of Europe, ensures visa-free entry as a result of a global organization.
Presently, digital globalization is at its peak due to the global pandemic i.e. Covid-19. Today, everything is a single click away. Businesses no longer remained in one nation. Multinational companies have opened their franchises in many different nations. Due to this expansion, any country in Asia can experience the product quality of the USA. In the present era, online or more precisely digitization has taken its route.
Evolution of Business Globalization
Gone are the days when consumers only consumed the products that were available locally. Now, the choices of consumers no longer remain limited. From the ancient silk route dream to the modern One Belt One Road (OBOR) project, the waves of globalization have come at that point where the resolution of every global problem is more globalization. In the wake of the 21st century, modern technology and digitization have evolved the business domains greatly. Thanks to the localization industry that has made it possible to remove the language barrier to interconnect the world in this diversity.
Globalization Has Revolutionized the Business World
Businesses are never intermingled and interconnected in the way they are today. Now, every local to the big industry is giving services to global customers.
Let’s take a tour to explore the enormous advantages of the business world in the age of globalization:
1. Business Industry in the Wake of Digitization
It is no longer a hidden secret that the world has taken its reins towards digitization. As with the rapid technological advancement, the online industry has boomed a lot. The global pandemic i.e. Covid-19 has also helped the world a lot in order to take a shift. In 2020, the traditional methods of education, international conferences, media, etc., have shifted to online. In this regard Zoom App, an online video chatting app is regarded as the top example of booming business during a pandemic. This is all due to interconnectedness. Even business enterprises grew and new businesses emerged even in the lockdown.
Growing digitization has raised the demands of localization and translation. According to Global Market Insights,” the translation market is going to touch $1.5 billion by 2024.” Many localization management platforms provide editing, translating, and localizing services in medical, legal, education, and finance fields. For example, MarsHub, a localization management platform, gathers up business enterprises, top language service providers, and linguists on one platform to make localization management easy. Now, you can get your content translated from one language to another with the help of this platform. And this innovation could not have happened if it was not for the demand of the globalized world.
2. It Enhances Global Growth
Globalization in business promotes global growth. The world’s population has increased and thanks to social media customers’ needs have not remained limited to four boundaries of their national boundaries. Consumers’ demands have compelled the market to make more products. As happened with the mobile and automobiles industry. There were few people in the USA or, more precisely, in the world who are used to owning personal vehicles at the advent of the motor car. But, presently, in every third house of even a third-world urban area, we can see the vehicle. The car industry of Japan, China, and the USA are in competition now in the electric car race. This is all due to the consumer’s demands that have enhanced global growth.
3. It Paves the Way for Tourism Industry
Another important revival in the business world is the tourism industry. People always go on the holidays to some exotic places. Some like hilly areas, some go to the beach, some to famous places. When the world has become a global village, owing to international travel, it has become far easier to visit one place to another. So, globalization has promoted the tourist industry to a great extent. It incorporates many domains like transportation, medical, government tax, infrastructure development, and lodging. Globally, in 2019, $2.9 trillion was approximately the travel and tourism’s direct contribution to GDP.
4. Cross-Culture Exchange has Boomed Local Industries
Apart from the tourism industry, cross-culture exchange has promoted the local business greatly. Food, music, games, language, media, ideas, and movies come in the cross-culture that is any nation’s heritage. As we are living in a multi-linguistic and multicultural world. In this perspective, Netflix is providing services in various languages for the movies and series. Now, the U.S Tv show “FRIENDS” is being watched in 100 different nations. Additionally, Karl Marx, a German philosopher, idea’s were migrated to China of communist ideology. Cricket is the birth game of England, but it lies at the central point of entertainment and business in South Asia. Coca-cola, a drink industry, is a favorite of every country’s young population. That is how globalization is eradicating cross-cultural barriers and booming industry.
5. Global Promotion of Technology and Knowledge
Another top-notch benefit of globalization has been the spread of technology. More precisely, globalization spreads due to the result of technological advancement. For instance, Google and Microsoft offices are present in many parts of the world. Now, every country has access to smartphones and the internet. Global platforms like Alibaba and Amazon are selling extraordinary technological innovations on a daily basis to every nation. Along with it, many developing nations have a huge potential for a young population. And they appeal to big nations to monitor their potential.
In addition to this, rapid technological advancement increased the demand for technical education with technical and skilled laborers. Now knowledge has also become globalized. Let’s take an example of the global pandemic i.e. Covid-19. In the effort of searching for vaccines, every nation has joined hands. The communication of doctors via Zoom App and medical researchers with cooperation has proven that the spread of knowledge, technology, and business all are results of globalization.
