Globalization and Its Enemies Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Globalization and Its Enemies - Article Example There are various debates regarding the origin, driving forces, and transformative powers of transformation (Guttal 523). Supporters and critics of globalization have agreed that advancement in technology and communication have made globalization possible. For instance, banking institutions in Britain are able to reach and communicate with their counterparts in Asia, America and other parts of the world. Further, internet allows currencies to be traded worldwide. There is disagreement on the powers, natures, and origins of globalization (Guttal 523). Is it civilizing or destructive? Is it politically neutral or ideologically driven? Some people argue that globalization is driven by greed and interest to accumulate and control material wealth, for which capitalism provides a rational operational framework and ideology. They argue that globalization is a concept invented to favor the elite. In their views, factors such as global migration from one country to another have led to increas ed security lapses (Guttal 524). They have attributed globalization to environmental degradation, which has resulted to the sprouting of slums in developing countries. Critics of globalization insist that globalization has resulted to uneven distribution of the wealth, which has resulted to selective economic booms in the world. They view globalization as capitalist process that has its origins far back as the industrial revolution era in Europe and has grown since the disintegration of the soviet union as a suitable form of economic organization. Globalization is a force of capitalist expansion and modernization, incorporating the integration of all economic activities into the world market in order to create wealth for the nations. Guttal (524) has argued that to counter one another’s assertions about the merits and demerits of globalization, both the critics and the proponents have fronted several arguments in relation to the economic, political, and social aspects of glob alization. Aspects of the economy that are majorly associated with globalization include investment, trade, and migration. This enables traders to easily access goods and even services in a more broad way than it used to be in the past years. Further, new and expanded global opportunities boosts the global economy as different kinds of exchanges taking place between states encourages positive global competition thus resulting in simultaneous global economic growth (Guttal 524). As Guttal states in the article, critics have held that free trade posses danger to domestic industries. In addition, the concept of globalization has led to the defragmentation of the environment and job loss. They assert that by countries accepting to get into foreign and regional financial schemes, they automatically lose their financial sovereignty and in turn, embrace foreign policies that may be contrary to the unique needs of its citizens. The other view is that multinational corporations may acquire e xcessive power in a particular country, which may in return compromise the needs of the citizens in general. Proponents perceive that, globalization has played a key role especially in the political sphere an argument that has received major backing from globalization nationalists.

On Line Recruiting Essay -- Business Hiring Job Jobs Employer Essays

On-Line Recruiting On-line recruiting is the process of attracting and hiring applicants for positions within an organization through use of the internet. In this paper I will assess an on-line recruitment service, identify the advantages and disadvantages of this vehicle as a recruiting technique for an organization, evaluate the pros and cons of dealing with virtual resumes, and develop criteria an organization can use for selecting an on-line recruiting service. CareerBuilder.com is an on-line recruitment service based out of Reston, Virginia. Their resume database contains of over 1.5 million resumes, utilizes over 250 search agents, and has over 48,000 jobs posted on the main site, as well as 243,000 on their network, which consists of over fifty participating sites and network job boards. CareerBuilder.com was rated by the February 2000 Forester Report as the most efficient on-line service, and claims to provide employers with the best access and exposure to top websites such as MSN and USA Today, along with various industry sites and localized new sites. CareerBuilder.com also provides interactive banner advertising on its home site, as well as all participating job sites and career centers on the internet, providing additional advertising exposure to their cclients (Career Builder, Inc.,1996-2000). Although the Job Search Agent only hunts through jobs posted on the Career Builder network, which limits the amount of informa tion available to their clients, CareerBuilder.com was rated by The Standard.com as ?by far the best job megasite for employers... practically perfect in every way? (Slayton,2000,popup chart). There are several advantages and disadvantages to using this particular vehicle to recruit potential employees. Using an internet recruitment service is more cost effective; a newspaper advertisement costs between $50 to $100, and is good for approximately ten days. An internet listing costs as little as $10, and lasts up to thirty days. Internet services also provide immediate results, where as newspaper ads can take as long as one week for the company to receive any responses. Lastly, utilizing the internet provides an employer access to a greater number and range of applicants . Disadvantages include a greater amount of responses to review, which can be very time consuming, many of which may not be ... ... In summary, the introduction of the internet has completely altered the way employers hire, how individuals seek out work, how employees feel about their current employer, and how companies manage human resources. The utilization of an on-line recruitment service has become a necessary, as well as very effective way, to organize and manipulate the information available to both employers and employees adequately in today?s job market. References Career Builder, Inc. (1996-2000). About Us. CareerBuilder.com. [On-Line]. Available: http://corporate/ourcompany.html. Career Builder, Inc. (1996-2000). What We Do. CareerBuilder.com. [On-Line]. Available: http://corporate/employers.html.. Slayton, Joyce (2000). Recruiter Beware. The Industry Standard Magazine. [On-line]. Available: http://www.thestandard.com/article/table/0,213,18304-1,00.html?popupw=511 Dessler, Gary (2000) . Human Resource Management. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc. Human Resources at Wharton (2001). How On-Line Recruiting Changes the Hiring Game. Knowlege at wharton.Com. [On-Line]. Available: http://knowlege.wharton.eupenn.edu/articles.cfm?articleid=314&catid=10.

