Why should I care what happens across the globe? I have a mortgage to pay, a family to feed, and a job I hate. Who cares about globalization? We should all be concerned about globalization. It impacts us…and we do not even recognize it.
Global disruptions plague most financial institutions. For example, Europe offered a bailout package of up to (euro) 100 billion ($125 billion U.S.) to help secure the country’s banks.
Spain became the fourth and largest European country to request financial help. Seventeen countries from the eurozone sent a statement explaining that this funding would go directly to a Spanish fund set up to recapitalize its banks.
Nevertheless, the economic crisis in Europe worries financial experts in America because trading and commerce interlock countries together. Therefore, America will not be able to escape any global financial crisis.
As I teach international business, I often hear students state that they do not have any international experience. Yet, they do not understand that social media platforms like Facebook and Youtube make them global.
In fact, Facebook continues to dominate the virtual landscape with 500-million-users. It is transforming how the world communicates. If Facebook was a country, it would be the world’s third largest country. Therefore, Facebook represents a serious way individual citizens can be a part of this global community.
More importantly, individuals need to understand that globalization is reshaping society and how we live as people. Charles Hill, author of International Business, suggests that most people cannot avoid the impacts of globalization: “As the world shifts toward a truly integrated global economy, more firms, large and small, are becoming international businesses.”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvCyRoY6azk]
Thomas Friedman, author of The World is Flat, further outlined the interconnectivity of economies with his concept of flattening. Friedman states that Globalization 1.0 and 2.0 were driven primarily by European and American influences. However, Globalization 3.0 was being driven by more inclusive and diverse forces.
Friedman explains, “…the dynamic force in Globalization 3.0 – the force that gives it its unique character – is the newfound power for individuals to collaborate and compete globally.”
Therefore, individuals do not need to wait on their countries or businesses to ‘go global.’ Individuals can build their own personal brands globally with social media platforms like Facebook.
How can academic institutions in America best serve students in understanding the ramifications of globalization? Feel free to use your personal experiences as examples.
© 2012 by Daryl D. Green
Related Articles
September 12, 2012 at 9:14 pm
They have the Career fairs and business meetings. They have alumni meetings. Pellissippi did more than that of Lincoln Memorial University since they have festivals where the students got together to have fun and chat with each other from all grade levels. They also had the hot air balloon festival where alumni and local business people get together and mingle. I think our school does more for the main campus than what they do for the extended sites. I do think they need to do more on the extended sites. I did enjoy my times talking with the alumni that are from Pellissippi.
reference:
Pelleissippi State Community College webite cover page
August 23, 2012 at 2:40 pm
Chris Bryson
Universities should prepare students early for the possibility that their careers may take them to other parts of the world as business, society, and culture become not so distant from one another. On the flip side, the work force in America is going to become diverse as members from other countries come to America for work. Students looking to enter the work force must be willing to be flexible and adapt to career changes in order to be successful in todays job market. Universities should prepare students for the possibility that their careers could take them anywhere. All universities should add international business courses and courses that regularly discuss global economics to their curriculums. Universities such as Ferris State University are adapting their classes to that of a global economy. Ferris State University (2012) “encourages the design of courses and programs to address issues and needs of a globalized economy”. Professors should encourage students to take on internships that take them to companies that have corporate offices abroad, or maybe students should take at least one session to study abroad. The more universities discuss and integrate the topic of globalization into the classrooms the better prepared the students will be. Ferris State University (2012) states that they “create avenues for faculty, staff, and students to discuss and learn about globalization”. Universities could service students with career centers that help them locate work in the most popular job positions and could also give them advice/warning about how globalization can make the environment in which you work, job placement, and wages change dramatically. Professors and universities should encourage students to stay up to date with the current job markets and the needs of communities around the world so they can focus in specializing their degrees for those job markets. The better prepared students are about what they face in a global economy the more successful they can become.
Citations
Ferris State University. 2012.
August 23, 2012 at 7:24 pm
Chris,
Excellent points! Ferris State University has developed a special focus on the global economy.
YET!!!!
All: How do cash strapped universities offer a global experience such as study abroad programs to today’s college students?
Professor Green
August 25, 2012 at 9:26 am
There are really only two options that I can see. One is the universities have to push the costs of the program onto the students, but in doing this the university is probably going to discourage students from taking part in the program. Option two is for the university to bring the global experience to the classroom or somewhere within the boundaries of the country. Universities can do this by locating employers with strong international ties, but have offices based within your country. If students can find internships with these companies it may give them the opportunity to see what it is all about to work with individuals on a global level. The University of Tennessee has devoted its time using career services to help find students internships locally and internationally. The University of Tennessee (2012) states “UT Career Services is proud to offer you this international career resource as part of our Ready for the World initiative. We encourage you to utilize the tools and resources available to you on this website to develop your global career skills”. A university may not be able to pay for the students to study abroad, but universities can take Tennessee’s approach and offer an abundant amount of resources to help students find great learning opportunities.
Reference
The University of Tennessee. 2012.
August 25, 2012 at 7:07 pm
Chris-
I agree with the points that you listed. I also agree with what you said about the cost factor. Bisoux (2007) admitted that cost factors are a major consideration when setting up globally minded programs. I do feel that some of the financial burden could be lifted from college students if our society prepares them better for a global business place at a young age. Such as making foreign languages a requirement of schools to have this in place for kids at younger ages. That way they already have that piece of the puzzle done so that they will be competitive in the workforce.
Reference: Bisoux, T. (2007, July/August). Global Immersion. Retrieved August 24, 2012, from http://www.butler.edu/modern-languages/websnap/documents/globalimmersion.pdf
October 6, 2012 at 11:16 am
I agree with your points about the change in the workforce in America. American students are ill prepared to compete with members from other countries.
A survey conducted by National Geographic–Roper Public Affairs (2006) found that:
• 3% of young American students could not locate Iraq on a map of the Middle East, “despite near-constant news coverage since the U.S. invasion of March 2003” (6).
• 75% could not find Indonesia, Iran, or Israel on a map.
• 18% correctly identified Mandarin Chinese as the world’s most commonly spoken native language, while 74% believed it to be English.
• 29% correctly identified the United States as the world’s largest exporter of goods and services, while half thought it was China.
In Sweden, surveys have indicated that 89% of young adults speak at least two languages, and 92% have ventured outside of their home country within the previous three years. In stark contrast, at the time of the survey, only 36% of young Americans spoke more than one language and a mere 22% had left U.S. soil in the preceding three years. In fact, only about 25% of all U.S. citizens have passports.
The survey results speak volumes about the work we have to do in academia to have a better understanding of globalization and to become more competitive in a global workplace.
National Geographic–Roper Public Affairs. (2006). Geographic Literacy Study: Final Report. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society. Retrieved from http://www.nationalgeographic.com
20 Comments
The globalization of the economy and its concomitant demands on the workforce requires a different education that enhances the ability of learners to access, assess, adopt, and apply knowledge, to think independently to exercise appropriate judgment and to collaborate with others to make sense of new situations(Singh N) If you bring home how this globalization affects the students with thier everyday life and bring in the impact of knowing what is going on in the world around them it will help students understand the ramifications of globalization
Singh N, a. P. (n.d.). Connexions Consortium. Retrieved August 20, 2012, from The Impacts of Globalization in higher education.
Brandy,
Good thoughts indeeds!
How do university’s use your theory in crafting student activities they can implement?
Professor Green