Due to the demand for understanding each other, many professional translation companies and localization management platforms like Marshub are ensuring translation services for everyone to understand business, knowledge, and revolutions easily.
6. Globalization Ensures Global Employment
Globalization has spread its wings into the economic realm of the world and it boosts business. It ensures employment. Now, every local employee can work under the banner of an international organization. When any business firm expands its business, it needs new skilled laborers. Now even for a pencil, the raw material comes from different nations. It means that different nations’ efforts are necessary for making a single product. Let’s take an example of a shirt. The raw material, cotton, is extracted from the USA and sent to countries like Bangladesh, China where manufacture takes place. Then again for packaging, it goes to either the USA or China. Afterward, it goes into the world for use. Hence, it is clear that it promotes the business by ensuring employment opportunities worldwide.
7. It Has Increased Global Competition
Globalization has increased global competition. In the business world, it is the only competition that gives the kick to businesses to promote. And thanks to globalization, the global marketplace is far more competitive than local. Many companies go international, seek for the foreign market, hire new talent that increases the competition around the globe. In this scenario, many enterprises are choosing an authentic localization management platform for translation and localization services to remove the gap between customers and enterprises. Because only by removing the communication, is able to hire and convince the new people or employees.
Challenges of Globalization
Side by side with all the benefits, it has another dark side that needs to be discussed. Here are some major issues that the world is facing, let’s take a look:
1. Globalization Has Added to Unequal Distribution Between States
Another great challenge that the world is facing due to globalization is the exploitation of workers. It is true that globalization promotes employment but lower wages widens the gulf between haves and haves-not in this capitalist world. For instance, when western enterprises set up their markets in the Southern countries especially in the South Asian or Southeast Asian countries, they exploit the labor by getting them hired on lower wages that increase the division of unequal distribution of wealth among the states.
2. It Has Eroded the Local Cultures
Globalization has eroded the nation’s culture. The amalgamation of culture overshadowed the underdeveloped nation’s culture. When big corporations and countries come into an underdeveloped country, they try to impose their culture on that specific region. In businesses, the enterprise tries to impose their culture in order to promote their own products for better quality. As it is evidently clear that western culture is all over the Eastern world to some extent. Additionally, people are always in purist mode to adopt the western culture in their lifestyles, clothes, daily routines, food, work, and social life. Social media is a great deal in booming globalization. Anyhow, culture is the basic identity of a respective nation’s civilization and history, and one nation’s culture is its heritage. But, unfortunately, globalization’s dark side is responsible for the erosion of culture in the name of amalgamation
3. Environmental Pollution
Another important challenge is environmental pollution. It is the universal fact that there is no other planet to live on, yet. So, the responsibility lies on the shoulders of human beings to take care of the world’s rare species along with its temperature. As Earth’s temperature has risen up drastically since 1900. Unseasonal weather conditions, floods, epidemics, and volcanic eruptions have become common. Fossil fuels are diminishing, the ozone layer is about to be depleted, patterns of weather have become disturbed, all due to human activities. And these activities have grown after the industrial revolution, more accurately when globalization has spread its wings. When any MNCs go from one region to another, thanks to the technological era, the industrial and chimney waste in the form of toxic water, hazardous gases are promoting the evils like acid rain, air pollution, etc.
Globalization has proven itself a miracle for this world. It has intermingled the cultures, businesses, economies, and politics in their finest forms. Presently, every business enterprise is thinking of going global. Because of the consumer and production balance. Revenue generation and profit lie when your firm goes internationally. Many big enterprises belong to major developed nations and mostly consumers belong to the populous nations that precisely belong to underdeveloped nations. So, they consume more and that is why businesses are setting up from one region to another. Furthermore, to overcome the language barriers, language service providers are facilitating the world with their services. MarsHub is a localization management platform and this kind of platform adjoins the link between LSPs, enterprises, and vendors, a beautiful result of globalization. Moreover, the age of global digitization has further boomed the business industries like tourism, automobiles, social media, entertainment, communication, medical, legal, education, food, literature, and many more. On the other side, the business world is facing many challenges owing to the global amalgamation of culture like unequal division, exploitation issues, erosion of culture, child labor, etc. So, to reap out the best result of globalization, there is a need to lessen the challenge by the inclusion of fair policies. This, according to Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, is counterproductive, as, like any other phenomenon, globalization has its pros and cons, and only through indigenously customized reforms can its disadvantages be reduced.