Amazon.com Site

Recently, Amazon. com has enjoyed amazing sales and market share growth. However, Amazon. com is still running under an operating loss. This report will examine the historical strengths and weaknesses of Amazon. com, as well as the current opportunities and threats. The current strategic plan includes expanding into either online auctions or B2B exchanges. It is believed that Amazon. com’s many partnerships, as well as its technical expertise with online web platforms, would make it an instant leader in online auctions and B2B exchanges. After examining these metrics, I have come to the conclusion that Amazon.com should focus on: 1. Increasing its international market share, possibly into the Middle East and China. 2. Increasing market share in current markets in North America and Europe. 3. Delay entrance into online auctions and B2B exchanges until Amazon. com shows a consistent profit and those profits can sustain the large expense of setting up a new business model. Evalua tion of Current Objectives and Current Strategy Amazon. com has always had an objective to sacrifice short-term profits for building long-term growth, market share, and increased shareholder value.Now, Amazon. com is concerned with developing an effective differentiating enterprise-wide strategy, all the while maintaining the desire for expansion. This includes the possibility of moving into online auctions, competing with eBay, and B2B exchanges, optimizing the partnerships Amazon. com already has. Current Strengths and Weaknesses Strengths: †¢ Amazon. com has shown record sales and has reduced its operating loss dramatically and consistently increased market share and expanded product offerings. †¢ Amazon.com has a reputation for being one of the first businesses online and embracing the idea of taking orders through a website – first-mover advantage. †¢ Amazon. com has no physical stores. This creates low overhead which means a bigger profit margin on increa sed sales. †¢ Amazon. com collects payments immediately and floats vendor payments 30-40 days, which generates a large working capital. †¢ Amazon. com has contracts and alliances with many suppliers. †¢ Amazon. com has a large and loyal customer base. †¢ Amazon. com has an online shopping platform that is the envy of the retail shopping world. †¢ Amazon.com has partnerships with other retail companies to cross-sell products. Weaknesses: †¢ Investment in other online companies resulted in a loss of close to $135 million. With the current economy, similar losses could be felt again. †¢ Amazon. com is still maintaining an operating loss. †¢ Shareholder pressure to show a profit is great. Analysis of Current Environmental Threats and Opportunities Threats: †¢ Increased competition. †¢ Overall poor economic environment. †¢ Possible repeal of the sales tax exemption. Opportunities: †¢ Leverage the large customer base in expansion into new market segments.†¢ Use experience of expansion into foreign markets to further expansion into the Middle East and China, with large computer-savvy populations. †¢ Use well-known and easy-to-use platform to expand base of suppliers that use Amazon. com’s website offerings for their own online presence. Stakeholder Analysis †¢ Government agencies are interested in Amazon. com because of its wide reach. Being an international organization and crossing state lines within the United States, Amazon. com’s increase in sales could yield high profits to the countries and states in the form of taxes and permits.International government would also be concerned with an American presence and the affect that has on the people. †¢ Labor unions do not have much of a stake in what happens to Amazon. com because it has very few employees and all of the positions are traditionally not union jobs. †¢ Competing organizations are definitely interested in A mazon. com’s performance. Amazon. com has developed so many partnerships that it is difficult to increase market share and almost impossible to enter the market. If they were to expand into online auctions or B2B exchanges, Amazon.com’s reach may drastically cut into the market share of its competitors. †¢ Employees would be affected by Amazon. com’s performance because of stock options and the viability of the company. †¢ Suppliers would be concerned with Amazon. com offering competitive products at a lower price, similar to Amazon. com’s concern when they set up zStores. They would also be concerned with Amazon. com offering products that are competitive on the same site. †¢ Customers would benefit from an increase in availability of the products they desire on a platform that is well-known, safe, easy, and custom-tailored to meet their needs.†¢ Civic groups may be more interested in the Amazon. com as more products will be more avai lable to the population. †¢ Public interest groups may take a greater interest in Amazon. com in a similar manner to the civic groups. They would also be interested in the working conditions of Amazon. com’s partners. †¢ Stockholders will most definitely be affected by any change in Amazon. com. Being so close to showing a profit rather than an operating loss, shareholders are interested in increasing sales, decreasing cost, and increasing market share. Identifying Current Problems†¢ The first alternative (online auction) encourages email marketing (spam) and television marketing (which has proven not to be cost effective in the past). †¢ Setting up a separate online auction takes the risk of diluting the image of the overall organization. Amazon. com is known for quality, and auctions are known for deep discount shopping. It also goes against the mission of creating one giant organization all under one brand. †¢ Competing with eBay on pricing structu res sets up a price war, which minimizes the draw of Amazon. com’s quality and customer service. †¢ Setting up a B2B exchange could cause a conflict of interest for Amazon.com between existing partners and potential ones, stifling the availability of suppliers available in the exchange. †¢ Creating a B2B exchange that is not specialized waters down some of the impact. Coupled with competition from other exchanges, it could compromise Amazon. com’s existing partnerships. Alternative Strategies †¢ Focusing on maintaining market share in existing markets. †¢ Not expanding into other markets until Amazon. com is showing a healthy profit and is able to finance the expansion with profits. †¢ Expand into other countries, developing even more of a presence, perhaps in the Middle East and China. RecommendationsMy recommendation would be for Amazon. com to focus its finances and energy on increasing its existing market share. Expansion has worked for Ama zon. com all along, but I am concerned that it is becoming too large of a giant, potentially spreading too thin. If Amazon. com focused its efforts on expanding into other markets, like the Middle East and China, doing what it does best, and increasing market share in existing markets, it could show a profit for a while. Then, after the auction industry has settled down, Amazon. com could present itself as a fresh new alternative to the tired, worn-out ways of the likes of eBay and Covisint.

