Graphic source: somethingworthwhilequotes.com
Globalization is something I experienced first-hand ten years ago although at that time I don't think I had realized what the term implied or even if I'd heard it at that time.
I needed work done for online projects and my staff, inclined as they were to spending time with their families, wanting to sleep, and having sundry and important things to do actually wanted to go home circa 5 p.m. Slackers!
Work needed to get done so I starting looking online for free-lancers who could do the work. I was pleasantly surprised to find eager, competent, and educated personnel who could do the work responsibly and easily meet 8 a.m. Eastern Standard Time deadlines. Didn't they have to sleep? Didn't they have families and lives too?
Of course they did but as the sun sets on the United States, hopefully not permanently, the sun is rising, and I hope only metaphorically, to the West. Geographically this area is generally known as the Pacific Rim, or the East: China, India, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and Korea.
I should have been more aware of this development because during 1994-1998 I first employed electronic bulletin boards and sought qualified experts to comment about online academic courses I developed in a University Liberal Arts program.
The answers were articulate, accurate, and academically credible.
All of this though has hardly prepared me for the hand-wringing which began in earnest a couple of weeks ago when Citibank, Merrill Lynch, and other financial services giants announced that they were turning to countries like China, Singapore and Kuwait for the billions in funds they desperately seek to cover their losses from the sub-prime mortgage meltdown.
Is American #1? The question haunts my classroom on a daily basis as I consider the notion of the wealthiest, most powerful nation on Earth depending so uncomfortably on foreign investment.
We need to get accustomed to it.
IBM, the paradigmatic "American" IT company, relies on foreign interests for nearly two-thirds of its business and has advertised its position as a stalwart globalized IT enterprise. IBM is closely allied with Asia, in particular, India.
The plain truth is that globalization is inherent in economic life today. If you are fighting the inevitable, you need to adjust.
This is not your father's analysis and globalization if anything will simply increase. The task here is to adjust, decry risk-averse strategies, and try to prosper through challenging times.
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