Social, Political And Economic Implications Of Money

Throughout the course of this semester, we have examined the role of money in our society and have been introduced to scholars and economists that have offered rationale for the social, political and economic implications of money. One overwhelming theme that has lingered throughout most of the readings and lectures is the idea of inequality, particularly within the scope of the American economy. While other economies such as China or India are labor-based economies, I have found that America’s Capitalist economy is fueled by multiple facets racial inequality. The moral argument against racial inequality under an economic lens is simple yet, expected; when we deny opportunities for people of color in the same way we have them established†¦show more content†¦Black men are being denied the chance of a full life with all of the rights; privileges and opportunities of white men and similarly, the families/communities from which they come from are also at a significant di sadvantage. A National Bureau of Research study found that Black families between 2004-2008 were 54% more likely to be charged higher on their mortgage rates than white families. This fact alone drives two main issues I will explore in this paper: the implications of socioeconomics and how inequality drives the American economy through the lens of mortgage lending. One theorist I will use to explore these ideas of inequality is John Maynard Keynes. Keynes argued that capitalism is â€Å"a mere congery of possessors and pursuers† (Keynes 60) and he also asserted that â€Å"economic output is only based on the aggregate demand†. Between 2004-2008, when Black families were getting charged higher interest rates on their homes than white families with similar incomes, large banks were pocketing millions of extra dollars from these families as many of the rates today would have been considered â€Å"sub-prime rates†. This predatory act placed against people of color encouraged classism and as a result led to negative socioeconomic outcomes moreover, the notion of â€Å"white